In its 17th year, RPI’s annual science fiction, anime, and gaming convention, Genericon, broke all records of its past performance. With almost 600 attendees and $5,000 worth of merchandise sold by the vendors, Genericon XVII was bigger and better than ever, and a lot of fun for all involved. A number of factors combined to make this year’s convention (called a con) especially good, such as the sheer amount of anime shown in the DCC’s lecture halls, the plethora of gaming available in the main hall of the DCC, the enthusiastically costumed attendees, and of course, all the hard work put in by both volunteers and staff.
Over the course of the weekend, from 5 pm Friday until 5 pm Sunday, 170 hours of anime were shown in the DCC’s lecture halls. The schedule ran the gamut of different anime series, from science fiction based anime like the Evangelion movies to present day stories like Fruits Basket, and many, many more. Even the most experienced anime fans were able to find something new to watch.
An equally important aspect of Genericon XVII was the gaming. Live action role playing games, known as RPGs, were running at all hours during the convention and were open to anyone interested in playing. In addition, many other types of board games and card games were available. The video game room on the second level of the DCC was also a popular attraction.
While most of the con was in the DCC, the vendor rooms were across the walkway in the CII. Posters, cards, comics, mangas, DVDs, VHS tapes, soundtracks, and lots of other merchandise was available for purchasing in the vendor rooms.
Of course, a con wouldn’t be a con without attendees. In particular, some of the costumes were very creative. There were entire groups of people dressed as Final Fantasy characters, as well as characters from many other games and animes.
In addition to the anime and the games, Genericon had a variety of special events. Clay-o-rama, a stunningly silly battle of moldable earth products, was held in the downstairs of the DCC Saturday night. There were also video game tournaments—on the huge screen of DCC 308, no less—and even an anime dance held off-site in the McNeil Room of the Rensselaer Union. All of these provided welcome breaks from hours and hours of watching anime in a dark auditorium.
Another set of special events fell into the category of panels where attendees could ask questions of writers and illustrators of many well known webcomics. One of the honored guests was Pete Abrams, the cartoonist behind the very popular Sluggy Freelance comic.
Of course, no con can be perfect, and Genericon XVII had its share of problems, albeit minor ones. One such problem was ensuring the functionality of the laptops playing all of the anime during two days of continued operation, although by and large the technical issues were taken care of quickly. Also, the unavoidable rescheduling of events left a few attendees confused about where their anime went.
Despite the minor problems, Vice Chair Sam Kaplan said, “We ran mostly snafu free this year,” a sentiment the attendees confirmed by their strong numbers at the closing ceremonies. Genericon XVIII will be held next year, January 21 to 23. If the quality of this year’s con is any indication, next year’s is not to be missed.
