This year’s convention will focus on interactive fiction and the production of stories and worlds in fiction and gaming.

“This year we started planning early, which allowed us more time to deal with all of the issues of the convention’s planning,” said Jason Wodicka, chairman of Genericon XV. “Additionally, we focused on slightly less famous guests than in the past—a decision which has resulted in an exceptionally high guest turnout, something I feel will make the convention more fun. We’ve also put a lot more work into publicizing the [convention] on and off campus.”

Animé fans who attend the convention will enjoy more than 120 hours of animé presented in three theater-style video rooms. Possible presentations include Noir and Excel Saga. Gamers will have the opportunity to participate in one-shot table-top role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons and Vampire, a video-game tournament, live action role-playing games, war games, including Warhammer 40k and Axis and Allies, video games, including Super Calibur and Super Smash Brothers, and pick-up games like Illuminati and Union Pacific.

The conference will also feature for the first time panels, talks, and demos on a variety of topics, such as fanfiction and drawing workshops with artists. There will be an opportunity to meet guests from gaming, animé, and comics, play text-adventure games on WYSE and VT100 terminals, and participate in Clay-o-rama, a contest that lets you build monsters and pit them against each other in battle.

“We’re trying to bring people together to have a good time and hopefully help them find things they enjoy but might not otherwise try,” said Wodicka.

Genericon attendees will be eligible to win awards in several categories, such as traveling the farthest to get to the convention, being the oldest or youngest to attend, and having the best costume.