From November 3rd to November 7th I was in Massachusetts. 5 days of adventure, new sights, and amazing people. I did not feel like a foreign entity during any point of the trip except during our first restaurant stop. Probably because of my bad experiences in similar locations so I was very hesitant on placing an order and I had to have my friend David do it for me.
I'll try and get everything documented here.
Departure.
I left Miami around 8PM on November 3rd. I woke up about 3 hours early and had my friend Marco take me to the departures spot for JetBlue. Fort Lauderdale International was still in the same old condition as usual and I already knew my way around. The flight seat was a bit snug but I managed to fit and snooze a little. I already pulled an all-nighter before I even arrived so I was powered up solely by Mountain Dew and excitement.
I arrived around 12PM at Boston-Logan International Airport. Alex and David were there already and from there I was swept up. The first thing we all had in our mind was food. And with that headed off to a local restaurant with some delicious roast beef sandwiches. Then it was off to Game Underground to work on the Pump It Up machine and get things ready for GUAC (Game Underground Arcade Championship). The first thing I noticed about the setup was that the Pump It Up pads felt off. Very raised but ineffective at holding down any hold notes and also drops in combo in different stream or tech charts unless you really pressed hard. I was determined to fix it but...for another day.
Round 1 in Taunton, MA.
This place was exactly as I expected it to be from what people have described it to me as. A Dave and Busters with a less annoying environment and overrun with games of Asian origins. The Pump It Up machines were beautiful but not very functional for good scores. No surprise there. I did enjoy playing the older fighting games they had in a dedicated area. Japanese versions of course instead of the localized variants. Street Fighter Zero 3 anyone?
Pad repair and qualifying for PIU.
It took Dave and I about 6+ hours to clean the pads as much as we could in preparation for the tournament on Saturday. Qualifiers were already done by folks on Friday and some on Saturday. By 3PM we were ready to go. Butterfly S13 was the qualifier. Super easy. I made it to semifinals but at that point it was doubles on forward. I cannot do doubles so I got quickly decimated. Not a bad run though!
Rave It Out setup and #oink.
After the tournament was over, we went off to set up Rave It Out as quickly as possible. After a 10 minutes of setting everything, the stream was all set. RIO was projected onto a large wall and a stream set up on pig site. It was glorious.
Sunday RIO chaos.
This day was dedicated solely to Rave It Out and playing other games at GU. Tons of amazing charts and amazing gameplay. Everyone had a load of fun, There was a IIDX event as well that day and from what I heard, the action was definitely intense.
Return home.
I had to wait at the airport for about 8 hours since my flight didn't leave until 8PM. I was able to hit up the local cuisine before I actually took off. No regrets. It was absolutely delicious. As for the flight, it went pretty quick this time around since I fell asleep along the way listening to pop music on Sirius XM radio in-flight.
A blessing.
Thank you for everything Boston, GU, 1449, and everyone else that made this into a great experience. I will be coming back in April. Or whenever the next event is for GUAC.
