Hundreds of gamers flocked to the DoubleTree by Hilton in San Jose last weekend to participate in MAGWest, an exhilarating celebration of music and gaming.
MAGWest was started in 2017 by MAGFest Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to appreciating video game music. MAGWest offers a unique West Coast twist, with local Bay Area businesses contracted as vendors.
Attendees participated in a variety of arcade games, competitive tournaments, tabletop games, retro consoles, cosplay, and more. As an avid gaming fan, here are some of my personal highlights of the convention.
One of my favorite attractions at the convention was the 24-hour, free-play arcade, which had numerous cabinets provided by Game Saru. Most of my time was spent at the arcade, competing with my friends at different fighting games.
Most people congregated around the arcade at the convention to show off their skills in a variety of rhythm games like “DANCERUSH STARDOM,” “Dance Dance Revolution,” and “Project Diva.”
There was also no shortage of fighting games. My personal favorite arcade cabinet was “Sega Versus City,” which, made in 1996, was popularized for running multiple arcade games, like the beloved “Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.”
The arcade also featured a number of games that I had never played before, like “Persona 4 Arena: Ultimax,” a fighting game based on the hit role-playing game “Persona 4.”
A myriad of retro and modern consoles also filled the room. Rows of retro CRT TVs lined the venue, showcasing many games from past console generations, like the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Dreamcast, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 2.
While I play a lot of fighting games online, the experience of playing these games in person is irreplaceable.
Many attendees wore cosplay, a performance art in which people dress up as characters from popular media. In this case, popular characters from video games.
Conventions like MAGWest are also a platform for smaller developers to playtest their concepts for upcoming releases.
One particular game caught my attention. I sat down and playtested “Quartet,” a simulation inspired by Japanese role-playing games, or JPRGs. The game features pixel art reminiscent of other great JRPGs from days long gone by, like “Final Fantasy VI” and “Dragon Quest.”
Peter Ruble, one of the developers of “Quartet,” handed out stickers and greeted attendees interested in playtesting the game.
Ruble expressed the importance of live playtesting. “People with fresh eyes have a lot of insight into game development and can comment on whether something is or isn’t intuitive,” he said.
“We love games, we love RPGs, we all play them, and that’s why we’re making one,” Ruble continued.
If you could attend only one part of MAGWest, it should be the musical stage. Many artists in the gaming space attended this event, like Lacey Johnson, Super Soul Bros, Character Select, and Lotus Juice.
Lotus Juice’s set was one of the most popular ones at the venue. A New Jersey- and Japan-based rapper, Lotus Juice is most known for his singing in the “Persona” series, specifically “Persona 3.” He has also made music for the “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” and “City Hunter” anime series.
Even though his set ran from late evening until midnight, the crowd’s energy stayed electric. Lotus Juice performed songs “Mass Destruction” and “It’s Going Down Now” from the “Persona 3: Reload” original soundtrack, and “Overdrive” from “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency.”
After his set, Lotus Juice had a meet-and-greet with attendees, where he signed autographs for his fans and sold copies of his 2022 remaster of his 2012 album, CARPE DIEM. My favorite moment of the entire convention was when he signed my Persona 3: Reload album.
Apart from the main stage, musical guests also performed in many other stages in the venue. While walking from the marketplace, I heard the Sixth Station Trio performing covers from many games at the Variety Stage.
Some musical guests also performed on the stage by the hotel’s pool, where many attendees went to cool down from the hot weather.
Over the course of three days, whether it be through the music, arcade, or anything else, MAGWest stole the hearts of thousands of attendees, including mine.
