The Professional Gamer - October 4, 2017

Hi Readers! I'm a little late posting an article this week due to attending Rocky Mountain Con with Crystal. We had a pretty good time, even though the convention was a bit slow, business-wise. I spent most of the weekend painting miniatures and Crystal got a start on her Inktober drawings. We met some other cool artists, and Crystal made a few art trades with others nearby. However, the space was likely too large for the number of attendees, and the convention may have booked too many artists and vendors. Its a strange thing, but there is some appropriate balance point of crowd density that really drives the feeling at a convention, including the amount of business that vendors and artists do. Rocky Mountain Con may have been better served booking a slightly smaller venue with fewer artists and vendors, because this would have made them feel more busy. Next month, we'll be at DakuCon, a first year convention here in the Denver area. The organizers are working to create a more "mature" convention, which will hopefully mean less teenagers running around everywhere. Also, these small shows are often a lot of fun. If you are interested in attending, you can find more information at their website.

In addition to attending a convention, Crystal and I decided to start watching a "new" anime series. When I initially saw Gamerz! appear in Crunchyroll, I assumed that it was likely to be either a school romance or harem show with a thin veneer of gaming added to the top for flavoring. Having watched a few episodes now, I must say that I was completely wrong. Although the gaming is mostly just added in for flavor, the references made are generally accurate, reflecting games that exist and paying homage to them. The misunderstanding and miscommunication in Gamerz! is more similar to theatrical farce compared to what we typically see in anime. The comedic timing is tight. I'm about half-way through the series at this point and give it a "strongly recommend" if you already subscribe to CrunchyRoll.

That's all that I have for now, but I'll catch you again early next week. Until then, game on!