Photo by Fabian Doehla (SEGA)
On the way to my car, after being turned away from the Will Wheaton panel, I passed by GameWorks.
There was a line forming outside and a bouncer type fellow was standing in front of the door. On the door was a sign stating that GameWorks was closed for a private event (left).
I asked someone in line what was up and was informed that SEGA was having an after-party. They then told me that they had pre-registered. 🙁
I continued on the way to my car and then did a Google search on my phone to see if I could find out anything. I quickly found the SEGA Facebook page promoting the event and promptly added myself to the guest list. From the Facebook page, I learned that the party started at 8 PM and that it was first come first serve. They were also including food, drinks, arcade games and a raffle.
They had me at free arcade games!
I moved my car closer to the area (since the expo was closed and people were going home) and got in line. The line was pretty long by the time I got back but I didn’t give up hope.
The people around me were all really great, so the time flew by. At one point a van drove by and started tossing out t-shirts. I was one of the lucky few to get one (you can see it here).
The van was promoting an after-party for Namco Bandai and the game Splatterhouse. It was on at the same time as the SEGA after-party so I didn’t see that happening, although it was a good fall back if I didn’t end up getting in.
As it got closer to 8 PM, the line behind us apparently wrapped around the block.
Then shortly before it was supposed to start I noticed several people walking down the line handing out badges and wrist bands.
When they got to us they checked our IDs to confirm if we were over 21 or not. If you were, you got a pink wrist band and two free drink tickets (the good kind), otherwise you got a green wrist band and no love.
Everyone received a badge which gave you a GameWorks card with 2 hours of freeplay and a raffle ticket. I asked the lady about capacity and she said that they were handing out 1000 passes and that’s it. We were around the 250 mark.
At 8 PM they let us in. 😀
I had never been to a GameWorks before, although, I did spend an afternoon at SEGA Republic in Dubai, UAE this summer and the idea is similar. Either way, the place was pretty amazing. Two floors packed with arcade games, both new and old. I figured everyone would start using there cards right away, so I decided to wait until later to start my 2 hour game spree and instead get some grub.
GameWorks had set up two buffet lines; one on each floor. Some of the food choices were pasta, salad, meatballs and mozza sticks. I was expecting much less, so it was fine by me. There was also free pop and desserts afterwards. The bar served beer and hard liqueur.
They held the raffle at 10 PM and gave out some very cool prizes.
They also had the band Cash Cash perform a few songs including the theme for Sonic Colors (“Reach for the Stars”).
By the time the raffle was over and Cash Cash finished performing, it was getting close to 11 PM. Since the party was over at 1 AM, I figured I better start my 2 hour game spree. Unfortunately, everyone else must have had the same idea since the arcade was considerably busier than it was earlier in the evening.
Regardless of how busy it was, I didn’t have a problem finding games to play.
I started in the retro section and gave a go at Missile Command and Frogger.
Some of the games are getting a little old (dimmed screens), but playing them brought back great childhood memories.
As it got closer to 1 AM people starting lining up to get their parting gift. I had seen people collect a mysterious black SEGA bag as they left, so I knew we were getting something, but didn’t know what.
Well to my surprise, SEGA hooked everyone up with a black SEGA hoodie.
Epic SEGA Controller Hoodie
A perfect gift to end an excellent party. 😀
After the party I headed back to my hotel. Since I arrived late Saturday morning, I intended to get to the expo early Sunday so that I could get to some of the busier booths before they got busy.
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