Magfest 2016

​Another year... another Magfest... and the sadness that sets in afterwards.  As always there's things that could be improved and I think no convention will ever be perfect for everyone. That being said I think these festivals are still getting a little better each year (and bigger at that).

As someone who lives nearby - Magfest still gives me good reason to spend the money to stay at the Gaylord and pay for Roxi to stay at the doggy spa while we're away. Even though we could drive the 20 minutes home every night and save an ###load of money.  We would just miss too much and it wouldn't feel the same! 

For those unfamiliar with Magfest - It's a gaming and music festival that's been growing since 2002. It's a 24 hour - 4 day non-stop party for gamers and music fans. It's very relaxed and (most) people are nice and in it just to have fun. For more info go here! 

We try to get smarter with our visit each year. As always we pack way too much food and alchohol but I think it's always better to have too much then not enough at all. 

Along with our snack and drinks we packed hand sanitizer, hand lotion, vitamin C and a humidifier for the room. Sounds stupid but when you wake up with cotton mouth, dry eyes and its not because you drank too much you realize there's a simple solution. The outcome is none of us got sick this year. Besides that we packed the usual essentials. I've learned that it depends on what you're going to the festival for is what you should bring. We were just there for fun and games but the extras we did bring were for recording.. so I was packing extra batteries, gopro equipment and hardware to store the files off the memory cards we filled during the day. 

Meanwhile we had friends with suitcases full of gaming equipment.. others with cosplay material.. so if you're looking for a list.. find a basic one online and then modify for YOUR needs. I would stil recommend the hand sanitzer no matter what!

So whoever is organizing the fest every year seems to be doing a bang up job. The spaces this year were easy to go through. Yet they still hold onto that stupid enter - exit deal where you have to walk all the way down one side to enter or get out. Not fun for someone who sometimes have stomach issues due to allergies (coughcough). I think they just haven't figured out a better solution to check everyone with more doorways open.

The arcade game room cabinets were spaced out wonderfully. My only complaint was the rhythm games were so quiet and it was hard to hear the songs we were playing on anything. 3 am which is usually our time to sneak onto games while everyone is passed out was PACKED. I wasn't surprised since the attendee number has jumped. They'll either need to set a limit or get more cabinets if this keeps up. The hogging problem has grown as well it seems.. asking people to get off I got these three reactions - 1. they were nice and got off because they really didn't notice someone waiting 2. they pretended they didn't hear me and just kept playing 3. they were rude and acted like I was asking them to move the world. There was some chatter about this on the forums that they need to figure out a way to get people to learn how to share. But really... we're all adults here we should know this already... except the two actual kids that were hogging the ouya game. They showed more maturity when we asked to share then some adults. 

The merch room after a few years will always feel the same.. Now first thing I do when I arrive is do a walk through to see if there's anything new and then move on. This year it felt there were less game sellers and more anime stuff. I'm an anime fan.. I love anime but when I go to a gaming festival I just hope to see more game items. It also felt like there were less this year as well. I know this isn't Magfest fault just something I noticed. I did find one of my favorite artists and got her to draw the design for the next tattoo I'll be getting so I was very happy about that. 

A side note - It's always best to buy with cash for several reason in the dealers room - this year some people learned that lesson because it seems someone set up a skimmer that has pulled some peoples CC numbers... If you bought anything this year check your statements for the next few months to make sure you didn't get pulled.

Indie game room gets better every year and I could spend the WHOLE WEEKEND in there trying everything. I love indie games and Magfest is feeding that love. I say this every year but it's something to discuss and listen to the passion these developers put into their dream. I can't wait to play/review some of these demos for all of you because there were some good games. Every year there is always one jerkface in the group and I just prepare myself for them. Happy to say it wasn't because of my gender this time but thinking I didn't understand how games are made. I just assume it's because they get interviews several times while at things like this and get tired repeating themselves. Either way I just let it roll off my back and move on. I had a few favorite picks and a few that surprised me. I will be writing individual reviews later so stay tuned!

The console room was always jam packed and people were constantly doing tournaments in there. I didn't get a chance to play myself but here are notes from Shantz and Aegis.

Aegis: "Please stop telling me to take my drink off the supported, visible table and move it on the ground next to the power strips where it's easily kicked over. Sincerely, everyone with common sense."

Shantz:  "I liked it better than last year. More room to get around, felt like they had more variety. Wish the challenges ran. But they already said what happened with that."

There you have it folks. Sorry I don't have more on that room. 

This year I think I spent the least amount of time in the concerts then I ever did in past. I like the fact that the team is trying to pull in new talent and try out some new setups but I felt this year was less game music and more modern/techno. I have nothing wrong with that I just come to a gaming festival to listen to game music. So when they start mixing in rap music (not about video games) and techno with modern song lyrics (not about video games) I wander off. I'll buy a ticket to a concert some other time if I want to hear that stuff. Online there was mixed feelings about this and I know that a lot of people didn't like the new Magprom setup.. that was a burlesque instead? It was interesting but not right.. I think if something isn't broke you shouldn't try to fix it. I do like that they are pulling musicians from other countries as well. I'm hoping this is just a one off thing and next year will go back to more gamey type songs. 

We did some of the side game rooms one being the joust. I was happy to see them stop after a few rounds and ask who hadn't played yet so people couldn't hoard the game wands. My only suggestion is I liked it in the dark room the first year they came where you could see the lights a bit more. I'm not sure why but that darkness makes the little kid in me giddy for flashlight tag. If you haven't played it - it is flashlight tag but with PS wands that light up different colors. You move to the tempo of the music and try to shake the other player to get them out. If the wand shakes too much it flashes red and your done-Super simple but really fun.

The big thing we tried for the first time this year was star ship horizons instead of Artemis. We signed up online a few days before and arrived in the first room. Sat down and was shown a "how to video". I will be honest.. halfway through the video we were all a little reluctant and not sure how fun this game would really be. Picking our 'jobs' we were then shuffled up to take a group shot and then into another room to the PC consoles. Once we started playing we were pretty hooked. The game makes you work as a team instead of allow you all to do what you damn well please. If my console wasn't set to a certain thing some of the things on other consoles wouldn't work. Which would have been helpful when (nameless) decided to use all our ammo last year! It was a good amount of game time and we were allowed to finish our mission (ended with us ramming the enemy and blowing us both up).

The Gaylord was just as good as it usually is. We had no particular problem. There was an issue with parking but we're unsure who is to blame. I just know some people didn't even make it because they gave up searching for parking in the harbor after a few hours. This wasn't a problem in the past so I'm assuming it's 1. more attending and 2. it was a beautiful weekend so more locals were coming out.  The bartenders tried to murder us as they do every year and the cosplay was great to sit back and watch. 

Cheers to you Magfest! Can't wait to see you next year!