Last month, I was invited by the duo of Pirate Place Parodies to help film some content for their YouTube channel (you should give them a follow, by the way) at MGS (Metal Gear Solid) Con at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, California. Now, I’ve been going to conventions for many years, and there is nothing like this I have seen before.
MGS Con is a one-day fan-run event where fans from all walks of life come together to share their love for the long-running series. You could truly tell the love the showrunners have for this series by the panels they had planned, the artists in Artist Alley they were able to bring in, and the voice actors themselves, who showed up to meet and greet with fans. You had the likes of David Hayter (Solid Snake, Big Boss), Lori Alan (The Boss), Josh Keaton (Major Ocelot), Michael Bell (The Fear), Gregg Berger (The Pain), Christopher Randolph (Hal “Otacon” Emmerich / Huey Emmerich), and Cynthia Harrell (Singer, “Snake Eater”). Speaking of Ms. Harrell, she kicked off the festivities by singing the iconic “Snake Eater” from MGS 3, and let me tell you, it was such an honor to be able to hear it live, and it gave me goosebumps.
This convention was filled with every variation of the main protagonist “Snake” along with the supporting cast of characters. Personally, one of my favorites was seeing someone cosplay the creator of the series, Hideo Kojima. It was amazing to know this was the 3rd time this convention was held, and the first time it was held at the Ontario Convention Center, which is a huge jump from their humble beginning in the Hilton Basement rooms, but is now filling multiple big rooms at the convention center. With the success of this con, there are talks of going bigger next year, and it would be great to see how that turns out.
Penguins Perspective 