Too Many Games Still Going Strong!!!
Rich L.
I've been to a lot of conventions in my time, and Too Many Games is an event that I've made a ritual of attending. This is their 19th year in Oaks, PA (The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds), as well as my third time attending consecutively. I also cosplayed a few characters: Friday, I was Beast Gohan from Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Saturday and Sunday, I also cosplayed as Richter Belmont from the Netflix Series Castlevania: Nocturne. Initially, I wanted to be Demi Fiend from Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne. Since the character is shirtless, I figured I'd double check with the convention to see if it was allowed, and to my surprise sadly it wasn't.
While I did not attend any panels, I did attend a few events. One event that seems to occur at all of the TMG conventions is cosplay wrestling. This features exactly what it sounds like, people in cosplay wrestling each other in the ring, with the typical over the top personalities you'd see on WWE. I caught some of the first show on Saturday, and the tail end of the second show on Sunday.
Wario vs. Wii Fit Trainer
I saw wrestling matches such as Donkey Kong vs. Little Mac, Wario vs. Wii Fit Trainer, Leon Kennedy and Ashley Graham vs. Team Rocket, and CJ, Big Smoke, and Ryder vs. the same Team Rocket for the finals. They're definitely very talented wrestlers, especially with the crash sounds you could hear from across the convention! My only gripe is that it does seem like they've been using a lot of the same characters and it would be great to see them mix it up a bit with a new character lineup. In their defense, Ashley may have been new, and while I've heard Leon Kennedy was a part of it previously, I never caught the wrestling event when he was fighting.
Another event I attended was a concert performed by the band called Psychostick. They're a metal band that does comedic songs (who I actually saw live during my first time at TMG back in 2022). I remember some of the songs they performed from last time such as a parody of “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor” by Drowning Pool called “I Can Only Count to Four”, and a metal cover of the song “Hokey Pokey”. There were some new songs, including a cover of “Highway to the Danger Zone,” and they also revealed that they've composed and performed the theme for a game called Toxic Crusaders. Something I felt enhanced their show was a projector showing videos and images that paralleled the songs being performed. Psychostick is a fun and wacky band to jam to with friends. I'd recommend them to non-metal lovers since their lyrics are funnier and more lighthearted.
As one would expect from a convention called “Too Many Games”, there was an arcade section and there were some good game choices. For me, I hopped on some X-men Vs. Street Fighter as well as Marvel vs. Capcom 2. I figured I'd play them, since this will probably be the last time I'll have access to these games from an arcade cabinet due to their titles returning later this year, via the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection.
Finally, I stood in line with some of my friends to meet voice actor, Steven Blum. I met him previously from a Fan Expo convention some years ago, so I figured I'd just pose in a group photo. While I did not have a direct conversation with Steve this time, my friends and I were surprised that he had actually voiced Crash Bandicoot. My one friend mentioned this to him, and Steve let out a “WAHOO!” in his Crash voice, which was definitely entertaining.
While the events were entertaining, I also visited Artist Alley and spoke to a few talented artists. Although the alley wasn't as large as Katsucon's, it still featured many talented artists.
Melluwish (or Mel)
The first artist I spoke with was a graduate from the same college as I—Rutgers University (Camden). Her name was Mel (full artist name Melluwish), and much of her art was very colorful, featuring many chibi-style characters. She also specialized in stickers and keychains. Mel always loved drawing as a kid and kept at it by entering art contests during her school years. She has been attending conventions as an artist for two years. Her favorite art piece was the Kirby piece with multiple characters and sceneries from the games. In terms of upcoming projects and conventions, she'll be attending Blerdcon and some others in the future. Additionally, Mel is starting to design Twitch emotes.
Her advice to artists is to “draw what you love first and then worry about perfection later.” For my bonus question (since I noticed she had some keychains of weapons from Final Fantasy games), I asked her what her favorite weapon from the Final Fantasy series is, and she said it would have to be the gunblade (Revolver) from Final Fantasy 8. Solid choice!
If you'd like to explore her work, you can find her on Instagram at @melluwish.
Terence Leonard
Terence Leonard was the second artist I spoke to. I happened to catch him when he was working on a commission for a client. He had an impressive collection of drawings inspired by video games and anime, having drawn for as long as he can remember. He started by sketching things he was interested in, like Pokémon and Sonic. In 2016, he graduated with a major in cartooning. He has been attending conventions as an artist since he graduated from college. He was inspired by artists in convention alleys and always enjoys working at conventions. However, he mentioned that gaining entry as an artist can be challenging and often requires effective networking.
Gurren Lagann by Terence
SideNote: The drawing that caught my eye and drew me to his table was his re-creation of the Japanese box art for the upcoming Sonic X Shadow Generations game. I also asked him who his favorite Sonic character was, and he mentioned it's a four-way tie between Shadow, Knuckles, Vector, and Omega. You really can’t go wrong with Team Dark and the Chaotix!
Terence's favorite creation would be his Gurren Laggan (GL) piece, since he’s been working on it for a while, and GL is perhaps his favorite piece of media. In terms of other conventions to find Terence at, he mainly sticks to Too Many Games, although he mentioned that he probably will do a smaller table at New York Comic Con. Also, he is currently working toward becoming an art teacher.
His advice for artists is “to not follow trends, go with what you like. Draw things that can make people laugh.” Additionally, he also stated “to not go to school for art, as it's not like going to school for something like becoming a doctor, especially if you don't have the money for it.” Instead, he suggests taking online courses, and use things like YouTube as a resource.
To check out Terence's work, you can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @TheTerence94.
Cody James by Cody
The last artist I spoke to was Cody James. What drew me to his booth was the style of his drawings. Most of his work was done in ballpoint pen, which is not something I see too often. Cody got into art around high school because he was interested in something creative. He continued with it, and around 2017, he began attending artist alleys by sharing a table with someone else. I was curious about why Cody chose ballpoint pens, and he explained that he used them in his sketchbooks. Some of those sketches sold well, so he stuck with it, especially since COVID. His favorite ballpoint sketch is of Big Boss from the Metal Gear Solid series, simply because he always liked how it turned out. For upcoming projects, he plans to create original work on murals and will be attending tri-state conventions, such as the upcoming ConnectiCon.
Cody’s advice for aspiring artists is to “focus on academics first, depending on your age, then develop your own art style. Once you have your style, create your own website and experiment with other styles.” Cody also had some drawings of Tekken characters, which is a game series I don’t see too often at artist alleys. As a big Tekken fan myself, I asked him about his favorite character and game. His favorite character is Kazuya, and his favorite game is the Kazuya-centric Tekken 2..
You can find Cody on Instagram at @codyjamesbycody, and his website is CodyJamesbycody.com
Personally, I found last year's Too Many Games a bit more enjoyable. This was largely because Crush 40, the rock band associated with Sonic the Hedgehog, performed at the event, and there was a fun late-night rave. Additionally, there were more voice actors that I was excited to meet. That said, this year's Too Many Games was still a great experience, and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't attended before.
With next year marking the 20th anniversary, I’m looking forward to seeing what they have in store for the con.
