Any gaming conventions in/near NY?

[Rechan]

Are there any yearly gaming conventions or big game day events within New York state?

I'm moving to NY, and I'm going to be dependent on the bus system (or some friendly car ride), so proximity is rather crucial.

 

[Woas]

Well there's the twice-a-year Albany Gameday up in, you guessed it, Albany. Not sure if it's worth the price but trains roll all through the Hudson Valley region.

 

[tenkar]

NY is a big state, define as Downstate (NYC Area) and Upstate (pretty much Albany on up).

Downstate is kinda poor in gaming cons from what I've seen, but comics and sci-fi cons are frequent.

I don't know upstate at all, so no info for you there.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Public transportation is pretty good in the New York metro area. There are several good cons in CT that are easily accessible via train from NYC: AnonyCon, AnonyCon, Dec. 4-6, 2009, in Stamford, CT, is my favorite. It's a 45 minute train ride out from Grand Central Station in NYC. (Disclosure: I'm on staff at AnonyCon.) ConnCon, in March, also in Stamford, is also a good con. There are also probably some public transportation accessible cons in NJ, although I'm not sure about that-- it's been a lot longer since I went to NJ cons than CT cons. All that said, if you're in parts of NY state where you would be taking a bus ride in to the city, likely to Penn Station, then crossing the city to Grand Central (not too difficult or time consuming, but it adds to the whole trip), and then taking a train out to a con in CT... that will be a substantial trip. But it may still be your best bet.

 

[Rechan]

Thanks folks.

Yeah, there's actually another con in CT I would like to go to. I was just considering the proximity of things. I was tempted to go to the Boston Gameday at Piratecat's house, but checking Amtrak/Greyhound had it clocking in at around $85. A wee bit stiff.

 

[smug]

NY is a big state, define as Downstate (NYC Area) and Upstate (pretty much Albany on up).

More like Albany on out. There's a lot of upstate that's West or South-West of Albany.

I don't know of much Con stuff in upstate; there's not really many people living up here. Downstate is too expensive for anything large, I'd think (although SciFi and Comics cons probably have better economies of scale).

 

[Rechan]

I imagine the Sci Fi/Comic cons have some gaming, although nothing as dedicated as a Gaming Con (although there are few of those).

I imagine Comic Con is rather... big. I went to DragonCon down in Atlanta, and was overwhelmed by the people there (22K).

 

[Baron Opal]

The Schenectady Wargamers Association meets monthy at a local community center. Council of Five Nations XXXII will be hosted there October 9-11. It used to be one of the premier gaming conventions in the northeast in the 80's and is being built back up by one of my peers who moved back a few years ago. Zombie Planet is a pretty good game store in Albany. There are a couple other game stores but I think they mare the largest in the area.

It's been a long time since I lived there, but I went back for a visit a couple of years ago and that's what I remember. There used to be a chain of game / CCG stores in about 5 malls and in a stand-alone store but they must have folded because when I went back there I couldn't find any evidence of them. They started out as the Sci-Fi / Mystery Bookstore in Saratoga, if anyone can shed some light on it.

 

[Baron Opal]

There are several good cons in CT that are easily accessible via train from NYC: AnonyCon, AnonyCon, Dec. 4-6, 2009, in Stamford, CT, is my favorite.

I've only been there once, but I enjoyed AnonyCon.

 

[tenkar]

More like Albany on out. There's a lot of upstate that's West or South-West of Albany.

I don't know of much Con stuff in upstate; there's not really many people living up here. Downstate is too expensive for anything large, I'd think (although SciFi and Comics cons probably have better economies of scale).

Oops! Yeah, kinda forgot that whole chunk of western NYS. Which is bad, because when I get away on vacation it's to NE PA, which borders NYS west of Albany.