Our intrepid reporter Adam Rorke made the journey up the Hume highway to attend the first ever Rooster Teeth expo in Australia. Dubbed RTX the show was host to some amazing games, films, anime and various other pop culture related stalls. Adam has used his time well, managing to get a host of interviews, previews and reports toghether for your entertainment. Welcome to Player2’s coverage of RTX Australia 2016
RTX Australia – The Panels
If you had to pick one thing that was the real hook for an event like this, the panels and the special guests definitely stood out as the obvious choice. There was something for everyone, whether you were a fan of RWBY, X-ray and Vav or a Screwattack G1 living in Australia, and RTX has quite the selection for everyone!
It was impossible to attend every panel, unless you’re a master of physics and can defy the rules of space time continuum, so here’s a quick rundown on some of the panels I managed to find a seat in. For those who couldn’t snag a seat on the Centre Stage though, you can go check out the Twitch stream right here
Building a Community – Barbara Dunkleman, Craig Skistimas and Freddie Wong
Sure, we’ve all been part of a community, a group of people drawn together for their love of a show, activity or general vibe. But how does one actually manage and build one? Well who better to talk about it than these three people. Barbara, the Community Director of Rooster Teeth, Craig, Co-founder and general Manager of Screwattack and Freddie Wong, the co-found of Rocket Jump.
It’s nice to hear how all three speakers continuously find they need to adapt to the ever changing landscape that the internet can be. One such issue is how a specific show can really break away and form its own following and how they’re forced to make a decision about whether or not it warrants a split into its own beast, away from the main channels. Freddie Wong explained it like listening to a channel that plays classical music, but then they start playing jazz. Like with any good panel, all three speakers took Q and A’s from the crowd with Craig sprinting from one end of the hall to the other. Many laughs were had and all left with some nice insight into the thought process behind the presentation.
VR is here – Norman Wang
Yes, VR is a very hot topic right now. The Oculus Rift, Vive and Sony VR will all be released this year and we can only assume there will be much content to follow. But up until now we’ve really only focussed on the gaming aspect of Virtual Reality. In doing so, we’ve really ignored the many other applications that this tech can bring us. Thankfully, Norman opened our eyes to some other, currently under reported, uses.
One of the main points brought up (with the help of a demonstration video) was using this technology to see the world through the eyes of another person. This was shown by person A using the headset and person B mimicking all movements with a camera on their head. Norman went on to add that their goal would be to help people understand psychological ailments by seeing through the eyes of said person suffering them.
Noble and lofty goals, no one can deny that. But it’s great to see a panel discussing and diving into some of the many applications we might be seeing over the next few years.
Rocket League 2v2 – Craig Skistimas, Freddie Wong and Ryan Haywood vs Lawrence Sonntag, James Willems and Adam Kovic
Rocket League is awesome! You know what’s more awesome? Watching a grudge match between two teams of three duke it out in front of a live audience! And how did that go exactly? Well let’s just say it wasn’t exactly a good day to be a Funhaus fan … yeah …
How bad was it? Well 4 – 0 might paint a nice picture for you, I think the Funhaus lads are going to need a salve for that epic burn that they suffered. Something I learned from this event was that Freddie Wong is an absolute gun at Rocket League, I managed an interview after this challenge and after giving him a compliment he said “they should know better than to challenge me”.
To make it more embarrassing, I got word that this was the first time Craig had played the game. Man … the hits just keep coming don’t they?
XRAY and Vav – Lindsay Jones and Barbara Dunkleman
OK confession time. Up until I walked into this panel and saw the guests come out, I thought I was in line to watch ‘The Patch’. But as far as blunders go, this was the best one I ever made, purely and simply because I have now have another show on my feed to enjoy.
For fans though, this was quite a treat to get a glimpse of the thought process and in-jokes behind the scenes. In one such example, Lindsay explained how making the character her partner voices all skinny and weak made her so upset that she messaged him, asking if he was feeling well and if he needed something to eat.
The highlight of the panel was listening to Barbara swear using the voice of ORF. It never failed to get some laughs.
Aussie G1 Meet and Greet
If you’re a part of the Screwattack community, then you already know what the term G1 means. When most guests have some down time they tend to find some food and relax in the guest’s only area. Not Craig though, taking the opportunity from his first trip to Australia, he decided to setup an open meet and greet with some lucky G1’s attending the event.
Those who attended got to have some private banter and hit Craig up with all their queries, about what’s going on with the site, future plans and so forth. It was also nice to hear some behind the scenes stories that lead to specific videos. One specific video which has Craig smirking and saying “man, we’re such dicks” was Nicks (Nervous Nick) day of hell.
The story goes, that Nick is notorious for losing challenges and never paying up or forever breaking things unintentionally. The crew decided that on this specific day, he was to repay all his debts. After re-counting the story, he paused and went “yeah we were such dicks …. But no … he deserved it”. And you can see this video right here.
Sorry Nick, but I’ll admit I had a laugh when I watched this.
Closing time – Gus Sorola
Like all good things, RTX had to eventually come to an end and it was fitting to have Gus
walk on stage and announce that Australia’s first RTX was finished for 2016. This was met with many sobs and boo’s, to which Gus said “thank you for the booing, I live for that stuff”. The calm and relaxed vibe from Mr Sorola was probably the feel for the entire weekend, which gave many fans an opportunity to meet and hear from the people who have brought them many hours of entertainment, who still seemed humbled by their popularity. Gus did break the news though that they would be back in 2017 and this time at a place with actual air-conditioning, the Sydney Convention Centre.
Rooster Teeth Podcast – RTX
And why talk about this one when I can simply link you to it? Go check it out right here:
Adam Rorke
