VGXpo was pretty much a bust (…this year. Please check out this story’s companion piece here). I mean, the people (especially the organizers) were great and some of the stuff we saw was cool. Had we not had press passes, though, I would have been PISSED that I had paid to get in.

Why did VGXpo suck? Here are the top ten reasons:

1. David Jaffe canceled at the last minute… and was not replaced.

There wasn’t really a good line up of “celebrities.” Mark Shaw from Mythic gave a talk on MMOs and a few D-listers were signing stuff, but in general, Jaffe was the big name. Before we even got here, we heard that he was only going to appear via Skype, but he didn’t even show up for that in the end. Weak. That was probably Jaffe’s fault, but they didn’t have anything to take his place. There should have been someone or something lined up instead – at least a fucking panel.

2. Almost every other event was moved from room to room… and then also canceled.

I wanted to see at least part of Postal and attend the Q&A with the makers afterward. The screening room moved around, the times changed, and ultimately, I heard that it never happened. The same thing was true of other panels and events. Sometimes, entire rooms just didn’t exist. Oh, it was awesome.

3. Most of the games you could play were older games…and you had to stand in line forever to play them.

Where were the demos? That’s the whole point of coming to a conference…getting to demo some cool games and talk to developers. Er…I played Mario Kart? Seriously. What’s the point? I can do that at home, and without waiting in line.

4. Tournaments, events, and the cosplay competition were highly unorganized.

Everything was last minute, from the schedule to the MCs to the judges. Even the staff couldn’t answer our questions half of the time, which was not really their fault. It was just lack of communication and, as we found out later, most of the volunteers didn’t show up. Speaking of schedules, the one in the guidebook was about as helpful as a horse armor in Oblivion. (And yes, James bought that.)

5. The opening act for the after party was this guy.

Ok, I get it. A screaming Pikachu with 150 songs about Pokemon is a novelty. They’ve found their niche, and they probably get one or two opportunities a year to actually play. But come on. Most people do not like this kind of music, and since that’s all that was going on, they went home. You gotta start with a band that more people can enjoy.

We actually talked to one guy outside who said (and I quote), “They were so bad that I left twice. I think they made me impotent.”

6. People weren’t ready on Friday.

We got there when the doors opened at 10 for the press. I can understand that people were still setting up at that point. But at noon, when it opened to the public, vendors and staff were still setting up booths. The Dell LAN center didn’t open all day, to my knowledge, dealers and other vendors hadn’t all shown up yet, and Rock Band wasn’t even freaking calibrated for the TV. Details, people. A good event is all in the details. NOTE: I later found out that most of the problems were due to the stupid Union rules, since it was held at the Philadelphia Convention Center. So blame them, not the staff.

7. Public relations must have sucked or been non-existent.

As an attendee, I know how poorly the website was designed, making it a pain to try to make plans. It took weeks to get our press conformation, and we were some of the only media people I saw there. That’s not even mentioning that they didn’t check our IDs or business cards or even our names. We just said we were press and they handed us press passes. Anyone could have done that.

Worse, though, I don’t think that they really contacted companies about attending. There were definitely some cool companies there, but it should have been packed with people peddlin’ their wares or at least doing demos like TN Games did. Besides the retro game/toy dealers, there were maybe a dozen or so companies there.

Another NOTE: I found out that the ENTIRE event is run by volunteers, without a single person getting paid. So that makes sense as to why they were lacking in some areas, especially with PR.

8. You have to clean the food area… and have options.

Look, I expect overpriced sodas and greasy food at events like this. Its part of the charm? In any case, VGXpo was no exception to the rule. My issue was that by Sunday, the tables in the food area were NASTY. They hadn’t even been wiped down in three days.

And I’m sorry, but it pisses me off that there was only one general food option – a stand that sold general “stadium” food – hot dogs, pretzels, mini pizzas, and so forth. It was either eat there or walk to Wawa. You can guess what we did.

9. One of the coolest events wasn’t explained well, and thus, people didn’t attend.

The organizers had a great idea…attendee-run panels. Basically, they had rooms set aside with audio equipment and seats JUST for the public to go in and start debates, anything goes. Problem was, people just walked by and saw empty rooms. There needed to be a staff member there organizing things and a set time for panels to start and end. I wasn’t even really aware of what was supposed to be happening until a staff member explained it to us on Sunday afternoon.

10. The price of the VIP pass wasn’t really justified.

Those who bought VIP passes basically bent over and let VGXpo fuck them in the ass. The whole draw of the VIP pass, which was significantly more expensive, was to get preferential seating at the events and to get in a little earlier. Only most of the events were canceled and they were still setting up stuff before the doors opened.

On top of that, I heard that people waited over an hour to get in. That. Sucks.

In general, that was what the problems all boiled down to: people waiting too long to do too little with absolutely no organization. I mean, part of that was lack of preparation, but let’s face it; NO ONE expected over 10,000 people to show up on Saturday alone. When you rely on volunteers, don’t yet have the support of the big companies, and are forced to follow bullshit union rules, the whole event suffers. Luckily, I think that this is one convention that is only going to grow. They’re totally focused on the fans, and someday, may be able to compete with E3.

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