Today we experienced the ultimate interactive adventure at Playdium. With 40,000 sq feet of adrenaline-fuelled, action-packed games to enjoy, it’s the place to play. Playdium is an energized environment on 11 acres where you are free to escape everyday life and live out your ultimate fantasies. They provide a variety of arcade games, redemption games, batting cages, outdoor mini-golf and go-kart track. At Playdium you can transform your dreams into reality. Supposedly Playdium Mississauga is owned and operated by Starburst Coin Machines Inc.

After being blown away at the last Anime North 2006 I figured why not get a cosplay costume as well. I purchased a Kyosuke cosplay set from the Mooncostumes website where sell pretty good costumes for decent prices, one recommendation would be to give them your exact sizes otherwise they could totally screw up your order. My character is from the video game "Rival Schools vs. SNK".

I made some hilarious pictures with popular characters, namely; Zangief from Street Fighter, Totoro, the kids from Battle Royale, the tetris game and Megaman. I was also surprised by how many beautiful girls actually attend these events. It is truly unexplored territory.

The attached video includes the following scenes:

• Intro
• Anime Wrestling
• Crossing the main intersection
• Playing console classics (my favorite event)
• Bleach Photoshoot
• Comics & Merchandise Hall
• DDR
• Interactive fighting game
• Advice on "living in Japan" panel

The first MattLAN of 2008, I decided to better organize it this time around. My friends came by and setup their gear, we installed Red Alert 2 for the multiplayer LAN. During the installation we went downstairs to play some squash in my squash quaters, afterwards we went to the jacuzzi area while drinking beers. Once upstairs we played a bunch of videogames and got ready for Ferry Corsten at Guvernment Nightclub. He was amazing! I edited clips from the party with clips from the squash game, I thought it would be a funny combination. We topped of the night with some delicious pizza, wii sports and berry pie.

Anime North is definitely one of my favorite events of the year. It is so vibrant and lively. My costume for this year was Cloud Strife once more since it was such a success last year.

Anime North was founded by Toronto anime fan Donald Simmons in 1997 as a one day mini-convention with approximately 600 attendees. The original venue was the Michener Institute in downtown Toronto. In 1998 the convention expanded to two days of programming, and 1999 saw the addition of a third day of programming as well as a move to the Ramada Airport East Hotel, with attendance reaching 1,000.

In 2001 the convention was moved to the airport strip near Pearson Airport and was held at the Toronto Airport Marriott (attendance 2,000) and in 2002 moved to the much larger Regal Constellation Hotel (attendance 2,800). Shortly after the 2003 convention at the Regal (attendance 5,000), the Regal closed and the convention had to find yet another new location. For 2004 the best combination of function and hotel space available was the combination of the Toronto Congress Centre and the nearby Renaissance Hotel for additional programming. These two venues were unfortunately a 10-15 minute walk apart, although a free shuttle bus was provided to help alleviate this problem.

Despite this difficulty, attendance reached a record 8,200 that year. In 2005, the convention added a Thursday evening badge pickup for pre-registered attendees, and changed hotels from the Renaissance to the Doubletree International Plaza Hotel, across Dixon Rd. from the TCC (attendance 9,500). In 2006 actual programming was added for Thursday evenings; approximately 12,500 people attended that year, the first time that attendance has broken 10,000 people. Anime North 2008 was the 12th year of the convention, with 13,300 attendees, and continues to grow every year.

One of those events you have to visit once in a lifetime. The Tokyo Gameshow 2009 was lots of fun and I met many cosplayers in the process. The venue was located far east of the city at the Makuhari Messe, so it took 2 hours to get there by regular train. It sucked because I lost so much time during traveling. I arrived 2 hours before the end of the event so I had to truly rush it to explore as much as I could. Cosplayers outside the venue where in abundance. Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, new and old school classics were all represented. I brought my Cloud Strife costume to mingle with the crowds and make some new friends.

I even noticed a booth for Canadian game developers, sponsored by the Government of Canada. There were also lots of lovely ladies on the premises trying to entice the consumers into buying their games and products but they were usually surrounded by literally truckloads of geeks trying to snap a shot of their idols. Once I got to the courtyard I literally had 30 to 40 photographers taking pictures of my Cloud Strife performance at the same time. Not many foreigners must attend these events haha.

The train ride back was a disaster, I truly was stuffed into a train just like the videos you must have seen of train station employees pushing everybody into a tiny train wagon.