In all of the footage we shot during America’s Video Game Expo, the first evenings events stood out as among the toughest to replay and edit. We here at Geekadelphia would like to harshly warn you before watching the video above. It’s safe for work and safe for play around children, though we’d just as likely suggest against either one. The only promise I can make you that may offer some respite for your trouble is that, at the end of the video, you will be treated to an unimaginable site your eyes will hardly believe. Brace yourself — this is where s*%t gets real.

(Special thanks go out to the PMS Clan for existing.)

At this point it’s quite possible you’re done with seeing coverage of the little convention that could, but we couldn’t stop ourselves from showing you around one of it’s more lurid corners. While walking around the convention center, we accidentally found signs for an area specializing in retro gaming wares. And though at its gates a sentry team of cosplayers guarded entry, we carried on! And so we headed off towards what you can see above in vivid detail. Believe it or not, we restrained ourselves from any purchases — it’s always hard not to buy an Atari Lynx, ya know?

(original gangstas)

Yes, we’re still covering the America’s Video Game Expo (“videogame”, folks). And yes, we’re just as shocked as you by an announcement today that its attendance numbers more than tripled this year. According to VGXPO affiliates NBC10, “the 2008 America’s Video Game Expo more then tripled its attendance versus 2007, with 24,674 people attending over a three day period.” When Ed Fleming, VGXPO Executive Director, told us way back when that he expected to triple this years attendance numbers, we scoffed — no doubt about it. When we were putting together the montage for y’all to peruse, it was obvious that the show garnered better numbers than last year, but there’s no way we could have guessed it had tripled in attendance! Also, according to this press release, “VGXPO 2009 is currently scheduled to take place October 9-11, 2009 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.” — major publishers will (hopefully) be hard pressed to miss next year.

We’ll be posting a few more videos over the next few days from the VGXPO that fell by the wayside while editing. Hit the break to read more from the exciting press release and our vitriol filled comments.

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We shot a metric ton of b-roll — for serious. After hours spent hacking away at clip after clip, we’ve put together a bit of a montage for you covering the entirety of the VGXPO. An elderly woman playing Tron in its original stand-up arcade form? Covered. How about a man dressed in a Master Chief suit that may have cost him over $2k? Done. An original cylon? You bet! We got it all.

Oh, right! That whole gaming thing; nearly forgot about those! That’s likely because there were so few games actually available to play without being sold on something in the process that we opted out for the most part. Anyway, check out the above to see what you missed (intentionally or not) at the VGXPO. And don’t tell us we never did nothin’ for ya.

(Extra special thanks go out to Stephen Metzger who not only spent hours walking the floor shooting this stuff but also hours editing it into something beautiful. Music Credit: Twilight Electric via Internet Archive)

Do you ever find yourself sitting alone in a dark room, hours spent headshottin’ fools and laughing at them on Steam/Ventrillo, pining for a little more? Are you the type of person that says to themself “I wish I could feel like I just got shot a whole bunch of times!” after hours of online gaming? Well now you can! Actually, in fairness, you could have for some time now. TN Games, makers of the “3rd Space Gaming Vest”, were showing off their wares at the VGXPO this past weekend and we stopped by to check it out and talk to TN Games CEO & President Dr. Mark Ombrellaro.

How does the vest feel? A lot like getting shot by a paintball, though with less sting, to be fair. Honestly, it’s kind of an interesting experience, only hampered by its somewhat cumbersome design (it’s a vest you have to strap into!) and high price-point ($169.99). Check out the interview above for more on the craaazy vest.

Of all the events taking place at the videogame expo in Philadelphia this past weekend, we were most excited for two in particular listed on the program: Starcraft 2 in playable form and David Jaffe’s promised Skype-call on Saturday afternoon. After we walked over to the LAN area and found out that the promise of Starcraft 2 was a bold-faced lie (“Must be a typo”, says generic VGXPO worker. Right… a typo.), we decided to saddle up and head on over to the theater for the promised David Jaffe call. We arrived to a rather empty auditorium with a few convention-goers pretending to be a panel on the stage. “You’d think more peope would show up for David Jaffe’s speech!”, I foolishly mumbled. “Oh, that’s canceled. We’re just joking around up here.”, one of the faux-panelists said. So what happened? Hit the bump to find out, in Jaffe’s own words, what exactly happened (or rather, didn’t).

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In case you didn’t know by this point, last weekend in Philadelphia there was a certain expo that may or may not have involved one of our favorite things: teh videogamez. The America’s Video Game Expo (still “videogame” — one word, folks) muddily wandered through the Pennsylvania Convention Center and fell over in a flop of sorrow. We weren’t exactly surprised, as it’s Executive Director isn’t exactly known for his pointed intelligence (scroll to the bottom) but we did take a whole ton of photos, interviewed a few folks, and caught a terrifying marketing moment care of Comcast/Commodore. We’ll be posting a few videos over the next few days, but figured we’d start things off with a second photo gallery for your perusal. Check out the first gallery right here and stay tuned for more coverage as the week goes on.

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Hey everyone! Eric here, blogging from Zenkaikon in King of Prussia, right outside Philadelphia. I’m uploading and editing some video, with a woman dressed up as Link sitting next to me. She’s just begun playing an Ocarina… seriously. I have no words.

Anyhow, enjoy this quick video. We’ll have more through the day.

OBJECTION! Tim and Eric know nothing of anime!

Chill out Phoenix Wright, we’ll be covering a lot of video game and comic book news, and we’ve got a friend coming along to handle all our anime needs.

This weekend, me, Tim, and special guest blogger Angie Medina will be heading over to King of Prussia for Zenkaikon, a two day Anime convention spanning the evening of Friday, October 17th into the late hours of Saturday, October 18th. And you better believe we are excited.

We will be blogging through the weekend, taking photos and short videos of the neat things we discover. I plan on entering a Mario Kart competition, while Tim and Angie are all kinds of excited about catching Voltron. I’m sure that sometime during the competition, Tim will go missing, only to be discovered participating in the cosplay masquerade.

The convention takes place at the Valley Forge Scanticon, right across from the King of Prussia shopping mall. I know there are a handful of Apple employees at the KOP mall who read this blog, so dudes, come say hi! I’m looking at you, Mike and Cullin.

For more info on the convention, visit the official website. See you there!

Zenkaikon
www.zenkaikon.com