My absolute favorite moment of failure was sitting down by the stage for the opening ceremonies. Only there were no opening ceremonies. I was instead greeted by a series of trivia questions I had overheard around lunch time. Half-an-hour and an exhausted list of questions later there were still no signs of a ceremony to be had. To add to the mess of a schedule plenty of panels and events were delayed or moved throughout Saturday.

Still, it is possible to get a good weekend out of VGXPO if you want. While my first impression was certainly negative and cynical, I got a chance to speak with many panel holders and a small studio from South Jersey. Through its small size the convention enables gamers and aspiring game designers a chance to get in close with other members of the industry and establish connections. While you won’t be meeting Shigeru Miyamoto or CliffyB, industry members such as Bill Kunkel and Ryan Morrison are more likely to remember your face and give you the time of day.

In return, these members of the industry are also able to hold a panel that can provide better and more intimate advice to the convention’s attendees. If you are aspiring to be a game designer or journalist, Kunkel and Morrison are able to share their experiences and provide realistic but inspirational advice on breaking in. Even if your interests lie in TV you are covered, as members of the cast and crew of upcoming Heavy Sedation or Watching the Detectives are on hand to advise you in future career choices.

What VGXPO needs to do is start changing its image. Twenty bucks to enter a game tournament at a convention like this is asking too much. If you are a huge event guaranteed to bring in a lot of top talent, then you’re going to get a lot of top-notch competitors. However, an event of this size is probably going to have a lot of hobbyists matched up with a couple of insanely good players who wipe out most of the competition with ease. That’s going to generate a lot of customers disappointed to have wasted their twenty dollars.

This isn’t a huge expo where you’re going to play the latest and greatest from a variety of studios. However, it will give smaller independent members of the entertainment industry a chance to shine, as well as provide a great place to establish connections for wannabe members. Plus, it’s always good to have a place to just meet new people and make friends.

As it is, the possibility of VGXPO getting wiped out after GameX in two weeks and PAX East Coast opens up in Boston is very likely. Maybe Ed Flemming figured he was top dog in the neighborhood because there wasn’t any other competition but the battlefield has changed. While it has yet to be seen if GameX will be any better, it’s already looking more impressive by offering Bayonetta, Dante’s Inferno and sponsorship from The Escapist. Not even Nintendo can save face against that.