My Trip To New York ComicCon
February 19th, 2009 by Shigenori Nishikawa
Filed: Community, Games, MadWorld, PlatinumGames
I was planning on continuing my story from the last post, but it is going to have to wait until next time. Why? Because from February 2-8, I went to New York to present MADWORLD at the New York ComicCon!
I had been looking forward to the event, filled with incredibly excited and anxious energy because not only was it was my first-ever trip to New York, but also the first public showing of MADWORLD. And now it was finally here! The morning of the first day was reserved for official business, so the crowd was sparse, but once afternoon rolled around, the line at the entrance gate was ENORMOUS!!!! Even though it was something like -5°C (21°F), which I’m told is actually warm, it seemed there were anime fans from all over the US, and thus I saw tons of different characters being cosplayed in the crowd. I think the characters I saw the most of were Link from Zelda, and Obi-Wan from Star Wars. The sheer variety of Obi-Wan cosplayers was really interesting! It was almost like Tokyo Game Show.
SEGA’s staff worked really hard late into the night before the show started to get ready, and thanks to them we had four awesome demo stations for people to try out PlatinumGames’s very own MADWORLD. That’s right! New York ComicCon was the first time users were able to get their hands on MADWORLD themselves!
I came to ComicCon with two important tasks at hand – to sign autographs for fans and conduct interviews with the press. The first signing was during business time, but there was already a young guy lined up and ready to go… He was waiting to have Inaba-san to sign his copy of Okami for him! I was really surprised and also incredibly happy that there were fans this passionate in America.
This was really the first time for me to sign real autographs, so I was wondering what I should write when I sign things. I ended up decided on drawing a Happy Onion, one of the items in MADWORLD, and then signing my name together with the drawing. When I signed things for fans this way, I don’t know if they were in on the joke or not, but lots of them laughed and seemed really happy. It may have taken some time for me to sign things, but I am really glad I did it this way. I hadn’t had the opportunity to meet our fans up until that point, but it seems we were about to go beyond words and communicate somehow this way. It was incredibly fun for me. I really hope we get to do another signing someday.
I also did lots of press interviews.
The first day I talked with X-PLAY, GameTrailers, and Gamespot. All of the interviews involved me playing the game while explaining how everything worked, so if you want the inside details check out my interviews on those sites.
Thank you so much for coming to ComicCon and playing the game. I’d love to hear what you thought of it, so be sure to leave me some comments!
6 Comments Add Your Own
Hulk Davidson Posted on February 19, 2009 at 5:25 pm
I didn't go to ComicCon but I already regret it. Inaba-san's autograph on a copy of Okami, Nishikawa-san's "onion" autograph at his first signing, and getting to see Madworld up close would've been worth the trip and then some.
Platinum Games is the team.
James Posted on February 20, 2009 at 5:00 am
I'm so glad you had a good time! America loves you!! : D
Guido Savio Posted on February 20, 2009 at 10:17 pm
I live in Italy so for me coming to the Comic-Con was impossible, but i checked all the content on those sites….
Having a copy of an important game signed by one of genial game directors is one of my life dreams…. I really hope that this one day will happen…
Wonders… maybe a day I'll be just you, Shigenori, and have my future copy of MadWorld signed!!!!
thanks for your post!!!
Greg Posted on February 21, 2009 at 5:31 am
I want to thank you again Nishigawa-san, and please extend this to Inaba-san as well, for taking the time and visiting us fans here in US (and NYC especially) during what is no doubt a very important and hectic time in your careers and the history of Platinum Games. I am very honored to have meet both of you and to play Platinum Games' maiden release for the first time, it is a day I will never forget.
I THINK I'm the "young man" you mention in this blog, waiting in line during business hours with all my Joe games and the Okami covers, super nervous and excited about meeting two of the most talented and amazing game developers this decade. I hope I wasn't rude or selfish in bringing that many games to sign, and I was really nervous that I would upset Inaba-san with having him sign Okami. I know both of you are starting a new life with Platinum Games and would like to maybe not dwell on some of the things that have happened in the past, and I didn't want to take any of the thunder away from MadWorld because it is deserving of all the praise in the world and should really hold the spotlight right now.
Yours and Inaba-san's games have brought so many fun, unique and memorable moments to my life and it's very hard to thank you enough for the innovation and passion you bring to interactive media. I appreciate all the care and attention to detail everyone at PG brings to their work, and can't wait to start handing out some rose-tinted pain and DOT approved carnage in March!
Happy Onion, GO!
Ryan Posted on February 23, 2009 at 8:59 pm
I know one of our guys from Seganerds.com went and really enjoyed himself, You may have seen him, black guy cosplaying as Agent G from House of the Dead sniffing around the Sega booth all day. =)
Keep up the awesome work!
-Sega fan community! (www.seganerds.com)
Jordan White Posted on March 10, 2009 at 3:58 pm
I was the guy who came over with the Viewtiful Joe, Okami and Resident Evil 4 games and also handed you my business cards and two activist fliers. Sorry for all the crap I put on your table but I was extremely grateful to meet you guys and do the write up which you can see at the blog GoNintendo.
http://gonintendo.com/?p=72483
I will cherish my signing forever! Oh and you guys should get great sales, the Madworld booth was always crowded! I figured this was your first time meeting fans because you guys had this face like "all these people know who we are AND they buy all of our games? MADNESS!"
Good luck on your future projects!