Montreal Comiccon: Dizzying Games and Star Trek's 50th Anniversary

Montreal Comiccon has come and gone, but we've got more recaps right here in the CJLO Magazine for those who missed it. Philiam from Turn on the Darkness takes us through day two of the conference, with quick game reviews and funny anecdotes from the Star Trek 50th anniversary panel. Main photo by Brian 'Döc' Holidæ from Geektastiq Cypha. Check out our Instagram @CJLO1690AM for more photos Montreal Comiccon cosplayers!

Saturday morning began with Ubisoft showing off their newest IP, For Honor. They showed a new trailer and a demonstration with an extra 20 minutes of unseen footage that showcased more of the combat mechanics, enemies and bosses, and gameplay that reminded me a lot of Dark Souls. Unlike Friday, where it was quiet and you were able to move around freely, the show floor was packed on Saturday and it was harder to go from point A to point B, which was a little overwhelming.

I managed to also get a hands-on with the HTC Vive, the game I played was called First Impact: Rise of a Hero by Red Meat Games. It was a unique experience trying VV for the first time. The goal of the game was to be the hero, performing regular super hero duties throughout the city using different abilities. I got a little bit dizzy, but it seemed to stop after a minute or so. Nevertheless, the visuals were pretty impressive for VR, and I was glad to experience it. First Impact felt like a whole other world.

I headed to the Yaya Han and Kamui panel around noon. It was an interesting cosplay Q&A about how they got into cosplay, their influences, good and bad, and embarrassing stories. After scouring through crowds on my way to the Vic Mignogna panel, I got lost along the way and missed it completely, so I took a break from everything and watched a Counter Strike: Global Offensive competitive match. It was interesting to see the game in a tournament setting with a big crowd in the esports room.

The second-to-last panel of the day was an Anime Dubbing Contest where an assortment of weird things happened, in a hilarious, and cringe-worth matter.

The last panel of the day was the Star Trek 50th anniversary, with William Shatner, Brent Spiner, and Kate Mulgrew. The panel opened with a montage of the Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Voyager intros. There was a homage to the late Leonard Nimoy and the recently-diseased actor Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov in the reboot series.

Shatner told funny stories about being on set, and how his role as Captain Kirk from the first Star Trek series changed his life. Brent Spiner and Kate Mulgrew had their share of interesting stories about being on the bridge as well. In Star Trek: Voyager, Kate said that there was a lot of testosterone in the room, and not enough ladies on the bridge to keep her company. Shatner made a few inappropriate, sexist jokes, which lead the crowd to boo him, and Brent shared some memories about Leonard Nimoy, and how he was a great person to work on set with. Shatner explained how he was going to meet Stephen Hawking, he wanted an opinion on certain things that he's doing, and other Star Trek related things. He also had a story about their invitation to meet Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre in the morning. As they were on their way to meet Coderre, there was a man blocking the road who seemed to be a bit discouraged to pick up after his dog. Shatner got out of the car, yelled at the man, "Hey, pick up your dog's feces! PICK UP YOUR DOG'S FECES!" The man then picked up after his dog, and walked off.

--Phil Aveline hosts Turn on the Darkness, every Tuesday at 2PM.