In case you’ve been living under a Chozo statue the last couple weeks and don’t follow our social media accounts, MAGFest happened on Jan 18-21, 2024. This MAG was special, in that the show’s theme was Metroid-motherfucking-Prime. 

Concerts

The show was one of the best MAGs I’ve experienced in recent memory. An arsenal of Metroid fan stuff occurred, including this Metroid Metal concert:

We can’t forget Lacey Johnson, who initially donned a Zero Suit costume during her act, and also featured Super Metroid inspired visuals during the intro of her performance that consisted of Metroid arrangement tracks:

The Ro Panuganti show was also incredible, and featured an awesome Ridley Battle theme track (with singing Ridley visuals!). Check it out here:

Hip hop artist Sammus was also on the scene, bringing her incredible skills to the main stage: VIDEO COMING SOON

Other MAGFest Stuff

These awesome floor stickers greeted you in the hotel lobby: They also adorned the elevator glass:

And here’s what this year’s maps looked like:

On top of all the awesome performances, our former staff member Devin was on a panel where he spoke about the fan translation and development of Twinetroid, an excerpt from that panel can be watched here: VIDEO UPLOADED SOON

MAGFest merch

In standard MAGFest fashion, the theme lent itself well to offering attendees a great amount of merch, featuring the annual mascot, a Samus-like bird lady named “Cho” and her cute not-Metroid Prime like alien, “Zip.” This year’s swadges (a “swag badge” that has interactive lights and buttons) featured a full-color screen, a 3D FPS Wolfenstein/Metroid Prime hybrid game, and was in a shape very similar to that of Cho’s spaceship (clearly based on Samus’s Super ship).

Cosplay

Metroid cosplayers came out in full force over the weekend. It was an incredible sight – including possibly the world’s first ever Joey cosplayer – these costume makers really brought their A-game to the event. See pics of the Metroid photoshoot below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, I must give a huge shoutout to our FB admin Carl, who – along with a few friends – built a ~10ft tall Mother Brain pixel costume that towered above everything else, and featured MB’s classic screams, a light-up brain, blinking eye, drool, exhaled fog, and had animatronic mouth, arms, and fingers. It was epic as it could possibly be. Here’s the reveal:

WATCH: Behind the scenes short

Of course, my biggest regret was not having a panel of my own, where other plans were made, but ultimately fell through – however there’s always next year. MAGFest seems to only get better with each passing year. See ya in 2025!