"Google maps has failed us,” my friend uttered as we drove further and further down Pawlings Road. We had passed a soccer field a while back, joking that maybe it had been the actual convention. It was all an elaborate ruse orchestrated by President Obama to get us flabby geeks off the couch and exercising. We had been searching for the ever elusive road named West Drive. There was no such path by that name.

Several minutes of searching the general area finally brought us to a road headed by a neon sign directing us to the convention hall. Finally. As we strolled on up we wondered if this was an actual convention center or a warehouse in disguise. Big, blue and ugly, the only real advantage to this location was free parking. I recorded the notes in my mind. “Nowhere, Pennsylvania is a lamentable choice for a games convention”.

Yet there’s always something to be said about first impressions being misleading. There were signs everywhere informing of the event and its main entrance, and if I had been more attentive I wouldn’t have had to ask for directions to the media entrance. The staff were knowledgeable and always busy, making sure the event could go on without a hitch. As soon as I had my press badge and my friends had their wristbands denoting their attendee status we reunited to be greeted by Boba and Jango Fett cosplay. They looked and even sounded as if they were pulled right out of the films.

We opened our show guide made of cheap and recycled paper and began to flip through. Those first impressions suddenly returned like telemarketers that didn’t get the hint the first time. We attempted to decipher the map, scan the guest list, look over the panel descriptions, but in a matter of seconds we shrugged and stuffed the things away. Screw schedules and organization, we were just going to wander around and stop by anything we liked.

The main show floor opens up with the Dante’s Inferno booth, an impressive stand with televisions on the inside and outside. I glanced at the monitors and watched as players fought against a giant decaying woman with her corpse gray breasts dangling for all to gag at. “’Excuse us,” said a pair of grade school children passing by as I snapped a few photos.