I have been trying to get to Mashfest’s weekly events for a long time and I finally had the opportunity. If you thought gaming and good times were relegated to industry events I am happy to inform you that NYC has a thriving culture of gaming events that not only promote the gaming genre, but also promote camaraderie in the fighting game community. Mashfest benefits from being situated not only in the shadow of MSG, but also Times Square which allows gamers from the tri-state area attend. Being that it was my first time there, I did not know a lot of the regulars but I did get to meet Nelson from Gamer Motion/ My Nerd Blog who was attending the event, and also met with those that missed out on the postponed Blogger/Podcaster/YouTube meet up. Nelson and I spoke like we knew each other for years and that honestly stemmed from our passion for gaming and desire to meet others that shared similar interests. I also got a chance to catch up with fellow Unveil partner RobSkii who runs the ever-evolving tech site RTV which I recommend you check out.
Now I am sure you guys want to know about the games, which were plentiful to say the least. In every corner of the venue was crowd of 15-20 people watching and playing all of your faves like Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition, Street Fighter X Tekken and the insanely popular Playstation All-Stars, which periodically would erupt into a chorus of cheers. Parappa the Rapper seemed to be having a good night claiming the heads of his fellow Playstation All-Stars castmates. I also got to see some of the more fringe fighting titles such as Persona 4 Arena and Gundam which looked incredibly fun.
Mashfest benefits not only from having a diverse selection of games but all the attendees are pleasant and were having a marvelous time. The libations were plentiful and food and service were spot-on which added to the great atmosphere. I would like to commend Afterglow and EightArc for not only supporting the fighting genre with these weekly events but also giving local fighting game aficionados a mellow environment to bond with others and hone their skills. Keep up the great work guys.
I’d also like to give a shout out to Jon Haehnle for taking some time to check on all the attendees and for making the experience enjoyable for a first timer like me.
If you’re in NYC and want to test your skills in any of the current crop of fighting titles make sure you follow Sonic Boom Box and attend Mashfest. You’ll get to test your skills and be maybe make some new friends in the process.
On to the pics!
