ICON 2009: The basics
What:
ICON, South Africa’s biggest annual games and comics convention. For the record, the title of "SA's oldest gaming con" actually belongs to Cape Town’s Dragonfire.
Where:
Jabula Recreation Centre, Sandringham, Johannesburg (Gauteng province, South Africa).
When:
10 - 12 July 2009 (Friday through Sunday).
Costs:
Entry was R15 for a day pass, or R30 for all 3 days. In addition, you paid entry fees to participate in gaming tournaments (around R20), pen-and-paper role playing sessions (R15) and Live Action Role Playing (LARPing) (R40 – R180, depending on food and props required for the scenario). If you wanted, you could also sign up for the 3 course dinner (R75) that rounded off the con on Sunday night after the prize-giving.
Things to do/see:
Card playing (mostly Magic: The Gathering, and Vampire: The Eternal Struggle)
Boardgaming
Wargaming (Warhammer, Warhammer 40K and Warmachine)
Miniatures painting
Pen-and-paper role playing
Live action role playing
Anime viewing
Costume competition
PC & Console gaming (Gears of War, Guitar Hero, Asian fighters & Anime games)
Eat: Reasonably priced food and drink was available throughout the weekend, and included hot dogs, boerewors rolls, curry, soup and pastas, as well as chocolates, fudge, mini doughnuts and packets of chips for snacking.
For the record, there were no prohibitions on bringing your own food and drink to the con. I saw a handful of people wandering around with booze bottles and assorted alcoholic concoctions... No better way to role play.
Shop: Whatever geeky goodies your heart desires, they were at ICON: anime posters, books, DVDs and toys, Warhammer, 40K and Warmachine miniatures, comics and graphic novels, boardgames, role playing guides and dice, Magic cards, badges, T-shirts and figurines. Some things were reasonably priced; others had a chunky mark-up if you compared the price to those online, so it was a good idea to approach purchasing decisions with a lot of common sense.
I picked up a gift for the bf, and bought myself an Alan Moore graphic novel well aware I was paying R50 more than if I was buying from an e-tailer. However I really enjoyed talking comics to the guys manning the stand so I was willing to suck up the extra cost. I also supported some local horror/science fiction writers by buying a few issues of Something Wicked magazine (which frankly I didn’t know even existed until my ICON visit).
Although some stalls had credit card facilities, most didn’t. If you’re ever going to ICON in future, take a hefty chunk of cash with you – that is if you can find an ATM in Johannesburg that works! We had a success rate of 1 in 4.
General observations:
1) Friday, for obvious reasons, was the quietest day of the con. Several of the stalls were still being set up and some of the events and activities, such as the PC gaming, wargaming and painting demonstrations, only began the following day. However, if you just wanted a relaxed browse around, without having to squeeze through crowds, or if you wanted to try out the various card and boardgames being demoed, Friday was the best day. Also, for people curious about role playing, Friday’s modules were non-competitive and therefore more relaxed and noob-friendly.
Saturday was the busiest day of the con, with plenty of things going on, including lucky draws and the cosplay contest. Although we got there just after the doors opened, we still had to park halfway up the street. This said, while the con was very busy, it also had a lot more atmosphere, making for a more enjoyable experience. Throughout the day, and everywhere you looked, there was something interesting going on.
ICON was quieter again on Sunday, with the finals taking place in the Magic: The Gathering, Settlers of Catan and wargaming tournaments. Given that it was the last day of the con, and given that stalls started to be dismantled during the afternoon, some of the retailers started offering hefty discounts on their wares. I picked up a couple of Runebound expansion packs for a third of their normal cost. The event rounded off in the early evening with some geek-orientated stand-up comedy (what other audience would get Cthulu and Robert Jordan jokes?), a prize-giving in which just as many tequila shots were dished out as awards, and the tasty, if not massively portioned, ICON dinner.
2) Anyway, among other things I thought worth mentioning is the fact that ICON 2009 proved the widely held belief that gaming conventions have a very relaxed attitude to time management. Although everyone was given a brochure outlining events and times, nothing started when it was supposed to. On average, games began 30 to 90 minutes after their designated start time.
3) One of the best purchases you could make over the weekend was an ICON mug for R45. This is an annual offer and entitles you to free tea and coffee for the entire duration of the con, which is very useful when you require a morning or late afternoon caffeine lift, or just something to warm you up. And believe me, you need it!
4) Although it’s hardly serious and divisive, the con proved (at least to me) that a geek hierarchy really does exist. Role players seem to consider themselves the elite group at the top of the pyramid, with wargamers below them, boardgamers somewhere around the middle and card game players right at the bottom.
5) Out of interest, in terms of female gaming, the highest number of participants with breasts and ovaries seemed to be in role playing, while the least number of women could be found in the wargaming and PC gaming sections.
6) Joburgers smoke. A lot. Role players, social rebels and non-conformists that they are, even more so! A marquee was set up within the Recreation Centre grounds to provide some extra space for the role playing. Technically, I suppose you could consider the marquee to be an outside space… which in turn made smoking inside legal. However, given there was no ventilation inside in the marquee, with all the sides on, the place stank like an ashtray after 3 days. After a while I absolutely hated going inside there.
7) A small percentage of the role players are an odd looking lot – black coats, leather, piercings and a few collars and chains were worn by some of the Joburg crowd. The coastal guys were generally lower key and more “normal” in appearance.
8) Regardless of the intimidating appearances of some people, ICON attendees were very friendly. It was great fun to talk to complete strangers who are passionate and knowledgeable about things like comics and game systems.
9) As for the gaming at ICON, I’ll be looking at that specifically in my second blog post on the event, coming next week.
ICON, South Africa’s biggest annual games and comics convention. For the record, the title of "SA's oldest gaming con" actually belongs to Cape Town’s Dragonfire.
