This year’s New York Comic Con was held from Thursday, October 10 to Sunday, October 13 at the Javitz Center in New York City. It was a humongous gathering of nerds, geeks, movie buffs, comic heroes, cosplayers, and more.
Heading up on Thursday morning, deadlines were tight. Being a member of the press, I had many appointments to meet on Thursday. As luck would have it, my bus got in late and I found myself missing the first of many appointments that day. So, as my partner Matt Curione and I made our way to the Javitz Center late in the afternoon, we were ready for a long day of fun.
First entering the center, I came to realize how astoundingly large the conference is. Thousands of square feet, all packed with movies, comics, and video games. Just walking around I found it hard not to lose myself the constant rush of people and the awe inspiring sights that surrounded me.
Thursday came to an end, with the highlights being interviewing IGN’s Greg Miller and getting my hands on Nintendo’s upcoming Super Mario 3D World. This was what I considered to be Nintendo’s first real foothold in the struggling market of the Wii U. Nintendo introduced a new ability into the sidescrolling-3D adventure –cat powers. Grabbing a bell power up in the game turns your character into a cute cat that can climb walls and jump higher, introducing a fun twist into the game.
Friday is when things really began to pick up. The day started bright and early at 10AM, where we headed out into the city. Staying with Matt’s sister in Secaucus, New Jersey – about ten minutes out from New York City via subway – we boarded the cramped train car and were on our way. Just getting to the center everyday was a pain – taxi drivers refused to drive us ten blocks, and walking became a pain as blisters began to form on our feet.
Friday at the convention was an eventful day. Cosplayers dressed as movie, video game, and anime characters from all corners of the Earth showed their beautifully crafted costumes. Interviews for the day included talking about horrible video game movies with movie critic West Anthony, discussing comics with IGN’s Joey Esposito, and talking Dark Souls II with J. Kartje, the Community Manager for Namco Bandai.
We got hands on with some unreleased games, including Dark Souls II, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, and The Legend of Zelda: Link between Worlds. Playing unreleased games is always great; it gives players the ability to form their own opinions on something by a means other than watching trailers that are curated specifically to make you like the game. While I didn’t play Dark Souls II or Pac-Man long enough to decide how I felt about them, I spent a little over ten minutes with the new Legend of Zelda, and it felt like an amazing addition to the 3DS family.
Panels are another great part of Comic Con – getting into IGN’s “Podcast Beyond” panel was a breeze after becoming friends with IGN’s Greg Miller, and the same happened later that day when Greg had a panel where he met with the three voice actors from Grand Theft Auto V.
While the convention ended at 7PM that night, the day did not. IGN was hosting an impromptu Meet and Greet at Dave & Busters in Times Square, and over a hundred people showed up. The event was host to some amazing cosplayers like The Last of Us’ Joel and Ellie and Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft. Events included an extreme bout of Dance Dance Revolution and having IGN’s Greg Miller sign my stomach.
After a fun night of partying, Matt and I headed home, which unfortunately for us, did not go without incident. As we entered the empty subway at two in the morning, a few cab drivers approached us asking if we want a cab. “Of course not!” we told them, why take a cab when we can ride the subway for $5? Turns out, the next Subway to New Jersey was at 6AM that morning. In a panic, we called everyone we had met that night looking for a safe couch to sleep on. When that didn’t work, we were forced to fork over the $60 for a ride home.
Saturday was certainly much less eventful. While the convention was a blast, nothing went wrong – certainly not a bad thing. Matt and I had the chance to talk to cosplayers with beautifully crafted costumes of a Spartan from Halo, the Mario Brothers and Peach, Link from The Legend of Zelda, and many Batmen.
The interview of the day was a roundtable discussion with the voice actors of Batman (Roger Craig Smith), Joker (Troy Baker – also the voice of Joel from The Last of Us and Booker from Bioshock Infinite), as well as Eric Holmes, Creative Director on Batman: Arkham Origins. Meeting these three men was amazing, especially Troy Baker, who made us all feel like old friends and acted as if we had known eachother for years. Saturday night as the convention came to a close, we headed out to Times Square to do some adventuring – making sure to get to our subway before they closed.
As I headed home on the bus on Sunday morning, I realized that this was a weekend I’d always love.
