ESA 2022

It's been quite a while since I've written one of these and I've never been the best writer, but here we go. The last in-person event I went to was AGDQ 2020, over 2.5 years ago, and I am extremely happy in-person events have finally returned. This year I decided to make the trip across the pond to ESA for the first time and it was one of the best weeks I've had in quite a long time. Out of all the people at the event, I had met maybe 5 or so at previous events, but I was really looking forward to finally meeting a big chunk of the PlayStation Nation for the first time. Some of you guys I had known for years, others for a short while, and others still I had never even heard of, but I have to say that meeting and getting to hang out with all you guys was the most fun I've had in ages. Whether we were wandering around the zoo or just chilling in the console room playing crappy PS1/PS2 games, every moment spent with you guys was an absolute blast. Special shoutouts to the Nation™ for always showing up in big numbers for every PlayStation run in the marathon, whether they knew the game or not. It was awesome to be in the crowd for the hype moments and to be up on stage with everyone behind me. You guys truly are the best :)

One of my big worries with going to an event with this many people was the inability to get everyone on board with doing anything outside the venue, leading to everyone just hanging in the hotel the whole time. I'm really happy that wasn't the case here - I was able to do so much sightseeing and other cool things around the area that really made the trip worthwhile. This was my first time outside of the US/Canada and I am ecstatic I got to see how different life is in Europe. There are a bunch of things about life here that I still prefer, but I saw a lot of stuff I'd love to see implemented over here someday. No free refills is a big L for Europe though lol

I was fortunate enough to do 3 runs of my own on the stream throughout the week and I am stoked with how they all went. Mad Panic Coaster wasn't great, but it did get thrown into the schedule last minute and I still went under estimate so that's good enough for me. Pac-Man World, even after all these years, is still one of my favorite games to show off at marathons and I am really happy it went well. Finally, Twinsanity was absolutely incredible - even though I only got 99%, the run itself was insane for a marathon. A 1:12 with no softlocks/crashes and no loaded saves is completely unheard of. I managed to get basically every hard trick 1st try, and that run was arguably my favorite marathon run that I've ever done. It'll be hard to get a marathon run better than that one, but we'll see when I eventually get the game into GDQ :)

I also got to do commentary for 2 runs during the week - Crash 1 and Jumping Flash!. Both those runs were really fun and went quite well - shoutouts to Rex and Javeliin for having me on the mic for their runs, it was a ton of fun.  GGs to both of you on sick runs.

This event was by far the most PlayStation people I've ever seen at any event, even more than AGDQ 2017 (my first event), and hanging with you all was truly fantastic. I can't shout everyone out individually or I would be typing until the next ESA, but there are a few people I wanna give special shoutouts to:

Javeliin: Definitely one of the people I was looking forward to meeting the most. We've been chatting since the JF games popped off in mid-2019 and I'm really happy we spent a lot of time hanging out. Whether it was learning Ape or JF2, playing random PS1 crap, or just having some really great conversations over food, I'm glad we finally met. I'll see you for sure at another ESA and I can't wait to race you in JF2 so you better come prepared :)

Oli/Isy/Ibs: I didn't really know any of you guys at all before the event, but wandering around Copenhagen was a highlight of the event for me. Thanks for showing me and Bob around and taking us to all the coolest places in the city. I hope to see you all at a future event and I hope to maybe one day repay the favor by showing you around a US city one day :)

Bob: I don't think we interacted much at all online outside of the past 6 months or so, but I am super glad I got to meet you and that we hung out as much as we did. Walking around the zoo and around downtown Copenhagen with you was a ton of fun and we had a lot of really great conversations throughout the week. We will definitely meet again, and if you're ever in the Northeast, hit me up and we will hang for sure :)

Rex: One of the first people I started watching on Twitch, I'm really glad you made the trek to Europe. We didn't hang as much as I would have liked, but chilling in the console room and just vibing with some terrible Crash gameplay was a lot of fun. Thanks for having me on the mic for Crash 1 and for doing the same for me on Twinsanity. I'm gonna try to get to ASM next year so I hope to see you again then :)

Bensagram: One of the people I've known the longest in speedrunning that I hadn't yet met and I am really happy we finally got the chance to hang. Tossing a frisbee around at the beach was hella fun and Bash co-op was based (thanks for carrying me lol). Thanks for taking a lot of awesome pics and videos of the whole crew, especially at the beach. Even though you were only there for a few days, I had a ton of fun chilling with you and I'm sure I'll see you again at another ESA someday :)

Ricky: You're the man. It's always great to see you at all these events - thanks a ton for putting that schedule together beforehand and really taking charge of our group as a whole. We obviously had a lot of people this time and you did a great job getting everyone to do some cool stuff, whether it be the zoo trip or the insanely hype Tekken tournament. I think that drove people to do lots of stuff outside the venue, which is where most of my memories from this trip came from. Thanks a bunch for being on the mic for 2 of my runs and providing some great commentary that really helped elevate both runs to another level. I know for sure I'll see you again, hopefully at AGDQ in January. Best of luck on the move to Finland :)

To everyone else I met and spent time with this past week, thanks for making my entire time at ESA so memorable. I can't remember the last time I had that much fun and I'm already looking forward to the next marathon. Leaving these events and going home is never easy, but I am confident I will see you all again someday, whether it be back in Malmo or somewhere on my side of the pond. Until then, though, keep going fast, zigzag more, and try not to go Crystal Crazy™.

PacAttack <3

-Joe