Level Up Live 2008

Okay, so maybe this post is like 4 days late. I had better shit to do than to make snarky comments about this event, like, like, well pretty much anything actually - taking a shit included.

In case you're not familiar with the event, Level Up Live! is a yearly event held by gaming company Level Up! every year to hold tournaments for their online games, and to promote their new products. That's what its SUPPOSED to be for anyway.

A quick survey that asks why people go to the event yields the following:

- Look for sexy cosplayers to take pictures of (and secretly masturbate to the following night)

- Beat the bejesus out of that asshole member from the rival guild.

- See if that sexy high priestess partymate in the game is actually a bearded 40 year old man. (usually the case)

- Try to get laid* (and fail)

*(top result)

Bottomline is nobody ever comes to Level Up Live! for what it's actually for. You'll never hear anybody go "Maan, I can't wait to see those new games Level Up has lined up for us!" That'd be similar to hearing somebody saying "Maaan I can't wait to enter that dark alley to see if my ass will get raped!"

This is a lot like your usual anime convention, except there aren't as many cosplayers because most of them tend to get spooked out at the idea that the demographic for LU Live is usually 90% male. So I guess it's less a convention and more like an early christmas party in New Bilibid Prison, with the tough guys replaced by INTERNET TOUGH GUYS.

internet tough guys looking for their next target

For some reason, lots of people also like to wear black. Also, Level Up Live! is probably the only convention out there that boasts a distinctive smell - a smell of stomped out grass on a particularly hot morning. I'm not sure why, but every year it just smells like that.

Noticeably present in the event is the Food For the Gods corner, where you can find unique items like "Helluva expensive hotdogs" and other similar food items that even the Gods must be hating terribly because of their exaggerated prices. Meanwhile, the Jollibee near the place is making a killing because of the cheapskates who like to evade the extortion-grade prices of the food inside the convention area. They eventually ran out of food on the first day and began to ration out packets of ketchup, much to the dismay/delight of the hopeful customers (depends on whether or not you like ketchup).

To be fair, the commentators for the event have vastly improved from last year's "let's-see-what-this-thinger-called-a-mic-does" hosts, and I'm quite surprised they managed to go on without actually making any funny racial comments (I, on the other hand, just had to help myself.) That was very professional of them, and very me of me.

In a not so surprising turnout, the thong girl from a few years ago has found a replacement in the High Priestess of the USA team, who found herself being idolized by a sea of virgins during and after the competition, pretty much becoming the icon of the actual event. A few days after, noodz started circulating, to the disappointment of some her fans and the secretive delight of the rest.

Nerds.