San Diego Comic Con

So I am finally getting around to starting my own blog. With all the places I travel to and all the conventions I attend, I figured it was about time. So why not start with the biggest convention this year... San Diego's Comic Con.

I have been attending SDCC for 5 years now. Every year I become immersed in the crowds of other dorks, nerds, and geeks to enjoy everything from comic books to animes to video games. Most of the time I cosplay. One year I went as an original character from the anime Bleach, another year I was Sniper from Team Fortress 2, this year... I was Commander Shepard from Mass Effect. I have been in love with the Mass Effect series since the first game released. My husband brought it home one day and when he began playing it, I was immediately hooked. Ever since then I joined the Bioware bandwagon. I have played other Bioware games prior, like Jade Empire, but Mass Effect was the one that took my heart.

My Commander Shepard outfit is the Cerberus uniform she wears while on the Normandy. My friend Gena Hernandez helped me with the jacket and I did the rest. Even modified a Nerf gun to look like a custom N7 weapon. The whole costume was complete by 05/25/2011.

Cerberus Jacket

Custom Weapon

While traveling in Colorado, I get word that Bioware was going to hold a costume contest at SDCC! I was beyond excited and couldn't wait to participate! Not only that but it was my chance to play the demo for Mass Effect 3... which I have pre-ordered ever since December 2010 (as a birthday gift to myself). 

Day 1 of SDCC:

We arrive on Thursday morning, settle into the hotel and wait for Luis Castanon from Newgrounds to join us. Once we are all together, I get dressed up in my costume and we take the shuttle to the Convention Center. I look out to the left from the bus and there it is... the Bioware Base at the Hilton... with a gigantic sign showing Commander Shepard. We grab our badges and start walking the exhibition floor. 

First we stop at the Saints Row 3 booth. Taking a moment to see the preview, we go inside and I couldn't stop laughing. The new additions to the game will certainly make it even more fun to play. And I am really REALLY looking forward to the hover jet. Oh and hitting people with a big purple dildo. 

Next stop, the I-Mockery booth. They have been working on Abobo's Big Adventure, something my husband Matt got to help be a beta in. It's looking great so far and I cannot wait to see the final product!

After lunch... it was time to finally go over to the Bioware Base.

You could see this all the way from the Convention Center

While standing in line for the demos, I got to play with the N7 Rifle Volpin Props created for SDCC and take a seat in the Illusive Man's chair (which I did his exact pose, even held my cigarette the way he does). And then the stage came to life, showing previews from the demo while being recorded for BiowareTV. Casey Hudson, the executive producer of Mass Effect, came on stage and talked a little bit about the demo we would be playing and about the game I'm so eagerly waiting to play. While he was walking away, Luis and Matt "helped" push me into going up to him and asking for his photograph. I introduced myself and said how much of a big fan I was... even told him how excited I was to be meeting him (my heart was literally pounding against my chest this entire time). Then he said, "I actually know who you are. I've seen your pictures online." O_O <--- that was my face. He knew who I was... HE KNEW WHO I WAS! Hearing him say that topped the list of most memorable moments, knocking meeting Adam West last year straight out of the ballpark.

Casey Hudson and I

It took a good ten minutes for my heart rate to slow back down, which was fine because we were still standing in line. My husband and Luis left to go see the Batman: Arkham City panel while I stayed in line. In the words of my husband, "It looked awesome! And there's penguin with a posh-British accent!" So needless to say, another game that is looking promising. I was nearing the front of the line when I see out of the corner of my eye... Garrus. Well, someone dressed up as Garrus but still! The costume was done by the great Holly Conrad of Crabcat Industries. I immediately knew I had to get my photo taken with him, after all what is Shepard without her turian vigilante (especially my Shepard who romanced him). So I have the person I was speaking with in line take my camera and take a photo for me. The moment I stood next to Garrus, all I could hear is the clicking and flashing from cameras. I guess everyone noticed how in-game we looked. : 3

Due to time constraints, I had to leave the line to meet up with several people from Deviant Art. So I wasn't able to play the demo but I would attempt again the next day.

Day 2 of SDCC:

We started the day by walking the exhibition floor some more. Then we attend the Legendary Pictures panel with information about the new Mass Effect movie. I am typically against video games being turned into movies and when they announced the Mass Effect movie, I threw up my arms and screamed, "NO!" I still attended the panel to see if maybe Casey Hudson could persuade me to change judgement or at least give me some hope that this would not be a total failure. Upon hearing that it will be based on the events in Mass Effect 1 and following around Commander Shepard, I opened up a little to the idea. The thing I enjoy most about Mass Effect is the ability to have your own story. In the movie adaptation, it may or may not be what I decided to go with in the game and I understand that. I'm still a bit skeptic but I have changed my opinion from refusing to see it to going on opening day.

After the panel, we stopped by Maddox's Best Page in the Universe booth. He has a new book coming out titled "I Am Better Than Your Kids." Both Matt and I are fans of him and enjoy meeting him at SDCC every year. Even Matt made him some artwork to get graded... it didn't end well.

Matt received an F+... his gem was lumpy.

