Ken Levine @ PAX: A Giant F’cking Nerd

E3 used to be the an amazing event for everything tech and nerd related. It was for the developers, the companies, the toys, and the people. But all those bigwigs got sick of the riffraff making parking too difficult and kicked them out. Suddenly, Joe Gamer had to find his/her fix for a nerd-gasm somewhere else. Then, all at once, the riffraff turned to PAX. Ken Levine (creator of BioShock) kept that in mind as he spoke to the crowded convention hall, but he didn’t hype up the next BioShock or any other 2K game…

Ken Levine spoke straight to the people of PAX. His three-act speech reminisced on his progress from a young nerd to an older one. He even portrayed his stint as a playwright to be more an aberration than his true passion. The L.A. apartment where he lived then sounded like an episode of The Surreal Life, not a real memory. Basically, Levine lived the dream to move out to Hollywood, make a motion picture, and retire with lots of money with a vista overlooking the Pacific. Well, he did get the money, but he didn’t “get” the life. It was alien to him. After having lived that life, Levine talked about “drifting for seven years” before coming back to roost amongst his fellow nerds.

It was a very personal talk, and honestly, one that I’m proud he made. Yes, jaws would’ve dropped if there was a BioShock 2 trailer. But if he couldn’t have brought a stunning preview of a new BioShock, then this is a really good alternative. Possibly because it’s election season, I enjoy having this relatively prominent game designer talk about how much he’s just like us. After all, “we’re a giant bunch of fucking nerds.” And I couldn’t agree more. Ken Levine for president!