This weekend our starstruck hometown of Indianapolis hosted the 46th edition of GenCon, one of America’s oldest and largest gaming conventions. Be it RPGs, tabletop games, TCGs, dice games, family board games, or (a smattering of) video games, your gaming preferences are tended to at GenCon. Try a new game, pick up supplies for your current campaigns, spar with gamers from other lands, or just wander the premises and soak in as much as you can.

Attendance in 2012 exceeded 40,000 — not quite DragonCon numbers and a far cry from the San Diego Comic Con, but it’s certainly one of Indy’s largest annual downtown events (GenCon is gunning for your title, FFA Expo), consuming not only the entirety of our Indiana Convention Center but conference rooms and miscellaneous spaces in several nearby hotels and other unused commercial structures. For four days every year, GenCon is everywhere downtown.

This was my fourth GenCon and my wife’s third, even though we’re not certified pro gamers. Some of our personal geek interests intersect with enough of the available exhibits, dealers, and special events that we’re rarely bored except in the occasional line, but those come with the territory. For extra family fun, this year was our first time escorting our nephew into the fray, letting the overwhelming sights and sounds puncture new holes in his mindset, pausing every so often to give him time to shop for new Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and accessories to augment his existing arsenal.

We begin our retrospective with (most of) the winners from GenCon’s 28th annual costume contest. Caveat for newcomers to MCC: some of our photos aren’t the greatest ever. The 500 Ballroom is always poorly lit before and after the contest, even moreso during. Flash photography was forbidden, largely to ruin the day for us well-meaning amateurs. I’m trying to content myself with the surprise fact that more of our shots succeeded than usual, as will be seen over the course of this miniseries. This is something we enjoy doing, to show our appreciation and awe for those with the flair for this particular aspect of the scene. We apologize in advance for the costumes we missed, and for the opportunities we blew because of our numerous limitations.

Comments and especially corrections are always welcome and appreciated. I’m not plugged directly into every single geek scene out there. Very few geeks are, even the famous ones with their own YouTube channels. If you notice any wanton acts of mislabeling, please don’t hesitate to call me out. I enjoy learning about new worlds and universes, giving credit where it’s due, and dispelling my old man’s ignorance.

Onward, then: this year’s Audience Favorite: Sarah Kerrigan and two Space Marines from StarCraft. They also won first place in the Professional Division. I have no idea how they moved or survived in those things.

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