On Saturday some friends and I went to Southeast Game Expo. This was a smaller event that teetered more toward "swap meet" than "con," but still bigger than the glorified flea markets that come to our city. There weren't a lot of panel rooms (we went to a couple of trivia sessions) and the cosplay and wrestling events weren't until Sunday. But for a 2+ hour drive and $15 for one day's entry, I would consider it just worth it enough. I've certainly gotten worse bang for my buck with regards to cons in recent years.

Two of my friends are much more into collecting than I am. I've shoved much of my anime and game accoutrements in my parents' attic or given it away. Barring becoming a homeowner, I can't justify the physical space investment I once made for my nerd crap.

However, going to these kinds of events makes me wish I had held on to more stuff or taken better care of what I still have. Not because I want to resell it, but because the outlandish prices I see games and consoles marked for makes me think I'm never going to be able to acquire some things again. Examples include:

Seeing these kinds of prices, which I'm told are consistently above eBay prices, makes going to these events less fun than before all the speculation and flipping took hold.

I did come away with a few finds though.

Video games, Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter for PS2, Ridge Racer for PSP
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, which comes recommended by the Sockscast, and Ridge Racer, since (for now) my PSP still works.
DVD, Dirty Pair Flash, ADV Films release
Dirty Pair Flash DVD, normally I wouldn't buy an incomplete series (back in my day we made do with 4 episodes of Evangelion on a $30 DVD from Suncoast and we liked it), but it was $5.
Artwork, Dr. Stein from Soul Eater, ink drawing on Pantone Desert Sage card
Dr. Stein from Soul Eater artwork, there wasn't a huge artist contingent at this expo but I'm glad I spotted this. Most of the artist's booth consisted of 3D shadow box relief things. Sorry, I spaced on getting the artist's info and I'll update this if I ever figure it out (signature in the drawing says "Ki.")
Perler, Felicia from Darkstalkers in chibi sprite style
Felicia perler. It's also a refrigerator magnet.

They actually had a respectable free arcade section, and unlike Anime Weekend Atlanta or Momocon, it wasn't so crowded that I was disuaded from getting a turn on anything (the only thing I played at Momocon was Garou: Mark of the Wolves because no one else was on it). Unfortunately, I'm terrible with fighting game inputs on an analog stick, I can't consistently do a DP motion and accidental diagonals abound. But it was still nostalgic to revisit Project Justice, one of my old Dreamcast haunts. There was also a version of Melty Blood that had that awful sprite smoothing turned on. Fate: Unlimited Codes was one I was unfamiliar with, a PS2-era-looking 2.5D fighter thing. I wasn't expecting anyone to get their Fate in my Battle Arena Toshinden, but it was a decent way to kill a few minutes playing as the blindfolded chain-wielding lady.

Video game screenshot, Fate: Unlimited Codes, 2.5D fighting game

There was also a weird Jaleco shmup called Game Tengoku, which from what I can gather entails baddies escaping their respective arcade machines, and you play as characters from different franchises trying to set things right in sort of a Parodius meets Wreck-It Ralph scenario. It amusingly features the Tuff E Nuff box art in one background.

It was actually possible to access rhythm games without a massive wait time, unlike the aforementioned big cons. I played Jubeat, which consists of tapping LED displays on physical panel buttons, but it was difficult to ascertain what would be popping up or what the correct timing was so I failed miserably. They also had Project Diva and a different Konami touchscreen-based rhythm game.

Arcade machines, Jubeat rhythm game by Konami

While I found things to enjoy at Momocon last May, going it alone as I often do highlighted how difficult it can be to break out of my shell or cope with anxiety and overstimulation at such events. At SEGE our group mostly split up while on the vendor floor, but I didn't get the sense of wanting to leave after 4 hours like I have at some other cons (and I wouldn't have had a choice since we all carpooled). Still, as an adult it can be hard to recapture the same kind of enthusiasm that I had for AWA that I had in my university days. I guess I'm weighing the pros and... ugh, cons of attending another medium-sized city con in the next two months, Dragoncon, and AWA. Dragoncon is the big one in my region and I feel like if I soloed it, I'd be too overwhelmed to enjoy it. I still want to go to AWA, but learning from my mistakes at Momocon, I'd definitely have to pony up for a nicer and more-convenient-to-the-venue hotel to get the most out of it.

Maybe I should just get into a sensible hobby. Like sea kayaking.