GenCon: A Photo Recap

By Scott Raychel

As mentioned earlier on this illustrious blog, GenCon was this past weekend in our fair city, and Poptometry was there to cover it first hand. It's a big four-day convention showcasing and celebrating the latest and best in table-top gaming. It's fairly common knowledge though, that any event ending with a name ending "Con" will also attract scores of cosplay fanatics, which is an important part of the experience of GenCon, or any Con for that matter. What's special about the whole thing is the feeling of community and blatant acceptance of geek culture that can be experienced while walking through the halls of the convention center hosting an event such as this one. 

For four days out of the year in Indianapolis, everyone gets to let their geek flag fly, something which used to be seen as out-of-the-ordinary. More popular, yet similar events like the San Diego Comic Con, the rise of the super hero movie, programming like G4, and various other factors have lead to geek culture becoming more accepted in the mainstream. Even when wandering outside the convention center into Downtown Indianapolis during GenCon, you'll see a Ring Wraith standing on a street corner, Harley Quinn ordering food at Taco Bell, or even a wizard decked out in a purple robe and cap with yellow stars and moons hanging out at Steak N Shake. But when in the halls of GenCon, cosplay is something that's not only acceptable, but appreciated and encouraged. This post is a dedication to the art of cosplay, as seen on display at GenCon. All photos by yours truly.

I feel the need to preface this article by saying I did not go to cover any of the board game content (although there is a small review at the end, if that's what you REALLY want). The main reason for this, aside from the fact I really know nothing about the vast majority of board gaming, is I was only able to go for an extended amount of time on the last day of GenCon. This means passes were at its cheapest, and somehow since last year's GenCon, EVERYBODY FIGURED THAT OUT. This is the line for one-day passes...

It starts here...

...then goes down the hall...

...then around the corner...

...then down another hall...

...then around ANOTHER corner...

...then down ANOTHER hall...

...and then when I though this was the end of the line, I found out I was so very, very wrong...

The line ended in this room! Needless to say, waiting for a pass seemed like a silly task, so that's why this post contains no game coverage. So you will get cosplay, and YOU WILL LIKE IT.

Bands playing in the halls of GenCon is not uncommon. Mainly lots of folk music, like these guys.

LET THE COSPLAY BEGIN

Hurley ain't afraid of no dragons.

This dude kept standing near Darth Vader and some storm troopers, and therefore was getting virtually no attention. I felt kinda bad for him, so I threw him a pity photo. Not sure what he is, but I'm guessing he just settled on the theme of "Bad Ass" and went for it.

Cardhalla

D'AAAWWWW!

This Finn and this little girl were KILLING this Kinect dancing game.

Also this.

This whole wall were Wii's equipped with Super Smash Brothers Brawl. This makes for a happy me.

Video game tournament. SRS BIDNEZZ.

Look at these fucking hipsters right here.

Even Time Lords gotta sleep every now and then...

...and warriors gotta eat every now and then, too.

This Deadpool cosplayer was ALMOST as douchey as the real Deadpool.

Schwing!

Master Chief, master chillin'.

This is my friend Anthony. Every picture he was in, he did what he referred to as "West Siding." It is glorious. Seriously...

EVERY.

PICTURE.

This was the space for some kind of custom robot battle game. Some of the robots were awesome, like these...

I am a sucker for the Insane Horse Head mask.

Sometimes my finger gets in the way of the flash and creates an unnecessary shadow. I hate myself.

At one point, this band started playing Star Wars music. It was awkward.

This dude shows up every year and entertains any crowd that gathers to watch. He's actually really funny.

I think I just broke my D'AAAWWWW bone.

"Now she gets to see what every Scotsman wears under the kilt."

He offered his cheek, she kissed him on the lips. It was adorable.

There were people in those Tetris blocks. Note the eyes in the hole.

KNEEL BEFORE FLOYD.

This is the only board game I played while I was there. It's called Easter Island, and it's simple, yet surprisingly fun and strategic. I was able to play this when I ran into my friend Jared, of Board & Base. Go check them out for more awesome GenCon coverage!