Matt's failure left us to wander the floor again. At this point, I had a chance to meet Jennifer Hale (the voice of female Shepard), Holly Conrad (the one who made the Garrus costume and is known for her great Shepard armor), and Rana McAnear (the face model for Samara). Every single one of them were extremely wonderful to speak with! They were down to earth and I would love to meet them all again (which I got to later on at the Bioware Base). It was getting closer to the time for the Costume Contest so we headed over to the Bioware Base to try and play the ME3 demo. Again I didn't have a chance to because I needed to register for the Contest but I had a blast hanging out with the other cosplayers. Made friends with a bunch of them, they are that awesome! (BTW, Shepard loves her Isabellas!) I also got to chat with Jesse Houston, producer for ME3. We swear we know each other... but to this date I still can't figure out how or where. 

A bunch of the cosplayers for the Costume Contest.

The Bioware Costume Contest was a ton of fun. I didn't win but that's okay. According to Nick Clifford, assistant project manager at EA, I was his favorite Shepard and that was enough for me. ^_^ Okay, so I'm a pushover! I was about to go back to the hotel (just from the sheer exhaustion of walking around nonstop in my costume since 9am) but since so many people wanted me to stay... I stayed. I got interviewed a bunch for BiowareTV and for PopChips, had lots of photos taken, and people were actually coming up to me saying they recognized me from online! I'm an internet celebrity now! There goes my 15 minutes of fame. =P

Day 3 at SDCC:

Still exhausted from the prior night, I was debating on wearing my skater shoes instead of my military boots. But since Saturday at SDCC is when everyone is completely dressed to perfection, I stayed true to the costume. Many of us from Newgrounds went to see the Quick Draw! Panel and the Cartoon Voices Panel, kind of a tradition with us. This year Robin Atkin Downes, the voice of Medic in Team Fortress 2, was on it. As soon as we were finished with the panels, we made our way to the Bioware Base determined to play the ME3 demo. This time, due to my involvement in the costume contest and making friends with the people at Bioware, I was bumped to the front of the line. Matt and I walked into the room, listened to the introduction conducted by EDI telling what Shepard needed to do, and proceeded to play the demo (both as soldier). The best part was playing the demo dressed as Commander Shepard... priceless.

First thing I did was allocate the squad points. I maxed out Concussive Shot, my favorite power in the whole game, and made it bone-shattering. For Garrus, after squealing like a fangirl when I saw him, I maxed out his Turian Rebel ability and placed the rest in Concussive Shot and Proximity Mine. For Liara, I maxed out her Biotic Training and placed the rest on Singularity. Then I started playing the best demo I laid hands on. I enjoyed hearing the explosion each concussive shot made... and the shock wave of destruction from maxing it out! When I discovered the omni-blade, it was addicting. No matter how close I came to reaching "Critical Mission Failure," I enjoyed the feeling of stabbing Cerberus operatives! Matt and I even had a contest going on who stabbed the most people with the omni-blade. I won... that's because Shepard always wins. The demo ended when the Atlas Mech dropped in. I wanted to start the battle with it right then and there but alas I have to wait until March to take him down. On the way out, we chatted with Chris Priestly, community coordinator for Bioware, about our reactions. It's looking amazing so far and the dedication Bioware has put into it can clearly be seen with every improvement. 

I stuck around the Bioware Base to do the Mass Effect March while Matt went back to the convention floor to play other demos like Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. He says Off the Record is extremely slow at the moment, poor frame rate. There was still a lot of work that needed to be done with the demo. The March consisted of a bunch of us going around the Gas Lamp District in San Diego, holding up our inflatable omni-blades and screaming "Mass Effect" and "Save the Earth!" I would occasionally throw in "Vote for Commander Shepard" and "I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite march in the solar system." At the end of the March, they revealed the 6 candidates for the default femShep. My vote goes to the blonde Shep... but I love the black one too. Many of us stayed around afterwards for the after party, I couldn't stay too long due to a meetup with the Newgrounds peeps, but had a blast with my fellow Mass Effect nerds. 

Me, Nick Clifford, and Holly Conrad

Just when I was leaving, I noticed Ross O'Donovan (from Newgrounds) and some of the Crabcat Industries people. I sat down and chatted with them a bit. The person who was cosplaying as Garrus was taking a break and I found this as the perfect opportunity to ask him to recreate, in my opinion, the best scene in the game. He agreed. After getting Garrus's head back on, we did the headbump...

Achievement Unlocked: Paramour

Of course, Holly Conrad had to add the fact that we just had the Bioware version of turian sex. XD From what I can tell, this was the only photo taken the entire Comic Con with the headbump so I feel really special. (It's amazing what being nice can do.) I made it a point to say goodbye to all the people I met and thank them for a great time before leaving, just the way I am. Then headed to meet up with the Newgrounds people for our annual get-together. We all ended up at the Fox Sports Bar at the Hilton next to the Convention Center. What happens when you get a bunch of animators, programers, and fans together? We just sit around drinking and talking. Nothing wrong with that.

The next day, Matt and I left the beautiful city of San Diego. I look forward to it every year and SDCC never ceases to disappoint me. This year easily tops the previous ones. I got to spend all three days dressed up as my favorite video game character. I got to meet so many wonderful people and be a part of the events Bioware was holding. I couldn't have asked for more.

Goodbye San Diego... until next year.

See you space cowboy...