MAGFest X was an absolute blast! Held at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center near Washington DC, the festival was a 4-day whirlwind of videogames, panels and live performances. In 2012, MAGFest was bigger and better in every way — from the massive 24 hour game room and vendor space, to the mind blowing line-up of video game cover bands, chiptune artists, and DJs from all over the world. This was Nophi’s second year tabling at the festival, and we’re already looking forward to next year and beyond!

DAY ONE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2012

Above: The Lobby at the Gaylord Hotel:

The word of the day for Thursday was “drive.” It’s 11 hours from Nophi’s home in Atlanta, GA to the Gaylord Hotel in National Harbor, MD. Driving the east coast at night is not the most exciting thing in the world, but good music and nervous energy propelled the Nophimobile forward through the night. When we finally arrived, it was after midnight, and the exhibition hall was starting to buzz with sleepless festival-goers looking to settle in for a long weekend of gaming and rocking-the-hell-out.

Above: Beetlechu (Not the Nophimobile). Below: Dinner and breakfast all rolled into one. 

Loading in was not easy! Hotel staff was under-informed about festival details, and there was a 90-minute debacle involving the concierge and the loading dock that kept us from reaching our vendor booth til almost 2:00am! Once we were finally loaded in, we set out in search of delicious Japanese snacks and some red-eye arcade time. Megaman, Katamari, Galaga, Dig Dug — sometime around 7:00 am, there may or may not have been sleep…

…to be continued