Last weekend, fans of anime, gaming, and science fiction converged on the DCC and the CII for Genericon XIV.
The selection of anime this year was larger than ever, including several titles not otherwise available in this country. The expanded video schedule led to the use of DCC 308 and 318 for the first time. There were several complete series shown, including Photon, Cowboy Bebop, and Serial Experiments Lain, and also several movies, including Nausicaa, X, and End of Evangelion. Titles new this year included FLCL, Hand Maid May, and Mamotte Shugogetten.
Two student-created parody fan subs were also shown at this year’s Genericon, based on Escaflowne and Key: The Metal Idol. Both were met with an enthusiastic approval from the audience.
In addition to the anime, several science fiction films were shown, including Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Dark City.
One of the highlights of the convention was the video game competition. Convention-goers were able to play several games on PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Dreamcast systems in a room that was dedicated to video games. It even included an extremely old system that played only one game—Pong. Then, on Sunday, players were able to go head-to-head in two tournaments held in DCC 308, one for Soul Caliber and one for F-Zero X.
Another main attraction of Genericon was the wide array of role-playing games, both live-action and tabletop. Guests-of-honor Chris Adams, Dave Fooden, and Barbara Manui from gaming company Ætherco were on hand to run their game Continuum and to playtest their unpublished game narcissist, which is due to be released later this year. Ætherco also threw a "Bebop Party" Saturday night "to celebrate the glory that is Cowboy Bebop," as Adams put it.
A popular perennial event at Genericon is the "Build Your Own LARP" workshop, in which a few experienced game writers help the participants to create a live-action role-playing game in a weekend. This year’s workshop, run by "Uncle" Don Ross, Josh Brandt, and Andrew Petrarca, attracted seven writers. They started working at 10 pm Friday evening; by Sunday afternoon, they had produced All Together … Again, a fantasy-genre game for 16 players. Creations from prior years include The Ilath-Nai Defense and It’s Good (?) To Be The King.
Though the convention had a respectable 176 people in attendance, some events did poorly due to lack of interest. A planned music video competition flopped hard, and the Cosplay, a costume competition, had to be cancelled entirely.
On the whole, however, the convention appeared to be successful, and the Genericon committee, led by Chair Jason Wodicka, has already begun planning for next year’s convention. Goals for next year include an expanded art show and the creation of Genericon T-shirts to be sold at the convention.
