Gaucho Gaming Convention brings widespread voice actors to UCSB

Gaucho Gaming hosted their second conference on the Corwin Pavilion that includes voice actors from widespread video video games akin to Genshin Impact, Marvel Rivals, Resident Evil and Silent Hill on May 23.

The Gaucho Gaming Convention (GG Con) supplied college students an area to discover gaming tradition by voice actor panels, autograph signings, online game tournaments, artwork distributors and giveaways. 

GG Con had three separate panels centered round video games the voice actors seem in. The Genshin Impact panel introduced actors Sean Chiplock, Cory Yee, Patrick Pedraza and Kieran Regan who voice Diluc, Gorou, Wanderer and Heizou Shikanoin, respectively.   

The Marvel Rivals panel featured actors Bill Millsap, James C. Mathis III, Jon Bailey and Xanthe Huynh who voice Punisher, Black Panther, Jeff the Land Shark and Dagger, respectively. Fourth-year communication main Lucas Joseph Sotelo expressed his gratitude for the chance to fulfill the voice behind Punisher, a personality whom he often performs in Marvel Rivals. 

“It’s surreal being able to meet [Bill Mishap], shake his hand, talk to him about things and then hear the Punisher [voice] line in real life … It’s mind-blowing,” Sotelo mentioned. “[GG Con] is just an amazing and fun event. It’s phenomenal that college students are able to put something with this magnitude on, and it’s just an absolute blast for people who enjoy this kind of thing.” 

The “Voice Your Fears” panel, named after the horror online game voice actors, featured Nick Apostolides, who voices Leon Kennedy in Resident Evil, and Caleb Yen, who voices Fox Mask in Silent Hill. During the panel, Apostolides defined how he booked the “iconic” function of Leon Kennedy with out an agent and gave the viewers steerage on getting into the voice performing area. 

“You got to just love what you do because if you love it, that’s gonna bleed into everything that you do,” Apostolides mentioned. “And when people see your work, they’re gonna see that you’re enjoying it; it’s not just a means to an end.” 

Kai Houlihan, a second-year laptop science main, mentioned they appreciated GG Con’s “more organized and structured” occasions in comparison with final 12 months. They defined the panel rooms had been “bigger” and “nicer,” and so they had been grateful to get a signed copy of Resident Evil 2 remake from Apostolides. 

This was Gaucho Gaming’s second time internet hosting the conference. According to its President of External Affairs and fourth-year communication and artwork double main Kei Kwon, a giant focus of the occasion was “testing how far [they] can push it” given how new it’s.

“[Hosting the event was] kind of balancing what is doable within the small amount of staff we have, but also [testing] how ambitious we can be,” Kwon mentioned. “I think it has been a success, but I’m very excited to see the event grow as well.” 

The conference additionally featured an artist alley the place college students might promote their artwork to attendees and hold 100% of the revenue. Vendor and fourth-year economics & accounting main Ashley Zhang defined how the conference introduced a variety of traction to their artwork.

“I think Gaucho Gaming is definitely the biggest event of the year, especially if you’re [coming] for artist alley or things like that,” Zhang mentioned. “For me, sales have been amazing, especially since [GG Con] doesn’t charge a table fee like other conventions outside of UCSB.” 

GG Con had tables for attendees to play board video games and video video games. In between tournaments, the conference gave away gaming equipment akin to mouses, headphones and microphones. 

Attendee Sam Mendez, a third-year psychological & mind sciences main, received one of many giveaways and mentioned he loved the occasion. 

“I’ve been really enjoying [GG Con],” Mendez mentioned. “I got a bunch of stickers from the artist alley — amazing art like always. My highest recommendation.” 

A model of this text appeared on p. 5 of the May 28 print version of the Daily Nexus.