By Seamus Toomey
I missed what is the biggest gaming, comic book, anime and related media convention to come to UL. It all happened over the weekend and while I was around Friday I was working. Not cool life.
With lots going on, there was a selection of great events that people got to see and it was painful hearing about all of the good times I missed out on from friends.
But luckily some of these friends went, had an awesome time and were willing to talk about it… kinda. I may have had to coax their experiences out of them with cookies. Some of their wonderful memories of Brocon 2015 are immortalised below.
The demo of Trench, a 2.5D shooter set in the depths of the ocean, wowed many including Aaron Griffin who said: “It was awesome, Trench was by far the coolest thing. Give me a cookie.”
Jack Kennerly, a friend who is involved with setting up Brocon said: “This year’s Brocon held plenty of events to appeal to all ages. Our Games Hall played host to a number of Tournaments and games, such as Super Smash Bros., Street Fighter and Magic: The Gathering. I couldn’t really choose a favourite as I’m just proud of the amount of growth the con has had. I did however enjoy the amount of variety the trade hall and artist alley had to offer this year.”
Dave Tierney touched on the serious side of the event mentioning the charity work for Pieta House that is done by the convention, saying: “Most importantly, money is raised for charity every year and it always feels great to support a cause.”
Dave also had lots to say about the fun and atmosphere that’s created by the attendees and their cosplays. “It’s worth going just to see some of the costumes people wear and Brocon is a fantastic way to meet friendly new people and a great way to get introduced to new films, games and literature.”
Helen Carroll cosplayed in a dazzling steampunk costume and was one of the many Brocon attendees who dressed up for the convention.
Gabby Azelatroh showed her enthusiasm for this development saying the “cosplay was great because that was something new to me this year.”
Along with that was a host of events including several Anime screenings, 30 artists selling their art in the artists alley event, charity auction for Pieta House, a cosplay competition boasting various awards, guests such as Kyle Herbert (he was Professor Oak in Pokemon, Ryu in streetfighter and Gohan in Dragonball Z) and an abundance of traders to buy merch from.
Finding out about these events post brocon makes me feel even worse knowing what I missed out on, seriously Kyle Herbert! That’s astounding, he could have gone to comic con in San Diego but instead he was (roughly) 6,000 miles away, here, in Limerick. And that is why Brocon is beloved by many.
Molly Cantwell 
Daragh De Klein