Where:
Jabula Recreation Centre, Sandringham, Johannesburg (Gauteng province, South Africa).
When:
10 - 12 July 2009 (Friday through Sunday).
Costs:
Entry was R15 for a day pass, or R30 for all 3 days. In addition, you paid entry fees to participate in gaming tournaments (around R20), pen-and-paper role playing sessions (R15) and Live Action Role Playing (LARPing) (R40 – R180, depending on food and props required for the scenario). If you wanted, you could also sign up for the 3 course dinner (R75) that rounded off the con on Sunday night after the prize-giving.
Things to do/see:
Card playing (mostly Magic: The Gathering, and Vampire: The Eternal Struggle)
Boardgaming
Wargaming (Warhammer, Warhammer 40K and Warmachine)
Miniatures painting
Pen-and-paper role playing
Live action role playing
Anime viewing
Costume competition
PC & Console gaming (Gears of War, Guitar Hero, Asian fighters & Anime games)
Eat: Reasonably priced food and drink was available throughout the weekend, and included hot dogs, boerewors rolls, curry, soup and pastas, as well as chocolates, fudge, mini doughnuts and packets of chips for snacking.
For the record, there were no prohibitions on bringing your own food and drink to the con. I saw a handful of people wandering around with booze bottles and assorted alcoholic concoctions... No better way to role play.
Shop: Whatever geeky goodies your heart desires, they were at ICON: anime posters, books, DVDs and toys, Warhammer, 40K and Warmachine miniatures, comics and graphic novels, boardgames, role playing guides and dice, Magic cards, badges, T-shirts and figurines. Some things were reasonably priced; others had a chunky mark-up if you compared the price to those online, so it was a good idea to approach purchasing decisions with a lot of common sense.
I picked up a gift for the bf, and bought myself an Alan Moore graphic novel well aware I was paying R50 more than if I was buying from an e-tailer. However I really enjoyed talking comics to the guys manning the stand so I was willing to suck up the extra cost. I also supported some local horror/science fiction writers by buying a few issues of Something Wicked magazine (which frankly I didn’t know even existed until my ICON visit).
Although some stalls had credit card facilities, most didn’t. If you’re ever going to ICON in future, take a hefty chunk of cash with you – that is if you can find an ATM in Johannesburg that works! We had a success rate of 1 in 4.
General observations:
1) Friday, for obvious reasons, was the quietest day of the con. Several of the stalls were still being set up and some of the events and activities, such as the PC gaming, wargaming and painting demonstrations, only began the following day. However, if you just wanted a relaxed browse around, without having to squeeze through crowds, or if you wanted to try out the various card and boardgames being demoed, Friday was the best day. Also, for people curious about role playing, Friday’s modules were non-competitive and therefore more relaxed and noob-friendly.
Saturday was the busiest day of the con, with plenty of things going on, including lucky draws and the cosplay contest. Although we got there just after the doors opened, we still had to park halfway up the street. This said, while the con was very busy, it also had a lot more atmosphere, making for a more enjoyable experience. Throughout the day, and everywhere you looked, there was something interesting going on.
ICON was quieter again on Sunday, with the finals taking place in the Magic: The Gathering, Settlers of Catan and wargaming tournaments. Given that it was the last day of the con, and given that stalls started to be dismantled during the afternoon, some of the retailers started offering hefty discounts on their wares. I picked up a couple of Runebound expansion packs for a third of their normal cost. The event rounded off in the early evening with some geek-orientated stand-up comedy (what other audience would get Cthulu and Robert Jordan jokes?), a prize-giving in which just as many tequila shots were dished out as awards, and the tasty, if not massively portioned, ICON dinner.
2) Anyway, among other things I thought worth mentioning is the fact that ICON 2009 proved the widely held belief that gaming conventions have a very relaxed attitude to time management. Although everyone was given a brochure outlining events and times, nothing started when it was supposed to. On average, games began 30 to 90 minutes after their designated start time.
3) One of the best purchases you could make over the weekend was an ICON mug for R45. This is an annual offer and entitles you to free tea and coffee for the entire duration of the con, which is very useful when you require a morning or late afternoon caffeine lift, or just something to warm you up. And believe me, you need it!
4) Although it’s hardly serious and divisive, the con proved (at least to me) that a geek hierarchy really does exist. Role players seem to consider themselves the elite group at the top of the pyramid, with wargamers below them, boardgamers somewhere around the middle and card game players right at the bottom.
5) Out of interest, in terms of female gaming, the highest number of participants with breasts and ovaries seemed to be in role playing, while the least number of women could be found in the wargaming and PC gaming sections.
6) Joburgers smoke. A lot. Role players, social rebels and non-conformists that they are, even more so! A marquee was set up within the Recreation Centre grounds to provide some extra space for the role playing. Technically, I suppose you could consider the marquee to be an outside space… which in turn made smoking inside legal. However, given there was no ventilation inside in the marquee, with all the sides on, the place stank like an ashtray after 3 days. After a while I absolutely hated going inside there.
7) A small percentage of the role players are an odd looking lot – black coats, leather, piercings and a few collars and chains were worn by some of the Joburg crowd. The coastal guys were generally lower key and more “normal” in appearance.
8) Regardless of the intimidating appearances of some people, ICON attendees were very friendly. It was great fun to talk to complete strangers who are passionate and knowledgeable about things like comics and game systems.
9) As for the gaming at ICON, I’ll be looking at that specifically in my second blog post on the event, coming next week.
Comments
On a similar note, I read recently about flamboyant writer-actor-model Quentin Crisp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quentin_Crisp), who had his telephone number publicly listed and would apparently accept dinner invitations from just about anyone - the public, complete strangers, whoever. That's how grateful he was for his fans and supporters...