Epic win.

I hate to interrupt coverage of the Wondercon Capcom booth (particularly my rundown of Bionic Commando), and I wanted to keep personal posts to a minimum, but this was simply too fantastic of an event to not chronicle here.

I MET SHOE. THAT'S RIGHT. DAN "I'M SO AWESOME I APPEAR IN RETRO GAME CHALLENGE, THE BEST GAME OF 2009 THUS FAR" HSU. DAN "I'M RAD ENOUGH TO HAVE PENNY ARCADE WRITE ABOUT ME" HSU. DAN "PERHAPS THE MOST RESPECTABLE JOURNALIST IN THE GAMING FIELD" HSU.

Oh...and his lovely girlfriend.

Ahem...let me rap for you. Upon arriving at Wondercon (this being my first convention of this kind), I was slightly overwhelmed, yet simultaneously underwhelmed by the amount of content that interested me. I had spent over an hour grilling the guys at the Nintendo booth and wandered around long enough to meet Mike Mignola, but I still felt restless.

However, upon rounding the corner at the Suicide Girl's booth whilst chatting boredly on the phone with Bandicoot12 Studios' own graphic designer, Momo...I came upon the strangest sight. Beside a tower of graphic tees, leaning restlessly against an adjacent booth, was a strikingly familiar face. Surely my eyes deceive me! 'Tis only another young Asian fellow with a goatee. But I refused to believe that and my eyes scanned for his pass badge, which ended up displaying the simple, yet evocative moniker: Shoe.

"I need to call you back."

Cellphone snapped closed and was banished to the confines of my pocket as I was rendered speechless and babbling for pretty much the first time in my life. Sure, I'd met all sorts of celebrities (some just minutes earlier), but this was different. This was an individual I revered, aspired to be, possibly emulated...frankly, someone I gave a crap about. Excited introductions exchanged and I spouted boyish praises like so many careless roses at a prize bullfighter's feet. I admitted my devastation at EGM's untimely death. Not only did I hold that (along with Game Informer) as the pinnacle of print game journalism, but I hoped to one day move to SF and, at the very least, intern there. (Plus, the bastards at Ziff never sent me the final issue.)

And, as is likely when two or more passionate gamers congregate, the inevitable dissection of gaming topics ensued. Topics included Resident Evil 5, the effect of the shooter genre's prevalence on established franchises, the advent/resurrection of local co-op in the current generation...and how he was starving and waiting for his girlfriend to finish picking a tee shirt. This would be Rachel (I do believe! If my memory is faulty, do forgive me!), the adorable blonde in the image above. I proceeded to help her pick between various Umbrella logos, Star Wars, and Hylian crests. Which two she decided on, I have no idea.

After some other idle chatter, I shamelessly requested an autograph and a photo and we parted ways. I spotted him chatting up some guys at the Capcom booth while I was inside, busy on my second hour of Bionic Commando play. And gasp, he waved and recalled my name. Tee hee and blushes abound.

Now, if this all sounds like a pathetic orgasm of words of worship from a little twelve year old fanboy...then I've succeeding in using the best of my writing ability to express my feelings. Sure, he may just be some unemployed journalist, but I spent years as a faithful EGM subscriber. I have always respected those well established in the gaming industry, particularly any journalist who can not only attain merit and reknown, but keep a sense of character and integrity. Shoe is one memorable bastard, and I've considered him among the ranks of Jerry "Tycho" Holkins as a ranter/raver of highest degree, someone with the balls to sell it straight and keep it down to earth. So as a fan and someone aspiring to get into the gaming industry (particularly the journalist aspect), this was a momentous occasion for me, and easily the highlight of my Wondercon experience.

Here's to hoping I can maintain a correspondence with him, as his input would be invaluable. You should check out his blog he's got going with Crispin at http://www.sorethumbsblog.com/ and keep an eye out for the big new project he's got up his sorcerous sleeves.

Oh man, seriously! Shoe! I met Shoe! It's embarrassing to think he might actually look at my business card and visit this amateurish nightmare, so ghastly in its shoddy late night verbosity. Eh, at least my Shadow Dragon rundown is halfway decent.


Insert coin to continue,
Iwasaki Koji.