Costumed characters invade downtown
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on February 4, 2017 11:50 PM
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Forrest Elge dressed as the Star Wars character Kylo Ren during the Carolina Games Summit Saturday February 4, 2017. Elge is a member of the Fighting 501st Legion of Stormtroopers, a group that makes appearances for charitable causes.
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Frank Gore, left, and Brian Storey dressed as characters from the film Star Wars during the Carolina Games Summit Saturday February 4, 2017.
Star Wars characters Boba Fett and Kylo Ren never appear in the same movie.
They are part of the same intergalactic science fiction franchise, but never overlap on the big screen.
But they were at least in the same city Saturday when the pair took the streets by storm together during the Carolina Games Summit.
Thousands of people converged on downtown Goldsboro during the summit, which lasted the entire day Saturday and continues Sunday with more events.
The two men dressed as Boba Fett and Kylo Ren were two among many people participating Saturday in cosplay -- dressing up as your favorite fictional character from a movie, video game or otherwise.
While there was a cosplay competition at the Paramount Theatre Saturday night, some were dressed up just for fun.
Ernest Ruffin -- the man dressed as Boba Fett -- is part of a group called the 501st Legion, which is the world's largest Star Wars costume club.
"I love seeing the kids," Ruffin said. "When they see me dressed up like this, their faces just light up."
Ruffin said his costume costs around $3,000, and he made it himself -- it even has a functional rangefinder, just like Boba Fett himself, but how it works is a secret.
His helmet is signed by the original Boba Fett actor, Jeremy Bulloch.
Several members of the club were on hand Saturday in the Wayne National Building on West Walnut Street to recruit members and inform people about what they do.
The old bank building had gamers and cosplayers crawling the first several levels as many competed in video game competitions of various kinds.
On the third floor, gamers competed in Halo tournaments in free-for-all and four-versus-four formats.
Austen Hamilton, 13, competed in a round of the Halo competition.
Halo,a military science fiction first-person shooter video game franchise, focuses on an interstellar war between humanity and a group of aliens known as the "Covenant."
Hamilton said his favorite part of the game is playing the campaigns, or missions, and that Saturday's free-for-all competition proved to be challenging.
Free-for-all means eight players all competing against each other at the same time, instead of being divided into opposing teams.
"It was crazy with all the people running around and throwing grenades," Hamilton said. "You couldn't get away even if you tried to get behind cover because there were so many people."
All throughout several downtown businesses and buildings -- including The Laughing Owl, ACME Theatre and the Top Hat Ballroom -- gamers and fanatics faced each other down in fierce competitions of Halo, League of Legends, Madden NFL 2017, Beyblade, Magic the Gathering, NBA 2K17 and more.
Jesus Quintero and Jahel Faire played on the same team against many others in Call of Duty competitions.
Call of Duty is a war-game franchise where players are characters in different war battles as first-person shooters who use guns, grenades and other military weapons to shoot each other.
Whoever gets the most kills in the multi-player game wins.
Saturday was the first time they were able to participate, and they were loving it.
Quintero and Faire intermittently shouted encouragements and celebrations as they inched along through the game, eventually winning the first round to move onto the second.
"A program like this can help you get exposure and experience," Faire said.. "If you win, you keep going."
The Carolina Games Summit ran until 8 p.m. Saturday, finishing off with an adults-only meet-up at Goldsboro Brew Works from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. It continues Sunday with another round of gaming throughout downtown businesses and the Wayne National Building until 6 p.m. There will also be a keynote presentation Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre.