I’m not much of one for press releases. To be honest, I typically ignore them unless they’re absolutely glorious and promise me candy. Of course, anyone familiar with the typical press release already knows the rarity of an e-mail bringing tidings of chocolate-y goodness.*

Still, when it comes to cool factor, you’d be hard-pressed to find people more chill than the folk behind MAGFest. And considering the awesomeness of their featured guests and events—and considering that yours truly will be making an appearance—I’m tossing my typical policy over my left shoulder (at least for the moment).

So here it is, kids: your official MAGFest lineup. It’s looking pretty impressive. Allow me to take a moment to swoon over guests like DUKE NUKEM, SID MEIER, and the freakin’ YUGIOH: THE ABRIDGED SERIES GUY. Yes. Just yes.

Enjoy:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MUSIC AND GAMING FESTIVAL, NEW YEARS WEEKEND 2010

Live Video Game Music Cover Bands and 24 Hour Gaming For Four Days

WASHINGTON, DC — November 14, 2009 — MAGFest (Music And Gaming
Festival), the annual festival celebrating video games and video game
music, will be occuring January 1-4, 2010, in Alexandria, Virginia.
MAGFest is proud to release its lineup of featured guests and video
game music bands. This will be MAGFest’s eighth year, and it refuses
to let up on the endless onslaught of face-melting music and awesome
guests.

Promotional Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZnQxEhnsBc

Featured Guests:

Sid Meier (http://firaxis.com) – Director of Creative Development at
Firaxis Games, and creator of the “Civilization” game series.

Jon St. John (http://jsjprod.com/) – World renowned voice actor, known
best for his role as “Duke Nukem”.

Martin “LittleKuriboh” Billany
(http://www.yugiohtheabridgedseries.com/)- Creator of the fan parody
“YuGiOh: The Abridged Series”.

Matt Mercer and Zach Grafton (http://therewillbebrawl.com/) – Creators
of the hit web series “There Will Be Brawl”.

Featured Game Music Bands:

The OneUps (http://www.theoneups.com/)

Metroid Metal (http://metroidmetal.com/)

Armcannon (http://armcannon.com/)

Select Start (http://www.selectstartband.com/)

The Megas (http://themegas.com/)

Entertainment System (http://www.myspace.com/entertainmentsystem)

Temp Sound Solutions (http://www.tempsoundsolutions.com/)

This Place Is Haunted (http://thisplaceishaunted.com/)

Armadillo Tank (http://armadillotank.com/)

Rare Candy (http://www.rarecandyband.com/)

A_Rival (http://www.planetskill.com/a/)

The Smash Brothers (http://thesmashbrothers.com/)

Other Newly Featured Happenings at MAGFest:

Charity Game Marathon – The people at Speed Demos Archive
(http://speeddemosarchive.com/) will be doing a video game speed run
marathon for charity. For more than two days, members of SDA will have
to endure the grueling task of getting through over 60 games. They’ll
be taking donations though the whole process and donating all procedes
to CARE (http://care.org).

Indie Game Showcase – All independent game developers are welcome to
bring in their games to show off, and they will be judged and
critiqued by industry professionals, and other representatives from
academia.

About MAGFest:

http://magfest.org

MAGFest, The Music And Gaming Festival, is an annual event in the
Washington D.C. area dedicated to the celebration of video games and
video game music. Each year, MAGFest offers 24-hour console, arcade,
and PC game rooms, over ten live video game cover bands, a vendors
area, and guest speakers from the video game industry and fan scene.
It also features a “Jamspace” available to all attendees for impromptu
music performances. Numerous other events are scheduled each day.
MAGFest 8 is scheduled for January 1-4 2010.

For more details regarding MAGFest, contact Nick Marinelli, MAGFest
Community Manager, press@magfest.org.

*Dear PR folk: I kid. I kid. I actually intently read every press release that hits my inbox. Keep ‘em comin’, guys! (And don’t hate me.)

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