As some of you may or may not already know, we were tasked with covering GenCon 2010 via the Live Stream. However, sadly, GenCon does not come equipped with Wireless Internet so there was no LiveStream coverage and for that, I'm sorry. Next year, we will attempt to cover matches with a high quality camera and, if possible, wireless internet. Plenty of time in the coming year to make upgrades to our event coverage and the way we do things.

In the mean time though, enjoy some of the highlights of the trip that we took with our backup camera since we were not able to get our Live Stream up and running. Click any of the images below to see them in higher resolution.

Day 0

Our form of transportation, Nick Botchis



Myself, Patrick O'Neill, stuffing my face along side Mr. Botchis



Our Staff Writer, Andrew Kardis



Andrew and Nick, getting their game faces on to prepare for this trip



Youtube Video of our car ride there (Part 1):



Youtube Video of our car ride there (Part 2):



GenCon 2010

Matt Low, the man who made many things possible at GenCon, hanging out with Nick Botchis



Naruto Shippuden Live host Chris Kovaz @ the Bandai Booth teaching new players the basics



Gary "The Law" Lawson carrying out his work shift at the Bandai booth



Part of the Bandai Booth display, Sasuke Uchiha



Pro Player Brandon Sherlock gets into the game by dressing up as Sasuke Uchiha! (Hey! Who is that in the background trying to act all tough?)



DeMarcus and some players relaxing in between rounds at the Shonen Jump Championship



As impressive as Bandai's Booth was, the Magic The Gathering displays were a site to behold!



The Curse has been broken!!!



Now that that's all wrapped up. . . a fitting end to a terrible format



BONUS!!!

As some of you may have overheard from Mike Alpers, when the trip was all said and done, we realized there were 10 people staying in our hotel room, just like the 10 Members of Akatsuki. So we got bored and decided to assign people to be different members of Akatsuki based on the events of the weekend. Who is who? Let's find out!

Kakuzu - Thomas Cao
Reason: Thomas was carrying around a large roll of $2 bills that left a very distinguishable bulge in his pants (courtesy of Troll & Toad. Kudos for the biggest "troll"/Marketing campaign ever). Pretty much, he was in charge of all the money and was constantly making tabs of who owed who what. Money, Money, Money is all you need! (Read: Let's make some money!)

Hidan - Matthrew Low
Reason: The one with the most devout faith of everyone in the room. On top of that, his Cube deck was based around Hidan and ways so that he could never mill out, creating for tediously long games that never ended. He doesn't die. Not even when you squish him into the back of a truck and try to crush him to death. (Read: Religion mostly)

Deidara - Amir Abboushi
Reason: The over the top/loud one. More concerned with fancy/artsy things (Read: Cooking Match/Bad Combo decks) than taking seriously. His goal is to be greater than Itachi secretly, but in the end all he does is just make a huge explosion. Also "Bomb Combat Attribute" fits him perfectly. (Read: lol Semi-Joke character)

Itachi - Josh Lu
Reason: The one all the little kiddies love because he's supposedly some uber powerful ninja. Also, he's going blind. (Read: lol can't see without glasses)

Kisame - Andrew Kardis
Reason: The Troll. Think he's dead? Nah. He's just trollin' ya. Also, always wants to go get something to eat to keep his chakra full. Usually prefers Macaroni & Cheese and/or terrible hotwings.

Sasori - Patrick O'Neill
Reason: Has a flare for artsy/fancy things rather than the practical route sometimes. Also, was defeated by a little girl despite him being supposedly "powerful." (Read: In denial about losing to a 12 year old girl. . . still)

Pain - Mike Alpers
Reason: The man with the plan. Often referred to as "God." Despite being all powerful, loses for terrible reasons (Read: Alpers scrubbed at SJC)

Konan - Nick Botchis
Reason: Despite being really cool to be around, doesn't do much of anything. Follows Pain around aimlessly. (Read: Followed Alpers around all weekend and they partied together. Nick scrubbed at SJC)

Zetsu - Willie B
Reason: The most mysterious. We didn't know anything about him all weekend. . . he would disappear and reappear later with some food or drink for us. Our reconnaissance man. (Read: How does he do that?)

Tobi - Laurent Jarra
Reason: He's a good boy! He fetches things for us and is the butt of everyone's jokes. Secretly, he's probably better than half the people in the room. . . at everything. (Read: Josh and co. abused him all weekend)

Labels: bandai, Chief Tsuzumiya Haruhi, Gencon, Main Character Tsu, tsu