Famous for their bi-annual Gamer Expo (GAX) events that draw hundreds of players from all over the province to the Friendly City for a weekend of all things games, the MJGA has found itself still rolling along with activities when many other groups have all but closed down.
Of course, when you’ve been gaming online for years prior to COVID even existing, you’re going to be in a pretty good place when it comes to having to stay home.
“All our nerds and geeks, we’ve been doing the online stuff for decades, so we’re still fairly active,” said MJGA president Kristian Sjoberg. “We’re still doing a few things online, occasionally we have D&D groups meeting online and playing together, and we’re still running our Discord channel where we have guys playing video games with each other all the time… other than that we’re still together and still moving forward once lockdown measures have changed.”
Sjoberg expects things won’t change much when it comes to their current activities for at least the next little while. That includes seeing the upcoming Summer GAX postponed, a disappointing proposition and at the same time a realistic one.
“GAX is the one or two times a year we actually get out of our basement,” Sjoberg joked. “That’s really the whole point of it, though, to get out and meet other people and have fun together. We can always set up online things and we still do, but it’s not where we like to focus. We want an atmosphere where everyone is comfortable and can still be a nerd and let their geek out and have a great time.”
GAX most definitely does that. From computer gaming to simple card and board games and even virtual reality stations, the event has grown significantly over the last few years and now attracts so many patrons that they’re able to take over most of the Cultural Centre.
“We were just starting to hit our stride, too,” Sjoberg said of the cancellations. “The last two being at the Cultural Centre has really opened us up and doubled and tripled our numbers in a year or two. Partnering with Sidewalk Days was great, too, we even had people in costumes taking pictures with a professional photographer and it was a lot of fun. We’re looking forward to doing something like that again once restrictions are lifted.”
The good news is the MJGA has been able to maintain their charitable ventures, having made their annual donation of $500 to the Creative Kids Saskatchewan program last year.
The plan is to do the same in the near future, and then refill the coffers as soon as they’re able to once things open up. How that might happen simply depends on when the all-clear is given.
“With our stuff, as long as the theatre isn’t booked or anything, it only takes us four to six weeks to get all of our stuff organized,” Sjoberg said. “It’s a pretty quick turnaround if things change, so we’re hoping for the fall and maybe Summer GAX can become Halloween GAX or something like that, but it’s all very much just what we’re hoping for. No dates or anything yet.”
One thing that is for certain is whenever GAX takes place again, it’ll be a heck of a time.
“For sure, I know there are people looking forward to getting back together to game again, and we’re hoping we’ll have an event that’ll let them do just that,” Sjoberg said.
