Over the weekend here in Columbus was NerdPow!, a dedicated video game convention. The con itself was rather small, taking up only several of the basement rooms at the Hyatt Regency, everything else was taken up by a disturbing, pedophile-attracting cheerleading tournament.



However, they managed to use the space quite well. The main hall was filled with actual arcade machines; mostly music titles, but there was also Gunblade NY, a NeoGeo cab, and a Japanese style cab fitted with a modded PS2. Everything was free to play, and playing Gunblade NY with both guns at once does bring back memories.



There was also the console game room, which was filled with mostly fighters. I took the chance to put down fliers for the local fighting game night (every Wednesday night from 6:00 to 12:00 at Momo2, located in the University City Center, next to the Ohio State University).



However, one of the big things I wanted to see was the dealers room. While one can't expect too much from a small, first year convention, I did keep my eyes open for any deals. And I did see them, thanks to Arcade Legacy and their fine selection of well-priced Super Famicom games.



So, I picked up Beasts & Blades, an isometric strategy RPG; Yu-Yu Hakusho 2: Kakutou no Sho, a fighter based off the manga/anime series; and yes, Shin Megami Tensei

I can only hope that in the future that the show gets better and that they advertise it more. A friend of mine there expressed his disappointment at such a small turnout for such an impressive setup.