In Texas, anime conventions typically fall between late Spring and Early fall. It’s prime time for being outside and smelling like con funk. As a result, there’s a large gap in the season when there are no cons to be had and there’s not a very good reason to get blackout drunk in a stranger’s hotel room. But fear not, because there’s one, large, well-known convention that’s been saving you from this nightmare for a few years now – Ikkicon. The last Ikkicon wrapped up almost two weeks ago and we got to check it out, so let’s see how this winter bonanza fared among its warmer competitors.
Location
Ikkicon has taken place at the Hilton Austin hotel, a fabulous location with a ton of amenities around it. Various restaurants and Austin’s infamous bar blockade Sixth Street are all within walking distance of the con. Since the actual convention is within the hotel, there’s not much need to go outside, which is definitely a plus in the winter. The hotel itself has relatively expensive con rates, which is to be expected for the primo location, but the rooms are updated and feel modern.
Unfortunately there are a number of drawbacks to this space. Ikkicon spans two floors of the hotel (4th and 6th) and as a result, Artist’s Alley isn’t in an enclosed space, but rather in the hallways. For every year past, this hasn’t been a terrible issue. Sure it was difficult walking around at high traffic times, but no more so than is acceptable. This year, however, a combination of increased attendance and the line for badges snaking from one end of the hallway down the middle of Artist’s Alley meant it was a quagmire of nerdbodies all pressed together.
Though the geographical location was killer, it’s clear Ikkicon has grown out of its venue. Next year, the convention is moving up north to a larger location, but out of downtown. It’s going to be interesting to see if the move pays off.
Features
As far as anime conventions go, this one was relatively run of the mill. Only six industry guests attended, which isn’t terrible, but if you were debating between Ikkicon or one later in the year, that may sway you. There were raves when you’d expect them, video rooms as you’d anticipate, and a gaming room filled with mostly the new Smash Brothers.
Where this con differentiated itself from others was the wide variety of panels available. From a wrestling show on Friday night to Whose Line is it Anime? to a tattoo show, there were a few really interesting, out of the norm panels that made the schedule jump out. If you’re looking in to going and want to know how it’s different from most other conventions, it’s the location and panels.
The only real negative thing is that this year, Ikkicon staff decided to put up barriers on hallways so only people with badges could get by. You used to be able to walk around the entire two floors of the con whenever you wanted to, and only be asked to see a badge when entering a door (you know, like a reasonable convention that realizes blocking open areas makes no sense). I don’t know if they ran out of volunteer staff, or the one guy that stopped us was power hungry, but it was really off putting. Hopefully that’s alleviated next year.
Stuff to Buy
The Artist’s Alley was definitely on par with other conventions, featuring similar booths and offerings with shows you’d expect. The Dealers Room was about the same thing, mostly stuff you’ve seen before and that one figure you keep drooling over, but still can’t afford. One really interesting newcomer to the con was a couple who laser etched pint and shot glasses. They featured a number of fandoms from Legend of Zelda to Doctor Who to Metal Gear Solid. It’s been a while since I’ve walked through a Dealer’s Room and stopped because I saw something entirely new and different. Kudos.
Conclusion
Ikkicon is the perfect cure for your winter con blues. Though it may not have the large amount of guests and pretty standard offerings, it’s another con you can go to that has a little flavor of its own. The location is outstanding and you won’t be forced to eat coffee pot ramen because you don’t want to leave and pay for parking again. To be fair though, next year that’s going away (can’t wait to see if it’s still cool). Beware though, this year was tremendously packed and seemed poorly laid out, problems which will likely be alleviated next year. And hopefully next year, they’ll learn their lesson about badge-blocking open areas. If you simply can’t wait until A-Kon and need something to cure the post-holiday blues, Ikkicon is right up your alley.
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Rooster Teeth has been a staple on the internet for quite some time. Like Strongbad Emails or the Awesome series on Newgrounds, Red vs Blue is probably a part of your internet puberty. Since then, Rooster Teeth has grown to produce a number of web series, its own anime, and its own convention.
Rooster Teeth Expo is your source for all things Rooster Teeth, internet content, and gaming in Austin. There’s no other convention in the central Texas area that caters to those interests, so how well did RTX 2014 fill the need?
