Nintendo finally detailed its plans for PAX West 2019, and they include a special opportunity for attendees to skip the lines and demo upcoming Switch games. Sort of. A free online-sign up, and a Nintendo Account, can earn you a Warp Pipe Pass. This pass gives you the ability to enter from a designated point in the huge PAX lines, rather than start all the way at the back.
A post on the Nintendo site lists all of the Big N's events for PAX. There will be a panel and signing with developers from DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition. Interactive installations will "promote Galar tourism" to hype up Pokémon Sword and Shield. Finally, an in-booth scavenger hunt will reward successful players with a pin set based on The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Of course, all of this will be centered around a booth that hosts demoes of these games and more.
Gaming fans who are dedicated enough to travel to and pay for PAX West want exclusives. They're also willing to wait hours in line if it means getting those exclusives, be it swag, autographs, or demo time. After years of E3, PAX, Gamescom, and other Nintendo booths having constant lines wrapped around them, the company seems to have noticed this. For E3 2019, Nintendo debuted the Warp Pipe Pass.
Fans who sign up for a Warp Pipe Pass get a special QR sent to their phone. They can then show this code to staff at the Nintendo booth to enter the line at a closer point than most. During E3, there was a big sign near the Pokémon Sword and Shield part of the booth that acted as the Warp Pipe Pass entry point. Those without the pass had to go all the way past the Link's Awakening display, around a corner, and then down the hall near a bathroom to find the end of the regular line. Needless to say, the Warp Pipe Pass can easily save one 40 minutes to an hour of waiting.
To sign up for a PAX West Warp Pipe Pass, you need to already have a PAX West 2019 badge and a Nintendo account of some sort (My Nintendo works). If you have those, follow this link to pick the demo of your choice. Sign-ups begin on August 25th at 5PM PT, so pencil that into your calendar. You want this pass, because lines at PAX are the worst.