Bisnow Takes Its Own Look At New York Comic Con
The 10th New York Comic Con was this past weekend at the Javits Center, and we took a look from our own perspective.
The way the convention meshes with the center is clear as soon as you enter, with ads and posters covering the center's rafters and pillars.
The center is divided into several sections, including an artist's alley, a lower level for autographs and photo opportunities with celebrities, and a show floor for exhibitors.
There were more than 160,000 con-goers in 2015, and this year's expected to outpace that. However, Geekiary editor Jamie Secor told us these counts are questionable.
ReedPop (NYCC's organizers) treats a multiple-day pass as multiple attendees, and doesn't limit the number of attendees/exhibitors/journalists like its West Coast counterpart.
Still, the con has grown to a size that forces ReedPop to use the Hammerstein Ballroom and Madison Square Garden's theater to accommodate ballooning attendance. We reached out to the center and Tishman Construction to see how the convention would be affected by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed five-year, $1B renovation, but, at the time of publishing, have received no response.
GEICO brought its B(us)-game with contests and giveaways throughout the weekend.
Marvel Comics' booth allowed bearded patrons to get themselves styled in the fashion of their favorite characters, including Tony Stark (Iron Man) or Dr. Strange.
Video games also have a sizable presence, with kiosks for Japanese role-playing game Final Fantasy XV, sci-fi action game Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and zombie survival game Dead Rising 4.
Also featured was a booth for Capcom's fighting game Street Fighter V, with tournaments every few hours. Considering the massive crowd surrounding the tournament, this level of interactivity and drama was a definite pull.
NYCC has an entire section of the Javits Center blocked off for press interviews and roundtables for various shows, including Starz's pirate drama Black Sails to [adult swim]'s The Venture Bros. cartoon.
One roundtable we attended was for Crackle's Supermansion, which is about to air its Christmas special and second season. Here, you can see co-creator Matt Senreich (also known for creating [Adult Swim]'s Robot Chicken) and Keegan-Michael Key, of Key and Peele fame.
Perhaps the most interesting installation on the floor was a "cabin" promoting Capcom's upcoming survival horror game, Resident Evil VII. The game has been a mystery for months, and Capcom fueled this mystery with a VR session with an extremely limited number of tickets.
When asked about building a house inside a convention hall, Capcom brand manager Mike Lunn (pictured) told us the house was made of a combination of wood, metal frames and fabric that's easily assembled and disassembled. NYCC's cabin, he said, was only about a third of the cabin's total size.
The developer shrank the house, Mike says, because NYCC offers set-sized plots for exhibitors to pick from (40'x40', 50'x50', etc.). Mike and his team had to properly design a space that fit their plot and the flow of the convention.
A lot of cool tech was on display, some of which the commercial real estate industry already is using. This Airhog of Star Trek's USS Enterprise, for example, isn't exactly new technology, but it's precision and speed show how far drone technology has come.
Also on the floor was an array of 3D printers. Deltaprinter's Delta Go was being used to make six-inch-tall, highly detailed statues in 45 to 90 minutes.
As you can see from this dish, it's capable of an incredible detail. Deltaprinter's rep told us the company's mainly focusing on recreational use for now, but noted CRE could save millions by switching to 3D printing for small parts and renderings.
Perhaps the coolest tech was Sphero's motion-controlled animatronics. This one, fashioned after Star Wars' BB-8 droid, could move in complex motions, thanks to a gray strap on the user's arm that registers these movements.
Through it all, the con rested in the shadow of the Related Cos and Oxford Properties' Hudson Yards megadevelopment.
Not only did con-goers need to use the extended 7 subway line to get to the convention hall, but many attendees commented on the size and scope of Stephen Ross' West Side game-changer.
