Hello g1s, I'm supermatt64 and welcome to the latest installmet of my new report/review show

Today we dive into the con that has every g1 and video game enthusiest flips out over

But before we go into it let me explain something. I was originally going to record my experience on video camera however my camera decided to not work that weekend and I dont like the crappy video quality of the 3ds, so for now, blog form.

The Convention

Incase you have been living under a rock with no internet your whole life Magfest can best be described as a annual festival that celebrates video games and videogame music. What makes MAGfest stand out from anyother convention is how its run. Its one of those "run by the fan for the fans' kinda of deals which means their is no coporate advertisement bullshit, no room overcrowding and no panels that require a special 200 doller ticket.The website itself could not have said it better when it says MAGfest has "a party-like atmosphere...that no other expo or convention can recreate". 

Location

MAGfest has been held in many places in Virginia in the past, but it as seemed to have found a permanent home at The Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center in the National Harbour right outside of D.C. Honestly the location could not have been better. Its a short drive from the Regan National Airport so anyone who lives outside of the area shouldnt find too much trouble getting there. Its in the National Harbour which holds some of the areas best resteraunts not to mention its location is isolated from all of the D.C traffic, Driving their myself (I live in northern Virginia) it took me almost less than 30 minutes to get there. The hotel itsself is massive, their was just enough space to host all of the panels and concerts with out any problems not to mention more than enough room for all of the video games and arcade machines (will get to that part later). The only down sides to the Gaylord are its expensive hotel rooms and lack of parking spaces. In conclusion MAGfest couldnt be held at any better place in the mid east coast

Activities

At Magfest their is never a dull moment EVER. Basically if their is even a single shred of love for videogames in you soul, MAGfest is you heaven. Right of the bat their is a massive game room filled with every console from an Atari 2600 to a PS3 where you can practiacally play...ANYTHING. Wanna play an epic 20 stock round of Smash Bros with 3 other random strangers, you got it!  Wanna play that obscure retro side scroller, in a corner, all by your self even though you've beaten it a dozen times...uh ok yeah you can do that too. Wanna play that game you havent played in forever because that one kid from down the street stole it before you moved while you were a child. At MAGfest you can do that as well.

 Arcade

On top of that their is a massive arcade room filled with a ton of cabninets. Magfest has everything from you beat em ups, fighters and shooters, to your dancing games, puzzelers, and super retro games like Dig-Dug and Tron. The best part is that all of these games are set to free to play so your can forget taking out a loan to beat the 6 man X- men arcade machine. My favorite part of the arcade room is that its constantly filled with people to play with so your never without a buddy to spams hadokens at or recover the statue of liberty from the Shredder with.

Merchandise 

Like most conventions their is a massive merchandise section that sells pretty much anything and MAGfest is no exception. This year there were at leat 4 big gaming vendors like Mad-gear and Gamepad selling everything from retro games and consoles to rare brand new Japanese exclusive games. The marketplace was also home all kinds of video game apparell and artwork. While I was there I got an Ash Catchum hat, a Screwattack t-shirt and a stuffed Navi doll, all  resonably priced. The only down side to the market place is that some of the merch there is WAY overpriced, especially the games, and they will try to rip you off. I saw all 3 FF7 discs being sold for 70 bucks, but when I tried to sell my dics in their case, with the manual, they would only offer 25.

 Music

However all of this is eclipsed by the sheer greatness the non stop videogame concerts. In a nutshell, every single video game based musician goes to MAGfest and this year and one hell of a lineup. Coverbands such as the Protomen, Armcannon, The Megas, The Oneups, Rare Candy; chiptune artists like DJ Cutman, Danimal Cannon, and even Brentalfloss and the Cartridge Family all preformed. Not to forget, this year MAGfest had a special musical preformance from a guy you may already know, it was just Yuzo Koshiro the guy who oh I dunno made the soundtracks for ACTRAISER, SHENMUE, SHINOBI AND MUTHERFUCKING STREETS OF RAGE!!!!!!!!!!!. Each concert was about a hour long and the hall the concerts were held in was huge so their their was never an overcrowding problem. Basically MAGfest + Music= Win!

This guy is fucking awesome

Miscelaneous 

 Outside of all of those things MAGfest also as a shit ton of panels, a big place in the marketplace just for LANs, a place for table top and card games and the challenge corner where you can take unbelievabley difficult gaming challenges and win prizes. MAGfests challenges range to all kinds of difficulties from betting Mario 3 with the frog suit on to beating a Gunstar Heros boss with no gun. Overall if you attend MAGfest their is a negative 27.8 percent chance of you getting bored.

People

A convention is no fun without cool and interesting people attending to it and MAGfest is lucky to get all kinds of Internet videogame celebrities. Excluding all of the musicians MAGfest 11 had The Angry Video Game Nerd, James Portnow and Daniel Floyd from Extras Credits, Jontron, Egoraptor, The Happy Video Game Nerd, and Eddie Lebron, the director for Blue Core Studios, and of course Screwtattack to name a few. Everyone at MAGfest was really friendly which added to its great atmosphere. and with 10,000 people attending their is always someone to play games with. My fondest MAGfest moments this year was playing mortal kombat 3 and the X men arcade game with a bunch of random strangers, talking about memories about the games like we all already knew eachother for years. While I was their I also got to meet up with a few g1s including these radical dudes.

From left to right Ferret75, A g1 whos name I forgot (if your reading this im sorry) Tom the Iron Man and myself  

Conclusion

This years MAGfest was simply amazing, I loved every second being there. What really makes it stand out from other conventions is its atmosphere. From the moment i walked into the hotel hearing Colossus roars and seeing the arcade and game room  , I felt what can only be described as gaming bliss. If I could recommend only one expo or con to anybody, it would be MAGfest. With that in mind I give MAGfest 11 a 9.5/10. It truely is something that all gamers should experience.

if you have any questions or comments about the show or would like to share some of your MAGfest or any other con/expo moments feel free to share them in the comment section.

 See you next time :p