MAGFest
| MAGFest | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Video games, video game music |
| Venue | Gaylord National Convention Center[1] |
| Location(s) | National Harbor, Maryland |
| Country | United States |
| Inaugurated | 2002 |
| Attendance | Approximately 17000+ in 2015 |
| Organized by | MAGFest INC |
| Website | |
| http://magfest.org | |
MAGFest (Music and Gaming Festival, originally the Mid-Atlantic Gaming Festival) is an annual festival held in the DC metro area that celebrates video games and video game music, as well as their surrounding culture. MAGFest's primary features are a large open video gaming room, a hall of arcade cabinets, concerts by chiptune artists and video game cover bands, and a Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) LAN Party. MAGFest 13 took place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD from January 23 to 26, 2015.[2]
Attractions
MAGFest's arcade hall and console room are open 24 hours a day.[3] The hallway contains dozens of cabinets, ranging from vintage shoot 'em ups[3] to contemporary Japanese candy cabinets. Additionally, the console room houses dozens of televisions and attached game consoles, where guests are invited to play at will and each station's game is periodically swapped with a different one from a game library.
The concert area hosts several nightly performances of video game music and related works. Many luminaries of video game music fan culture have performed at MAGFest. Previous bands include Minibosses, Powerglove, the NESkimos, the Advantage and Chromelodeon.
Other major attractions include guest panels from the video game industry such as Sid Meier, Jon St. John[4] and Nobuo Uematsu,[5] celebrated composer for many of the games in the Final Fantasy series. In addition, the fan remixing community is well represented with sites such as OverClocked ReMix. Filmmakers such as X-Strike Studios, Main Moon Productions, PBC Productions, and There Will Be Brawl have also appeared at the event. MAGFest has also included intellectually driven panels such as "Game Studies 101" where attendees were given a basic introduction to the manner in which scholars study video games.
Additionally, MAGFest features an open mic stage, a large LAN party environment, a film screening room, a tabletop gaming room, vendors, contests like "name-that-tune," and a video game "challenge booth" where players can "try to tackle insanely difficult gaming feats for prizes of all sorts."[6]
| Dates | Location | Attendance | Featured performers |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAGFest September 27–29, 2002 |
Holiday Inn Tanglewood Roanoke, Virginia | 265 | Everyone, The Minibosses, The OneUps |
| MAGFest 2 October 31–November 2, 2003 |
Clarion Hotel Williamsburg, Virginia | 375 | The Minibosses, The Smash Bros., Wave Theory |
| MAGFest 3 October 1–3, 2004 |
Clarion Hotel Williamsburg, Virginia | 500 | Inheretics, Chromelodeon, The Jenova Project, The Minibosses, The NESkimos, Temp Sound Solutions, The Smash Bros., Wave Theory |
| MAGFest 4 January 13–15, 2006 |
Doubletree Hilton Charlottesville, Virginia | 750 | The Minibosses, The NESkimos, Parasprinter, Powerglove, Search Snake, The Smash Bros., Sprite Slowdown, This Place Is Haunted, Wave Theory |
| MAGFest 5 January 4–7, 2007 |
Sheraton Premiere Vienna, Virginia | 950 | Armcannon, Chromelodeon, Parasprinter, Powerglove, The Smash Bros., Temp Sound Solutions, This Place Is Haunted, Wave Theory, Year 200X |
| MAGFest 6 January 3–6, 2008 |
Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Alexandria, Virginia | 1050 | The Advantage, Armcannon, Powerglove, Select Start, The Smash Bros., Temp Sound Solutions, This Place Is Haunted |
| MAGFest 7 January 1–4, 2009 |
Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Alexandria, Virginia | 1350 | Armcannon, Armadillo Tank, Entertainment System, The Megas, Metroid Metal, A_Rival, Rare Candy, Temp Sound Solutions, The Smash Bros., This Place Is Haunted,[8] Year 200X |
| MAGFest 8 January 1–4, 2010 |
Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Alexandria, Virginia | 2200 | Armcannon, Armadillo Tank, Entertainment System, The Megas, Metroid Metal, A_Rival, Rare Candy, Select Start, Temp Sound Solutions, The OneUps, The Smash Bros., This Place Is Haunted,[8] brentalfloss |
| MAGFest 9 January 13–16, 2011 |
Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Alexandria, Virginia | 3000+ (Capped) | The Protomen, The Minibosses, The OneUps, Metroid Metal, Armcannon, Bit Brigade, The Megas, Year 200X, X-Hunters, Entertainment System, This Place Is Haunted, Rare Candy, Dj CUTMAN, A_Rival, Powerglove, brentalfloss |
| MAGFest 10 January 5–8, 2012 |
Gaylord National Convention Center National Harbor, Maryland | 6100+[9] | Earthbound Papas,[5] Armcannon, Bit Brigade, Descendants of Erdrick, Dj CUTMAN, The Megas, Metroid Metal, The OneUps, Temp Sound Solutions, This Place Is Haunted, X-Hunters, Year 200X, Krieger, Random Encounter |
| MAGFest 11 January 3–6, 2013 |
Gaylord National Convention Center National Harbor, Maryland | 9000+ | Yuzo Koshiro, Armcannon, Benjamin Briggs, Bit Brigade, bLiNd, Brentalfloss and The Cartridge Family, Dj CUTMAN, Mega Ran, Metroid Metal, Powerglove, Protomen, Rare Candy, The Megas, The OneUps, Those Who Fight, Video Game Orchestra |
| MAGFest 12 January 2-5, 2014 |
Gaylord National Convention Center National Harbor, Maryland | 12,000+ | Machinae Supremacy, The OneUps, Love Canon, Bit Brigade, Urizen, X-Hunters, The Megas, Knight of the Round, Random AKA Mega Ran, MegaDriver, Super Guitar Bros., Those Who Fight, On Being Human, This Place Is Haunted, Armcannon, Rare Candy, LONELYROLLINGSTARS, Gamechops DJ Battle |
| MAGFest 8.5 September 12-14, 2014 |
Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Alexandria, Virginia | 1,500 | Arm Cannon, Temp Sound Solutions, Professor Shyguy, You Bred Raptors?, Steel Samurai, Eight Bit Disaster, The Protomans, The World Is Square, Those Who Fight |
| MAGFest 13 January 23-26, 2015 |
Gaylord National Convention Center National Harbor, Maryland | 17,000+ | Yuu Miyake, The Protomen, Powerglove, Bit Brigade, LONELYROLLINGSTARS, The Megas, Random AKA Mega Ran, Super Guitar Bros., Kirby's Dream Band, Viking Guitar Live, Super Soul Bros., Rare Candy, Urizen, On Being Human, The Tiberian Sons |
References
- ↑ "MAGFest 13: January 23-26, 2015 | MAGFest - Music and Gaming Festival". MAGFest. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
- ↑ "MAGFest runs on video games". CNN Blogs. January 13, 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Topher Cantler. "What you missed at MAGfest 8".
- ↑ "MAGFest 2010 Lineup Released". Wired. November 21, 2009.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "From Mega Man To Final Fantasy, Live Video Game Music".
- ↑ Joe Grogan. "Recapping MAGFest 8".
- ↑ "MAGFest Information". MAGfest.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 On The Scene, Gaming and Rock: 'THIS PLACE IS HAUNTED' Hosts The 'FINAL VIDEO ARMAGEDDON' This Saturday
- ↑ Dale North. "Magfest X: The best one yet".