Gaming
The con is only three years old, but in that time, it’s grown in vendors, attendance, and featured guests. Last year’s expo hall had a number of indie titles, but nothing mainstream or particularly noteworthy to try for the first time. This year, however, 343 Studios came by to show off the Master Chief Collection to the public for the first time and allowed con-goers to play Halo 2 multiplayer on the Xbox One, a strange experience in and of itself. The entire experience takes you back to Friday nights on Xbox Live in 2005. Y’know, if you could also be watching TV while you play and you didn’t have to worry about people trying to make you say “Xbox go home.”
The indie games on the floor were also really interesting this year and definitely an upgrade from previous shows. Capsule Force is a platformer versus game with an 80s-anime inspired art style that looks simple until you play it and you’re suddenly shouting because THAT’S MY PLATFORM WHERE DID YOU EVEN COME FROM. NO. GOD, GET OFF THERE. It’s awesome. Devolver Digital also showed off a few demos, mostly stuff we saw at PAX East, but this time Broforce got a versus mode and it was as awesome as you’d expect.
The games weren’t just limited to video games though as there was an entire booth dedicated to Superfight, the game that takes visual cues from Cards Against Humanity, and its core mechanics from conversation between your friends in which every sentence started with “No dude, dude. Who would win in a fight between…” It’s highly addictive and will make you laugh that ugly laugh you try not to do on dates.
So the gaming portion was pretty good. Still not many high profile games, but that’s not really the focus for RTX anyway. If you want to see more new releases, make the trek out to PAX or even Quake Con, but if you’re cool with some indie titles plus Halo, your need will be satiated here.
Internet
On to the internet stuff! If you’re interested in becoming a content creator, this convention has a surprising amount of panels to help you get started producing videos or podcasts for the net. And if you already have a web show and just want to know how to take it to the next level, there are panels for that too. Unsurprisingly, this convention hosts a number of people that have made the internet their income source through creativity, and they’re willing to share how they’ve done it with you. Plumbing their knowledge through panels is a great way to remotivate yourself to get back to the e-grindstone.
This year also saw the invitation of one of the biggest groups on YouTube – the
Game Grumps. All five main Grump members—Danny, Arin, Suzy, Barry, and Ross—were present for a huge Q&A panel. The questions ranged from such sweet platitudes as, “Can I give you these roses and a hug?” to the definitely creepy, “Where are you going for dinner tonight?” A few questions were also asked about content creation, how they keep it up, and whether they prefer to work in a group, but those questions were definitely overwhelmed by gift giving and wolfjob (don’t Google that if you don’t know what it is).
As a content creator, I really enjoyed RTX as a learning platform to ask questions to or get suggestions from a large variety of successful internet businesspeople. And as a content consumer, however, I wish they had grabbed a few more of my favorite YouTubers to make it feel a little more well-rounded. I love Game Grumps, but maybe also Rocket Jump would have been cool.
Rooster Teeth
I mean. It’s Rooster Teeth Expo. There’s Griffballs on sale, panels for RWBY, autograph sessions, episode premiers, retrospectives, trailers, Achievement Hunter. If there’s something on Rooster Teeth, it was at this con. Duh, it’s excellent if you’re a Rooster Teeth fan, just get down here.
Bonus Stuff (Food, Booze, etc.)
The Austin Convention Center is near a number of hotels and has a wide variety of food in the area at a large number of price points. Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, French, Greasy Street Pizza, you name it, the area has it. It’s also a few blocks away from the infamous Sixth Street, a strip of about four blocks of solid bars. There’s nothing better than a group of Halo buffs drunkyelling on a bar’s roof about the benefits of the Needler in combat.
The convention also hosts a few parties in the area where you can hobnob with some of your favorite content creators. All in all, the convention center, hotels, food, and extra-con entertainment are pretty top-notch.
Conclusion
RTX isn’t the best in the nation in any of the categories it caters to. You can find better gaming and internet conventions elsewhere, but not in Texas and certainly not for this price. The con also doesn’t really advertise it, but it’s a great resource for beginning YouTubers to get guidance from seasoned vets. So if you’re a fan of Rooster Teeth, wanting to kickstart your internet media presence or just really want to see some cool games in the Austin area, pop down to RTX for the weekend. You won’t be sorry.
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