I bought a ticket to the 2008 Fan Expo for two reasons:1) to admire the oddly fascinating assemblage of cosplayers; and
2) to watch the Major League Gaming Pro Circuit Toronto event live.
In both respects, I was not let down.
As my first Major League Gaming event, I had modest expectations. I figured that as an obsessive gamer, I'm much more acclimated to hands-on gaming, rather than spectator gaming. To my surprise, watching pro gamers frag each other silly is actually quite entertaining. The energy in the building was intense, with MLG Toronto fans chanting their favourite players' names coupled with dynamic commentators giving the crowd play-by-play.
The highlight of the event was undoubtedly watching the final ninety minutes of the Halo 3 tournament. We witnessed the sweet revenge of Walshy as he lead team Instinct to victory over Final Boss - the very team that dropped him from their roster a month prior.
After the match, MLG commentator Chris Puckett ask Walshy what it was like to just beat the team that gave him the boot, and Walshy replied:
"It was like taking candy from a baby...but I think the baby would put up the better fight."Ohhh, that's got to sting.
For those of you who may have missed out on the event, you can relive the moment by watching a streamed recording of the tournament finals on the MLG website.
To watch the Toronto Halo 3 finals, click here to jump to the MLG Championship Sunday video page.