I’ll admit that I felt slightly uneasy when Matt (PrattP) asked me to cover the Supanova Pop Culture Expo in Brisbane this year. The thought of 40 year-old men dressed up as Jedi wielding brightly coloured light sabres didn’t exactly appeal to me, but I managed to shove aside my fear of middle-aged geeks and attend what turned out to be an unforgettable expo.
Supanova was held at the Brisbane RNA showgrounds from April 4 to April 5.
Day one began at precisely ten o’clock Saturday morning when a stampede of people came rushing in through the main doors of the Exhibition and Walter Burnett Buildings. Whilst simultaneously a loudspeaker roared overhead welcoming everyone to the Supanova Pop Culture Expo.
The floor of the expo quickly filled and crowds of people started to accumulate around various booths. Videogame mascots such as Ty and Master Chief were out and about, having photos with fans and giving out hugs wherever needed. Many competitive geeks decided to fill in time by challenging each other in the Battlefield LIVE arena or the Yu-Gi-Oh! and World of Warcraft card competition. The live wrestling quickly became a crowd favourite as well. Spectators enjoyed watching groups of sweaty men manoeuvre themselves into suss positions for hours on end.
Stalls and sweaty men aside, the main event everybody had showed up for on Saturday was the preliminary round of the Madman National Cosplay Championships. The event was held in the Anime Theatre at 1:45pm and hosted by John Robinson (whose claim to fame was a failed audition for an early season of Australian Idol).
It was then that the tournament began.
The four contestants in the preliminary round were Tina as Melin, Hayley as Belldandy from Ah! My Goddess, Will as Demon form Chrono from Chrono Crusade and Robyn as Valkyrie Slimera from Valkyrie Profile: Slimera. The contestants posed for the crowd whilst the judges chatted amongst one another deciding whose outfit was the best. Thirty minutes later the judges had come to a decision. The host announced Robyn the Valkyrie Slimera from Valkyrie Profile: Slimera had won the competition and that she would go onto Melbourne to compete in the national finals for the chance to win a trip to Japan and attend the Tokyo Anime Fair 2010.
After the preliminary round, the standard Madman Cosplay tournament started. Cosplay worthy of mention was the green Power Ranger, Mega Man and Professor Layton along with his apprentice, Luke. By 4:00pm the crowd inside the Anime Theatre started to get restless and went in search of entertainment elsewhere.
The videogame booths were a good diversion from the main events. Nintendo’s setup in particular featured four DSi and two Wii. The DSi is more refined than its predecessor and those who have passed it off as a gimmick should actually go and try out the system in person. The two Wii systems were loaded with the New Play Control! games, Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis. The remake of Pikmin plays brilliantly. The title feels right at home on the Wii and the game seems much more fluent thanks to the assistance of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. Mario Power Tennis, however, seems worse off than the original version. The game is sluggish and the controls lack responsiveness.
After my play test of the DSi and New Play Control! games, day one of Supanova wound up and at 6:00pm I headed home to heal up before the next day.
_____________________________________________
My second day at Supanova was much busier than the previous day. The Star Wars fans and general cosplayers were out in force, and new celebrities were on show, including none other than Hayden Panettiere (cheerleader from TV show ‘Heroes’).
The day kicked off with Krome Studio’s discussion on the art of concept in the JB-Hi Fi Seminar Room. The staff from Krome talked about concept ideas and displayed artwork from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Hellboy and their upcoming title Blade Kitten. The Krome team wrapped up the discussion with a question and answers session, and then the crowd gave them a round of applause. Overall, the talk was interesting and provided a valuable insight into videogame development.
After Krome’s art of concept discussion, the crowds quickly moved on to the Madman Anime Theatre where a question and answers session was underway with Hayden Panettiere, the star from television series Heroes and the movie Racing Stripes. The crowd Panettiere drew wasn’t as large as security anticipated, but that didn’t stop them from locking the main doors of the theatre after the public had entered.
The majority of people who showed up to Panettiere’s session were fans of the television series Heroes and they generally asked unintelligent questions such as, “What is your favourite colour?” and “How did it feel to love the character West in Heroes?” After Panettiere had answered all her fans mindless questions she was whizzed away by her security guards.
The next event on stage was the Atari Kamehameha Blast-Off. The blast-off was a competition where audience members got up on the Anime Theatre stage and acted out the famous Dragon Ball move the Kamehameha. The competition lasted around an hour until Duff man from The Simpsons and the box Seele 01 from Neon Genesis Evangelion were declared the winners. The two characters both scored copies of the brand new game Afro Samurai and a few other bits and pieces.
The time flew by on Sunday and by this point it was 3:00pm. The crowd from the Anime Theatre shuffled back to the main complex to view Richard Hatch from Battle Star Gallactica whilst he signed autographs for his fans. The celebrity Hayden Panettiere also reappeared for one more autograph session. The time passed quickly and the two celebrities eventually left. Supanova Day Two ended at 6:00pm and the horde of people who attended headed home under the veil of darkness.
In conclusion, the 2009 Supanova Pop Culture Expo in Brisbane was a memorable event that I (and no doubt many fans of the event) will not forget. It is obvious that the organisers, supporters and volunteers worked hard to bring this event to Brisbane and I hope they are able to do it all over again next year. By Liam Doolan.
Special thanks also goes to Daniel Zachariou, for allowing TNB to attend the event again this year.
