Going to GenCon
It’s August and two large events are looming on the horizon – Gencon and PAX. Gencon arrives this weekend (August 15-18) and PAX at the end of the month (August 30 – Sept 2). Because we live in Seattle and are plugged into them innernetz, PAX tends to be the rising star Con of our choice. However, this weekend I’ll be Dorkadia’s person on the ground at Gencon, the world’s largest tabletop rpg convention.
Gencon is the largest convention in nerdery that people have never heard of. There is a tiny gap in the Venn diagram of roleplayers and video game nuts, and for some reason Gencon seems to sit exactly in that gap. It was started in Lake Geneva (GENcon) by the same group of people that started a company you might have have heard of: TSR. If you’re still wet behind the ears, TSR is the company started by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson when they came up with a little side project called Dungeons and Dragons.
The majority of the con revolves around tabletop rpgs, CCGs, and wargames, but a few video games are always apparent on the showroom floor. However, Gencon has never really become the multi-industry merchandising fest that other cons like PAX and ComiCon have morphed into. It’s still an insider’s con focused primarily on the analogue gaming industry.
This weekend I’ll be trying out some new games, giving the True Dungeon a whirl, and getting my nerd on. Stay tuned for daily updates.
