The Consortium

Megacon was a great time for The Consortium and we gave out lots of stuff during the contests, tournaments and trivia contests that we held and ran. Without the various stores, people and companies that contributed prize support, it would not have been possible. So we’d love to thank the following people:

Bad Apple Comics has been very good to us for the past year. These guys rock and we love them! They have a great inventory of comics, manga, action figures, collectibles, and staff! They have an big chain of stores throughout the Orlando area, but be sure to check out the UCF Store on University Blvd and Alafaya Trail. Please say hello to Keith and tell us we sent you!

These guys were a major help in our Super Happy Anime Trivia Contest Friday! Check out Bad Apple Comics and all of their stores at www. bacomics. com!

Funimation is one of the leading producers and distributors of anime in North America. Their large catalog of anime includes Full Metal Alchemist, One Piece, Aquarion, Dragonball, Black Cat, Yu Yu Hakusho, BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad, Lupin the 3rd, and so much more! They spoke at Megacon this past weekend and their panel was awesome! Be sure to check out future Funimation events at conventions and definitely support their anime!

These guys unexpectedly and graciously contributed many Anime DVDs to our Anime Trivia Contest and QuickDraw CONTEST. For more about Funimation and their lineup of anime, go to www. funimation. com!

FOT is the most well-known anime and japanese import store in all of Orlando. Located in the heart of “Little Vietnam” in downtown Orlando, these guys have everything Japanese! DVDs, manga, CDs, statues, import games, snacks, posters, wallscrolls, toys, plushies: you name it, they’ve got it! This is a must-stop for any anime fan visiting Orlando! The staff is friendly and will help you find what you are looking for and then some.

Florida Oriental Trading is located on State Road 50 in Orlando. They helped us out in the Sci-Fi and Anime Trivia Contest and the “Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto” panel. Check out thier website at www. floridaorientaltrading. com!

JapanHQ is located in the Orlando Fashion Square Mall on East Colonial. They have the biggest collection of Model Kits and Statues of any anime shop in Orlando. They also have DVDs, Collectibles, Manga, Posters, and Import Games. They are even attached to a Hello Kitty Store! They were a big help at the Sci-Fi and Anime Trivia Contest and the “Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto” panel.

Check them out at JapanHQ. net!

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Megacon this year was quite a blast and The Consortium is glad to have spent it with you all. We did events for Trivia, Karaoke, Anime, Science Fiction, Nintendo DS tournaments, and Gaming Fandom. Now that Megacon is over we can start breathing. We still have to catch our breath before we can begin thanking all the stores and people who helped us out. We’ll let you know who to show your appreciation(and money) to in the near future, but for now we’d like some feedback from you, the fans. We do read your e-mails and if you use proper spelling and grammar, we will most certainly take what you say seriously. We want to here what you liked and didn’t like in room S330A at Megacon this past weekend.

E-Mail us at info.consortium@gmail.com to let us know what you liked, didn’t like, and what you’d like to see us do at Megacon next year! Until then, get some rest!

We are getting closer and closer to Megacon and in this post, we will reveal the last of our events for the convention! We hope to see everyone as much as possible, because things are sure to be fun this weekend!

Before we get started on the Science Fiction events we are doing, we wanted to let you know that we are holding the first event at Megacon this Friday! Usually there is nothing to do at the convention on Friday morning besides wait for it to open up. However, this time there will be some activity upstairs in the South Concourse. For those who have never been to a Megacon before or are just looking for a good time, we have something in store for you!

Best of the Internet and Welcome to Megacon!
Time: Friday, March 7th at 9 a.m.
Duration: 115 minutes
Room: S330A, South Concourse, North/South Building
If you want to know more about Megacon this is the place to be. If you want to start off Friday morning on a good note, then this is also the place to be. We will discuss Megacon and show the best videos seen on the Internet today!

That sounds good, now onto our Science Fiction programming!

The Future is Now!
Time: Friday, March 7th at 2 p.m.
Duration: 55 minutes
Room: S330A, South Concourse, North/South Building
This panel will cover all the new Sci-Fi series going on. So if you like Heroes, Battlestar Galatica, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Lost, or anything else out right now, then this is the panel for you!

The Science Fiction Panel
Time: Friday, March 7th at 5 p.m.
Duration: 60 minutes
Room: S330C, South Concourse, North/South Building
We’ll be covering the best(and worst) of Science Fiction from past and present. Everything Sci-Fi is fair game!

