The Lone Star state can be a big lonely place without good people, good food, and good games to get you by. Thankfully, all of those things came together in August as Dtoiders from San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin made a Scott Pilgrim-age to the state’s capital for a weekend of drinking, Rock Band-ing, movie viewing, retro-game tourneying, and of course — PANCAKES.
We were fortunate enough to get some sponsorship for a great event. The owner of independent retro store Game Over Videogames, David Kaelin, generously hooked us up with his store space for an evening, multiple TVs and N64s for a Destructoid members only Mario Kart 64/Goldeneye tournament, and nearly $200 in prizes to reward the players who came out on top. It was a blast, and it does my heart good to see independent gaming entities support one another. So, go check out the website, as there is an online store for retro goodness even if you’re not an Austinite.
Blehman, itemforty, DVDDesign, portastad, Xzyliac, seltzermx, djnealb, silvain, Ryan Barrett and more made the trek to debauch, chill, and compete for big prizes!
The weekend started off Friday night with some good old fashioned partying and gaming. Mr. Destructoid was kind enough to help point out the way to the right apartment – he’s a gentleman and a scholar.
Scott Pilgrim was the order of the evening early on – djnealb and Xzyliac fall victim to my plot to get other people to grind trophies for me!
Xzyliac was a Rock Band machine all weekend. I don’t think he moved from the living room for hours. Others joined in the jams as the night passed.
Gaming is hard work. Frequent refueling is necessary for proper mental functioning.
Blehman responds to our offer to get him an exorcism.
The next day saw the crew getting together to watch Scott Pilgrim at the coolest cinema ever — the Alamo Drafthouse. You can get food or drink served to you during the movie, and they always play a reel of awesome quirky old movies or clips relating to the movie, subject matter, or actors in the film before the main event.
After the film (and some napping), we all moved on to Game Over to check out the retro wonderland and get our tourney on. David Kaelin was there to help us the whole time, and we had a blast looking around the store, checking out the video game museum in the back, and launching blue shell after blue shell!
I have no defense for this. Wifey made me do it. I think she has a Ms. Pac-Man fetish, and I’m okay with that.
On the way out, we noticed that Game Over is located near a historic educational institution. A place where culinary theory, study, and hard work result in the finest establishment ever spawned in food service.
The next morning saw us preparing for tearful goodbyes and nursing raucous hangovers, so it was off to the the delicious Kerbey Lane Cafe for mimosas, coffee, and most importantly — PANCAKES! Also, I have no idea how itemforty managed to be so chipper.
It was an amazing time, and I can’t wait to do it again. If you’re in the Texas-ish area and want to take part in the next big shindig, hoedown, hog-washing, or ballyhoo, you can PM me to get added to the google group for the most up to date information on what’s going down for Dtoid in TX. Or, keep your eyes on the cblogs/forums for more info! Much love to all who came!
