The Hot Nerds and Sexy Geeks of PAX West (Photos)

In 2004, the folks at Penny Arcade decided they wanted a show exclusively for gaming. Sure, comics, anime, and other nerd hobbies were cool, and those activities all had their own shows … so what about games? From that idea spawned a 4,500-person event in Bellevue, Wash., focused on the culture and community that is gaming.

Since then, PAX West hasn’t looked back. The show doubled in size each year until venue capacities were reached, and in 2010 it expanded into Boston for PAX East, drawing tens of thousands of attendees in the inaugural year. The shows in Seattle and Boston represent the two largest gaming events in North America. Our man on the street Matt Baume captured these images of free-range gamers at play.