You just saw three people outfitted in full Jules Verne steampunk attire, a dance routine by several teens dressed as anime characters, and one guy in a perfect duplicate of the Master Chief armor from the Halo video game. You are about to play a quick board game before lunch, and then swing through the art show and the exhibit hall before an evening of role-playing.
You are at Gen Con, one of the largest game and pop culture shows in the country.
This year’s Gen Con took place in Indianapolis, August 5-8, stretching through the Convention Center and several downtown hotels.
The show marked its 43rd anniversary by setting a new attendance record. After many years in the mid-20,000 range, this year’s Gen Con broke the 30,000 person mark, posting a grand total of 30,046 attendees.
Guests of Honor at Gen Con 2010 included Felicia Day and several of her fellow cast members of “The Guild,” actor Wil Wheaton, Ohio-based fantasy romance author Elizabeth Vaughan, and fantasy artist Tom Baxa.
The show featured events and tournaments for every type of tabletop game, plus video and computer games, anime showings, movie screenings, a costume contest, and much more. One attendee described it as “a wonderland of geeky good fun.”
Highlights of this year’s Gen Con included over 470 companies showing their wares in the massive exhibit hall, major tournaments for Magic: The Gathering and other popular collectible card games, plus huge halls filled with board games, miniatures games, and role-playing games galore.
