The weekend has come and gone, and with it, the 3rd annual Philadelphia-based VGXPO. You've read a few articles over the past couple of days getting the stance of a couple of different writers about their overall impressions of the show. I guess now its my turn. But just for a change of pace, I'm going to do mine in the style of a top ten list.

So... without further adieu...

The Top Ten Most Common Mistakes Made at the 2007 VGXPO 

#10 - Eating the Food in the Convention Center - Philadelphia is known for a few things across the country. Rude sports fans, a high crime rate, and food. Cheesesteaks, sausage & peppers, and scrapple are some of the more famous additions Philly has made to the world's palate. And one of the best places in town to get food is directly across the street from the Convention Center at the Reading Terminal Market. Sadly though, the snack bars in the Convention Center, serve culinary creations that only just meet the standard for "food". Although it must be said, the people working at the snack bar could not have been nicer.

#9 -Believing that the Voice You Just Heard Was the Moviephone Guy - The stage at VGXPO was not only the space for a couple of concerts, it was also the point from which show announcements were made. And if you heard the annoucements, you would have thought that you were listening to the Moviephone announcer (or Cosmo Kramer...) but you would be wrong. VGXPO had their own answer to Mr. Moviephone in Art, a man who was short in stature, but a voice that James Earl Jones is trying to imitate.

#8 - Mistaking the Muslims for Cos-players - I don't mean this to be offensive, so please don't overreact. While the VGXPO was going on upstairs in Hall C, downstairs there was a meeting of the Muslim Alliance in North America. This led me to see one of the funniest sights I saw all weekend: a guy dressed as a banana holding the door open for a Companion Cube, a Wario, and a handful of Muslims dressed in their full robes and burkas. Although they couldn't have been nicer, I had to wonder how the Muslims felt having to share the space with a bunch of gamers... which leads me to...

#7 - Mistaking Mike for a Muslim - Our own Mikeyraw196 is a very distinctive looking guy. Standing 6'5", he's really hard to miss. He also sports a full beard, and most of the time wears a backwards baseball cap (this will become important in just a minute...) So on Saturday, he goes downstairs to take a fresh air break. As he's making his way through the crowded hall, a very nice Muslim gentleman saw the cap (turned backwards), and the beard, and assumed Mike was attending the downstairs conference, and shot him a, "Assalam alaikum." Mike, not being Muslim, continued walking.

#6 - Assuming Major Developers Care About the East Coast - With the exception of Rock Band, and Dell, there was basically no showing by any of the major developers. Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, EA, and so many more were just nowhere to be found. Hell, even Game Cock (who are good friends of Gamervision), had a 1500 square foot space blocked off that stood empty all day Friday. Coop did get some good breakdancing done on that space though... so take that Game Cock!

#5 - Not Playing Rock Band - If you were at VGXPO, and did not play Rock Band, you should hang your head in shame. This game is amazing, and to be able to play it on a stage in front of a room full of people was just too good to pass up.

#4 - Not Talking to Zack Ward - It has become the "thing to do" for gamers to hate Uwe Boll movies. Regardless of whether or not you've seen any of his stuff, chances are you think this guy is the world's second biggest asshole (after Jack Thompson). And that may or may not be true (I may or may not find out this week when I do or do not get a chance to interview him...) But he does hire some great actors. Case in point: Zack Ward. You probably know him best as the bully Skut Farkis from A Christmas Story. Well, he is the lead in the new Boll movie, and was at the expo all day Saturday just meeting and greeting anyone willing to talk to him. And, as anyone who talked to him knows, he could not have been cooler. Down to earth, hilariously funny, and just all around easy to get along with.

#3 - Believing the Start Times of Anything - It started with the first announced time. The show was supposed to open to the public at three; didn't happen until four-forty-five. The screening of Moral Kombat scheduled to start at one, started at one-thirty. This was sort of the overriding theme of the weekend: nothing starts on time, and there's no urgency to anything. Now, if I planned an expo and one of my largest vendors pulled out the day of the event, I'd have a hard time figuring out what to do too. But allowing events to get pushed back set a mood for the weekend that permeated the whole show.

#2 - Putting Quarters in the Coin-Op Machines - At one point on Saturday, a frantic gamer approached me and asked me where the change machine was. I explained to him that all the machines were on free play. He told me he had just spent five bucks on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He was embarrassed.

And finally, the number one mistake made by attendees of the VGXPO:

#1 - Thinking that YOU Don't Agree with Jack Thompson - Yes, Public Enemy No. One was in attendance. He even agreed to a debate about video game violence. It goes without saying that he was full of shit and had nothing valid to say, right? No. Not at all. The truth of the matter is that at the heart of his arguement, there is no room for disagreement. I don't think anyone believes that kids should be playing Manhunt 2. The problem lies in what one does with that belief. Jack was intelligent, well-spoken, and made some good points. Sadly though, Lorne Lanning came prepared with facts, figures, and a true understanding of the issue.