Star Trek Panel
Time: Saturday, March 8th at 11 a.m.
Duration: 55 minutes
Room: S330A, South Concourse, North/South Building
The cast has been revealed for the new Star Trek movie! Trekkies will speculate and what will be awesome about the movie. And if you’re a Trekkie, well that’s everything!

All About Fandom
Time: Saturday, March 8th at NOON
Duration: 60 minutes
Room: S330A, South Concourse, North/South Building
This is an open forum for fans of anything to discuss what they like and don’t like in geekdom. Whether it be, Sci-Fi, anime, videogames, film, or comic books, this is where you can say whatever you want to say!

Torchwood Panel
Time: Sunday, March 9th at 1 p.m.
Duration: 55 minutes
Room: S330A, South Concourse, North/South Building
Torchwood is a new hit television series spun off from Dr. Who. Even though it’s a new show, it’s already a hit amongst the sci-fi community. Come and learn why Torchwood is a must-see series!

That’s it from us on our events! We hope that you can check us out this weekend!

One of the cool things about Megacon is that even though it is primarily focused on comic book and science fiction fandom, it has a good quantity and quality of Japanese anime programing at the convention; sometimes even more so than conventions that advertise their focus to be on anime. This year, The Consortium is proud to be part of everything and we will have some anime programming of our own. Also, we’ll cover some Japanese pop culture during the weekend.

You already know about our anime trivia contests. Here is everything else we have going on this weekend:

Japanese Game Shows
Time: Friday, March 7th at 11 a.m.
Duration: 55 minutes
Room: S330A, South Concourse, North/South Building
In America, games shows reward knowledge; in Japan, game shows punish ignorance! Come and see videos of the most bizarre and amazing game shows from Japan! Also come and discuss Ninja Warrior/Sasuke, Takeshi’s Castle, Kunoichi, and more!

Anime State of the Union
Time: Friday, March 7th at NOON
Duration: 55 minutes
Room: S330A, South Concourse, North/South Building
Come and learn of all the hot new anime out in Japan and also what is fresh in America. Panelists will discuss their favorite latest anime and issues concerning the anime industry.

Saturday, March 8th will be short on Consortium Anime events, but Anime Sushi will have many events going on, including the Anime Costume Contest! Be sure to check that out and line up early. It may be worth your while!

Best of Japan
Time: Sunday, March 9th at 9 a.m.
Duration: 115 minutes
Room: S330A, South Concourse, North/South Building
Japanese culture sure is crazy. They have lots of anime, dramas, game shows, commercials and variety comedies that either make you scratch your head or laugh out loud. Come in Sunday morning and see and discuss the Best in Japan!

The Art and Science of Anime Creation
Time: Sunday, March 9th at 11 a.m.
Duration: 55 minutes
Room: S330A, South Concourse, North/South Building
Anime creation is a tough and involving project that involve many people. Come and be a part of the simulation of the process by helping create the concept of an anime series!

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto
Time: Sunday, March 9th at 3 p.m.
Duration: 55 minutes
Room: S330A, South Concourse, North/South Building
We love giant robots and so do you! And there’s a healthy amount of mecha series going on these days. In this panel, our resident giant robot expert will present many aspects of giant robot anime, past and present.

Hey everyone! Nintendo DS is super cool and fun to bring to conventions. You can play games, share games, use Pictochat at Costume and AMV contests and anywhere else. It can be a fun time for everyone. So on Megacon this Friday, March 7th, we will have a couple gaming competitions and a meet-up for those who own Nintendo DS and games for it.

Open Nintendo DS Gaming
Time: Friday, March 7th at 11 a.m.
Duration: 120 minutes
Room: S330C, South Concourse, North/South Building

Here you can meet other who have a Nintendo DS and play games with them. Some games have cart sharing, requiring only one kart. There are many Nintendo DS games that have Local Area connection so gamers can play together. And of course there is Pictochat. Anyways, come in whenever and join in with other gamers and have fun!

You can also sign-up for the following tournaments here:

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Nintendo DS Tournements
Time: Friday, March 7th at 1 p.m.
Duration: 120 minutes
Location: S330C, South Concourse, North/South Building
There will be two tournaments for Pokemon players going on at the same time.

You will need:
1) A Fully-Charged Nintendo DS
2) A copy of Pokemon Diamond or Pearl for the Nintendo DS
3) Your Pokemon team ready
4) A charger for your Nintendo DS(optional, but useful)

Like we said, there will be two Tournaments. One for players with Pokemon Level 50 or below, and the other for players with Pokemon over Level 50. Tournaments matches are Single matches and will be done bracket style. In-between rounds, you can change your team but have you best ready for battle! Each Tournament will have a max entry limit of 32 players.

