Among the video game companies present, Square Enix’s works apparently held the greatest appeal to the attendees at the convention, as many of them dressed up as their favorite Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts characters. Many swarmed the large display cases that showcased beautifully crafted figurines and models of popular Square Enix video gaming characters. Anime fans were also treated to the announcement and exclusive preview of the Full Metal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa movie, from the anime series to which Square Enix owns the video gaming license to. Yoshitaka Amano, responsible for a vast majority of the Final Fantasy art (particularly Final Fantasy VI), graced his presence among the attendees and held a panel discussing his past and current works.
Mobile and portable gaming also seemed to be a big focus with the majority of the gaming companies at ComicCon. Many recent and upcoming PSP and Nintendo DS titles were readily available to play, and Nintendo went so far as to only focus on the DS Lite system at their booth. Recent and upcoming mobile phone video games were also available to demo, especially with Capcom, as their mobile selection of console classics included Mega Man, Street Fighter II, Resident Evil: The Missions and Ghosts ‘N Goblins. With such a diverse audience present at this particular convention, appealing to the casual gaming market seemed to be a successful move for these gaming companies and a hit among the attendees.
ComicCon 2006 was one of the better ComicCon conventions I’ve been to for quite some time, largely due to the video gaming exhibits. It’s finally nice to see a strong video gaming presence at this premier event for the popular arts. As video games continually merge into mainstream pop culture with videogame based comics, movie adaptations, character cosplay and so on, it’s important for the gaming industry to continue its presence at conventions like ComicCon. I’ll definitely be looking forward to next year, and maybe soon video gaming geeks will be among those in the giant melting pot of ComicCon International.
Check out Jeff's
ComicCon 2006 photo gallery
for some added fun!
