You know how you can tell that I’m not a good gamer? I name all my protagonists ‘Lauren.’ In Skyrim, my character even looks like me. (You know, if I were a wood elf with facial tattoos.) So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’m not exactly in my element at Magfest. Music And Gaming? I’m more of a Gunpla And Anime (GAAfest?) kind of girl.
But the DC area already has plenty of conventions like that, and nothing like Magfest. Perhaps that’s why Magfest is one of the fastest growing events in the area. According to press liaison Nick Marinelli, more than 6,100 people registered by the end of the convention. That’s not an official count; that could mean anywhere between 5,500 and 6,500. But just compare that to last year’s (capped) turnout of 3,000. Since Magfest moved to the elaborate, expansive Gaylord National, they’ve got plenty of room to grow. I was there on the busiest day of the con, but I never would have known from those open hallways. At least they gave me room to take photos of the Gaylord’s still lit holiday decor.
And that’s why I went: to experience the fandom itself. You don’t need to be the world’s most hardcore gamer to appreciate a geek-out on that level.
The Earthbound Papas, Magfest’s headlining guest, certainly did. Nick, who served as their personal attendant, following them around and bringing them their new American favorite food—Five Guys— told me they loved the fans. Good thing, too: there were 2,400 of those fans at their Saturday night concert.
“They said it was the best sounding EBP concert to date, and loved the energy from the crowd, the enthusiasm of the fans,” Nick told me.
I attended Magfest for most of Saturday, so I missed this convention highlight. For me, the highlight was finally meeting Colette Bennett, the most talented anime and games writer I know, in person. We met at the panel for Destructoid, a games journalism site where she used to work.
Patrick, Colette’s close friend (and a previous Otaku Journalist giveaway winner,) was there too.
Shortly after we took these photos, I won two games for correctly guessing the video game soundtrack a poll of Destructoid readers voted as their favorite to have sex to. It was a lucky guess; since I’m playing through Skyrim right now, it was the first game on my mind.
It was the only panel I went to. I also spent time outdoors, where my fiance and I took turns taking photos of Rich in his Samurai Champloo cosplay. (There wasn’t a lot of cosplay at Magfest, and I didn’t see another anime character aside from Rich, but that worked out for him. You should have seen this little kid’s face when Rich offered to pose with him for a photo.)
And then Rich took a photo of us. If you haven’t been to the Gaylord, you should check it out just for this massive atrium, which contains actual houses.
John also played in a Magic draft, which made sense because even before they saw him the organizers knew I was somebody’s girl. One guy even asked me if I was familiar with the five different colors of mana in the game. It’s stuff like that which keeps me from playing drafts with people other than my friends. (I did, however, end up buying those lavender card sleeves I’ve been wanting.)
This is a far different convention review than I had planned to write. I used to try to make every convention experience a journalistic project: documenting everything I did, conducting interviews along the way. But post Anime USA, I’m a little burnt out. Now, I’m trying to recapture why I began attending these things in the first place and trying to experience the convention for the convention’s sake. I spent time with several of the people I’ve befriended through covering conventions: Patches, Viga, Tyler and Kevin and Sarah.
And no, I didn’t buy the fleece Skyrim helmet in the first picture. But if you want to, it’s handmade by The Prancing Unicorn, a pair of the craftiest bronies I’ve ever met. Here’s Rainbow Dash putting on the finishing touches.