Players with Pokemon Level 50 of below will enter Standard Cup. These are 3 on 3 Pokemon battles. Evolved Pokemon are permitted but special/uber Pokemon are not, nor will using more than one of the same Pokemon on your team. It may be a good idea to get your Pokemon as close to level 50 as possible, as these matches are competitive. These modes do not actually adjust the levels of your Pokemon.

Players with Pokemon above Level 50 will be placed in the No Restriction tournament. That means roughly anything goes, normally. For this tournament of 6 on 6 Pokemon battles, we will add restrictions to promote fairness. Usually under No Restrictions, you can use anything; however, we will be banning the use of special/uber Pokemon and more than one of the same Pokemon on a team.

There will be prizes for the winners and it will be a competitive time.

Here are all the banned Pokemon: Arceus, Darkrai, Deoxys(all forms), Dialga, Giratina, Groudon, Ho-oh, Kyogre, Latias, Latios, Lugia, Manaphy, Mew, Mewtwo, Palkia, Rayquaza, Wobbuffet

Be prepared for a fierce competition at Megacon! We’ll have prizes to give away to the winners so come for a good time and a great battle!

Mario Kart DS Tournament
Time: Friday, March 7th at 3 p.m.
Duration: 120 minutes
Location: S330C, South Concourse, North/South Building

Mario Kart DS is always a tournament favorite of ours. The tournaments are fast and easy to set-up and it’s fun for the whole family! Plus it is not required to have a kart for Mario Kart DS to participate, though we highly recommend it! If you don’t have a copy of Mario Kart DS, you have to play as Shy Guy in the download play mode. Otherwise, every character is good to go if you own a copy of the game. Make sure you bring a fully-charged Nintendo DS to this competition. Matches will be between 2-4 players depending on the turnout, so be prepared for that!

Hey everyone! There were some modifications to our schedule at Megacon so be forewarned!

The World of Warcraft Dance-Off, which was originally set to take place on Friday, March 7th at 8 p.m. in Room S330C will now take place at the same time in S330A, in the South Concourse. It will still be the same time, just in a different room. This is great because that room has a stage to dance on, and it’s in the same room as the World of Warcraft panel. The sad news is that the Dance-Off will only be an hour long due to scheduling conflict. But it will still be fun and we’ll have fun stuff to give away to the winning dancer. Costumes are also welcome!

The Quickdraw CONTEST, which takes place now at NOON on Sunday March, 9th in S330A of the South Concourse will be broken up into two rounds of 20 minutes each. This will make it effective to judge and settle participants in.

We hope that these changes do not affect anyone’s enjoyment of Megacon in a negative way. We’ll see you guys this weekend!

Throughout human history, countless wars have occurred. But none as epic and glorious as the never-ending Console Wars. In this new chapter, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft do battle once again to capture the hearts and imaginations of fans, and even their hard-earned money!

At Megacon, super fans, sometimes referred to as “fanboys” or “fangirls", of each console will have their own battle in the form of a “civilized” debate covering many important topics and issues in the videogame industry today, all to determine who will win the next Saga of the Console Wars!

Console Wars
Time: Friday, March 7th at 3 p.m.
Duration: 55 minutes
Location: S330A, South Concourse, North/South Building

Do you play World of Warcraft? Blizzard’s hit MMO has sold millions of copies worldwide and has pretty much taken over the world, so chances are you have. Do you love making your characters dance? Ever wanted to do those dances in public? Of course you do!

So at Megacon this year, you will the chance to show your totally sweet WoW Dance Moves in front of everyone… on stage! Awesome, isn’t it!? You can even come in costume if you want!

World of Warcraft Dance-Off
Time: Friday, March 7th at 8 p.m.
Duration: 60 minutes
Room: S330A, South Concourse, North/South Building

But that’s not all for you WoW fans! We’ll have a fan panel before the Dance-Off for WoW Players to get together and discuss all things WoWey and such, from PVP versus PVE to raiding to the upcoming expansion.

World of Warcraft Panel
Time: Friday, March 7th at 7 p.m.
Duration: 55 minutes
Room: S330A, South Concourse, North/South Building

Note that these events are in the same room now, to make it easier for everyone. Get ready to serve!