They said it couldn’t be done again, they even wished we had all given up on the dream. “Go home, play videogames and fantasize about women…you sissies!”…okay no one actually said that, but can you blame me for spicing things up?! So as you guessed, GaymerX2 was last weekend, did you go? Did you wish you had but stayed home and sucked on a popsicle instead? I knew it. Pervert. To say the least, the convention was a blasssst…
We’re back!!!
This year I made an effort to get to see and enjoy three full days of the convention, last year I only got a taste, this year…the entire enchilada was eaten. I had the chance to room with my fellow QoopaKlubber: Jancko, so I had to accept his delightful invite. We stayed at the convention hotel and requested plastic sheets for our beds, c’mon you guys, you know what I mean…we’re just being practical! I got in Friday morning and met up with my boys, we of course missed all the opening ceremonies, I’d imagine they were heartfelt and welcoming. We hit the ground running (a brisk walk) and started to get a lay of the land. The con was set up on three floors of the hotel, one floor was registration, another gaming, and the top was all the meeting rooms. We immediately got distracted looking for the gaming room, it hadn’t been set up yet so we wandered over to the indie game area. There were a ton of great games over there, many of which were very simple, but with hilarious game play and stories. Perfect Woman was freaking hilarious, you had to live the entire life span of a woman, aiming for perfection…while being an embryo…toddler….teenager…adult…senior citizen….and senior. You could choose which life roles to take on…attractive teenager…terrorist…prostitute…okay my description is totes lame, but follow the link for for LOLz.
Perfect woman…omg you died OLD>
We spent a bunch of time playing around with a very simple game called Triad. A little pixelated game where you had to arrange three people on a bed and try to get them to sleep peacefully through the night. IT WAS SO HARD. We all kind of failed at it, it was tough to make everyone happy and not have them rolling off the bed or on top of each other. We all should remain single, clearly. While the gameplay was simple, the philosophy involved was complicated. J/k. Butt seriously. (go download it for free now!) (*other mentions: Depression Quest, Dys4ia….give these a try!) There were a few other games, but we ventured over to the Ouya room and got a chance to try out that system. I’m pretty sure none of the QK boys had ever played with the Ouya before. We got to play BombSquad, Duck Game, and Toto Temple …they were all pretty exciting multiplayer battle games. I really liked Duck Game and Toto Temple the best, they were quick games that involved fast actions and dastardly cheap tricks….translation…Jancko was great at it. Overall it was a really fun experience to get to play around with a system I had never seen in person…I was pretty impressed with that little box.
Jancko acts totes casual as cosplay girl looks on~
We also went over to the board game room and for whatever reason gravitated to Jenga! I know, I know, of all games, we decided to play the lamest one there. We eventually hooked up with the guys from Horde House and Game Buoy podcasts, sucking them into our Jenga madness. So basically we decided to get wrapped up in the nerdiest of all games, at the nerdiest of all conventions…how fitting. After a few hours of that nonsense, we…..wait, what the hell did we do Friday night? I’m not sure I even remember at this point. Oh that’s right, it was the concert night, mhmmm okay now I remember…guess I maybe had a bit too much to drink. Heh. The concert was fun overall, I completely fell in love with Aethernaut and his tunes. We also had fun with 2Mello‘s set, also another blend of nostalgia/future/digital/chips/tunes/magic. After all that fun I just headed straight back to the room, I knew Saturday was gonna be a ass blaster of a day.
We survived day one! *only looking semi fugs. >:O
Day 2 was more of the same, with a few panels thrown in for good measure. I think we started the day taking it slow, having a few much needed chat sessions in our hotel rooms. “OMG u guize, can you believe What’s His Name was all over That Other Dude?”. You know, gaymer gossip at it’s best. Once 1pm rolled around we all started huddling up for our panel which was at 2pm. Thankfully I didn’t have to participate in this years panel…well not thankfully, but…you know what I mean, STRESS FREE!!! Thankfully Jeremy shouldered the weight for QK and sat on the panel for our Motley Crew, while Jancko and I attentively sat in the audience and texted each other. “GIRL that HAIR with those shoes tho! K bye!” I thought the panel was again fantastic, just like last year. It was a good turn out and we got to see a bunch of familiar faces again. It’s always fantastic when you get to hear positive feedback from fans and other podcasters. *shoutouts to our cute redhead fan…umm call me!* I’m really glad we had Matt from Horde House and Jamie from OLR on the panel this year, they definitely brought a new perspective that changed things up. I can’t stress how great if felt to be in that room with other DIY peeps, I really hope we get to do something like that again in the future.
Matt, Jason, Jeremy, Spike, & Jamie! Work the mic!
Later that night we headed to an uber exclusive nerd party. I cannot say anything further. I will say that I managed to not throw up while walking down a towering hill…shout outs to the bartender. :O~ It sure was a fun way to wrap-up what was a great Saturday hanging with the other podcasters, it was kinda odd how smashingly we all got along. We made new friends, played some games, and swapped notes. I’m guessing getting 200 streetpasses in one day will do that to a group of gamers, kinda gets you in the mood for fun. Day 3 was a much more mellow day, as the con was wrapping up, I just tried my best to soak in all the warm energy from everyone there. We all kind of went off and did our own things, I think most of us were pretty tired from the previous day shenanigans. I got up early and went to a Bioware panel, just to hear what they had to say about inclusion and creating gay characters in their games. It was pretty interesting to hear their perspective and how they deal with detractors who do their best to bitch and moan about inclusion. Go suck eggs! After that I went and grabbed lunch, srsly you guys, the Oasis Grill on Howard and 4th has awesome falafel. Why did I wait til Sunday to stuff my face there?!?! After lunch I went back to the con and parked it in the busy hallway with some other peeps….it was my last day to get streetpasses, I’m not above soliciting. I chatted with a few other gamers, one in particular that I was a fan of. Yes guy crazy, I GET IT. Later I attended the screening of the Gaming in Color documentary film, even though my brain was kinda fried by that point, I really wanted to see it. I’m so glad I went, it was such a great film that perfectly captured what the con was about, as well as creating a good picture of the gaymer ‘experience’. It was layered with different probing questions and topics, I’m glad to see it presented a multidimensional picture of the gaymer makeup. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, definitely treat yourself and do it! Go for the gayming his/her/sistory…stay for Jeremy’s secret cameo in the film! :O
My dramatic pic from the hotel on my way out. <3 SF
So yeah that was the con, I hit the road later Sunday afternoon and shimmied my way back to Long Beach. It’s kinda hard to describe how much fun I had, yes the con isn’t big budget like others…but why should it? Who doesn’t love a smaller, specific, and genuine conventions like GaymerX? I know I do. I really hope something similar pops up for next year, I really want to meet up with all these great people again. GAYMERS UNTIE! ….unite…or something.
-Phil
p.s. hope to see @atari_barbie, @keitaroE37, and @Xtoferc ….at whatever happens next year!
*(other shoutouts to Geek Charisma, La Palanca Podcast, MultiTap Podcast, Starboard Power Coupling Podcast, Tables, Ladders, & Podcasts)
