Now it's no secret that there will be lines at a convention, and I knew this from the start. Thankfully, Smash Fest increased my tolerance for lines, so I didn't have too much of a bad time. But I arrived at about 10:30, and I wasn't out of the registration line until about 12:00. So if you didn't preregister, either come early, or prepare to wait, because it'll take a while. However, though the line was long, there was rarely a dull moment while waiting. First off, Streetpass. Bring your 3DS to this stuff, because you'll get a lot of tags. I started with about 180 tags, and left with 351. You'll never be able to leave the Streetpass Plaza, but it'll do wonders for Puzzle Swap.
Also, cosplayers. A lot of people were dressed up, and a lot of them were really awesome (and I let them know that, believe me.) They were really nice about taking pictures, which is good, because I got a lot of them.
Fun fact. The girl dressed as Ash was actually walking around with a guy carrying a sign that said "Repels Effect Wore Off". Funner Fact. I asked the Chrom cosplayer his thoughts on not being in Smash 4. He just stammered for a bit before replying with "Your Mom".
Now after registration, I headed to the Renaissance Center to kill some time before the dealer room opened. One 10 minute walk in the rain later, I made it to the building and decided to check the gaming areas.
The arcade area was definitely something. There was a lot of Dance Dance Revolution, there was a Megaman Arcade Game, a bunch of Taiko Drum Master and a bunch of other stuff. And I didn't get a picture of this, but I found the Payday 2 guys playing an arcade shooter. It was great.
The full gaming room though...that was awesome. There were Xbox Ones, PS4s, PS3s, Wii Us, and a bit of everything really. There was a Japanese Sega Saturn playing 8-Player Bomberman, a full Steel Battalion set, and the greatest fighting game of all time, Shaq Fu. Conclusion? Shaq Fu is a horrible game and everyone should play it. I got to play a few rounds of Goldeneye and Mario Kart 8, and it was a blast. I can't wait for next year when Smash Bros on the Wii U is out. That will be amazing.
Now I didn't get much footage of the Dealer Room, but I did spend a good two hours in there. An hour and a half of it was spent looking at everything, 25 minutes of it was deciding what I wanted to buy, and 5 minutes of it was actually buying stuff. Do yourself a favor. Save money for this, because this stuff is expensive. I only had $25 of spending money, and only left with three things. Most of the stuff there costed more than I had. That said, I didn't leave empty handed.
Magical x Miracle cost me $5, L.A. Noire cost me $4, and Galaxy Express 999 cost $15. It's not much, but I'm happy with what I left with. Hopefully next year, I'll have a bit more money to spend in there, because there was so much stuff I wanted.
Now the group I came with was leaving at 7, and it was about 5 when I left the dealer room, so there was some time to kill. The plan was to spend the rest of the time at the game room, but then I realized that I didn't have as many pictures as I wanted. So I devised the most convoluted path to where we would meet up, and rode some escalators to get pictures of anyone I thought was cool.
Fun fact. The Mami cosplayer told me about the male Mami that was one floor up. I wasn't disappointed. Funner fact. The two maids I got a picture of were giving out free candy because HALLOWEEN. It was really nice of them. Funnest fact. I initially only asked the Sayaka and Kyoko cosplayers for a picture, but Deadpool hijacked the picture before I could take it. And I don't have a problem with that at all.
Conclusion? Youmacon was freaking awesome and I had a blast. Was I tired by the end? Could I barely walk by the end? Yes and yes. But it was worth every bit of leg pain and line waiting. And it's only in the planning phases at this point, but plans for going next year are already in effect, and I can not wait for it. So here's to next Youmacon!
All images in this writing were taken by me, but I claim no ownership on the costumes they made, nor the characters they are based upon. But Hardcore Luigi and Magical Girl Colossal Titan were pretty awesome.
The Silent Protagonist actually had a Magical Girl Sign Up sheet made as a joke, but he didn't end up going through with it. I suppose he'll get his chance...
...another day.
