So it’s been a week and a half since Ayacon and at least it hasn’t been two weeks after the event so I’m getting better! There is a valid reason for the lack of posting as well this time but lets start from the beginning. I left my job on Monday before Aya and I’ll be honest I sort of miss the job but I definitely miss the people.
Anyways finishing on Monday allowed me to rest Tuesday and pack before my friend from Ireland stayed at mine on Wednesday. Packed and ready, Wednesday rolled about and I picked my friend up from the bus stop we had a cob and I let her play Dead Space…AND IT WAS GLORIOUS, personally I still havent finished it but for me it is the current gen of scary games, it’s got the atmosphere, the music and the “wtf was that that flew across the screen?!”. As I have yet to finish the game I can’t really write a review for it and it’s been out for a few years now (it even has a sequel!) so if you really wanted to find out about the game I suggest you google it. Anyways Dead Space, pizza and a few episodes of Community (Allison Brie in the last 2 eps OMG <3) later we crashed out for Pre-con the next day.
As is tradition since I’ve been in the Midlands, I’ve tried for every pre-con to have a weatherspoons breakfast, just in case I dont have a full meal during the con. Breakfast was had and so we headed to the station to go to Birmingham to meet my girlfriend, a mutual friend + his girlfriend. All of us met up in Brum and headed on our way to Coventry station. On the way to Coventry I received a text from a friend about a job I asked about, tl;dr he asked if I could start on Wednesday (he knew I was away the weekend and wouldn’t be back till Monday afternoon). So I replied yes, and now why is this such a big deal? the jobs in Manchester. That’s right even more north! now I live 40mins out of Manchester. and I have been back an forth since Aya to move stuff across, anyways back to the con! We arrived at Warick Arts Centre and instantly hit the bar. Now this was my second Ayacon and as much as I loved the first time I came, this was a lot better! For one the SU bar stayed open all weekend and the local shop stayed stocked up. Anyways after hitting the bar we grabbed our room key dropped our bags off and began drinking while waiting for everyone we knew that was coming on Thursday to arrive. Unfortunately for me I was feeling a bit under the weather so I had to leave around Midnight.
Friday came along, we had breakfast, registered, and was killing time till the first event I wanted to go to started, and that was….Stage Clear Reunion show! For those who don’t know Stage Clear was run by a friend and an acquaintance I knew, one is a indie game developer (Perrin) and the other is a games journalist (Rob). I believe I may still have the link on the side over there somewhere. So, Rob last year had left the UK to study in Japan for a year and had just recently come back just in time to come to Ayacon in fact! 2 hours later, the Stage Clear show was done and I got a empty coke bottle thrown at me. I may sue for physical damage I’m not sure yet. The show was really just a catch up over the last year of gaming news with a little Q&A session afterwards. With that done, there was the opening ceremony which I did not go to, I hit the bar again and then went to the party for a bit in the evening, again I didn’t feel great and had to crash out early again.
Saturday rolled along and again we had breakfast, the dealers room opened so I went over to say hi to everyone I knew that was selling stuff. Helping out for a bit at Gundam Nation (check them out!) After wards I just wandered again chatting and chilling with friends. waiting my first event of the day which was the…StarCraft2 Invitational! 6 players all of which who hang out on an IRC channel we all use. Being games of best of 1 only, we had some pre-lim seeding event just before Aya. Predictably the person we thought was going to win won. With this event everyone that knew it was happening was surprised at how full the room was. We all thought it would just be everyone that is on IRC in a room playing starcraft but by the time the event started the room was full, no seats were left, people were sitting on the floor and hanging by the door just to watch. Being a Saturday at a convention, there was also the masquerade which surprisingly for me was actually quite good! There were some big groups and some really good cosplays. However there was one which currently escapes me that was entered into the cosplay competition and was extremely plain. With that done I hit the bar till the party started. Unfortunately I missed the kpop party due to a Street Fighter Tournament, the tourny started at half 8 and by the time it was 11 I had only played my second match. Seeing how long it took, I gave up, went down to the bar to meet up with everyone and played catch up. Unfortunately missing the party put me in a semi sour mood but I managed to stay out finally.
Sunday came about and well it was pretty much a blur, mainly drinking, chilling and partying. The convention itself was a great success in my opinion and I have yet to put up the pictures I took. Reading the forum of Ayacon there have only been one or two real complaints the other complaints are just personal responses and are trying to force people into thinking like they do. Anyways I’m tired, I’ve not stopped travelling since Ayacon ended and I hope someone reads this.
People and things to follow:
Gundam Nation – Check them out!
Kairo – Perrins upcoming indie game.
Perrin’s Twitter
Rob’s Twitter
Check these people out, or not. I’m really not fussed.
