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Summary
On: 09-Nov-2009
Assassins Creed 2, Halo 3: ODST, Splinter Cell: Conviction, FIFA 10, Forza Motorsport 3
Eurogamer Expo 2009
Old Billingsgate, London, saw the second leg of the Eurogamer Expo 2009. Sold out to an audience of 8,000 gamers weeks before the event, queues were formed hours before opening on a clear October morning. After being slowly fed into the ex-fish market, it became clear that this was no half-hearted attempt at a trade show.
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The show was spread across 4 floors; the bottom two of which were devoted to an overwhelming assortment of games across all major formats. The first floor featured a careers fair from gamesindustry.biz, a PSP Go themed cafe, a press office and a dedicated Indie Games hall. Finally, the second floor played host to a variety of developer sessions and surgeries.
Every single booth was blessed with HD televisions, the majority even full HD, and all multiplayer builds were networked across 8-16 consoles on the show floor. Ubisoft showcased James Cameron’s Avatar videogame by providing a 3D screen and plenty of pairs of the necessary eye-wear for the crowd. The recently released Forza 3 also made its presence known with two fully equipped racing seats and triple-screen setups.
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Only Activision let the side down by not acknowledging the events existence whatsoever. Plenty of reps from EA, Sega, Nintendo and Ubisoft were on hand to demonstrate builds of their games. Unfortunately, only a handful of producers and directors were there to demonstrate their own work – an inevitable by-product of a relatively young event.
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By far the busiest area of the Expo across the whole weekend was Assassin’s Creed 2, a sure fire sales hit for Ubisoft this year regardless of whether it’s predecessors short-comings are rectified or appeased by critics. Halo 3: ODST, FIFA 10 and Forza 3’s areas were perpetually popular throughout the event suggesting that Eurogamer have succeeded in not just attracting videogame enthusiasts but newcomers to the ever emergent industry alike.
The highlight of my weekend personally, however, was attending the assortment of developer sessions.; an explosive presentation of Split/Second from Black Rock’s Nick Baynes, an introspective look at Heavy Rain from Quantic Dream’s David Cage, a confident exhibition of brand new FPS Brink from, PC Mod extraordinaire studio, Splash Damage, all topped off with a surprise and unannounced live demonstration of the long awaited Splinter Cell Conviction. Each session was bookended with an organised Q&A that sometimes proved more revealing than the sessions themselves.
The BXB Crew: (LR2) Jasper "Noir" Kashap, Brett "Madmordigon" Harding, Arnold "DogEyedBoy" Cook,
Leigh "Mobiugearskin" Sherval, Steve "StealthySteveo" Rybowski.
Without any real competition in the UK, the Eurogamer Expo is already an impressive show. Almost guaranteed to return next year for its third event with even further backing and publicity, the only foreseeable issue is whether it will outgrow its current venue. At £6 a ticket, even a five pound price hike from Activision in exchange for their presence wouldn’t seem unfair. Roll on Eurogamer Expo 2010!
<The show was spread across 4 floors; the bottom two of which were devoted to an overwhelming assortment of games across all major formats. The first floor featured a careers fair from gamesindustry.biz, a PSP Go themed cafe, a press office and a dedicated Indie Games hall. Finally, the second floor played host to a variety of developer sessions and surgeries.
Every single booth was blessed with HD televisions, the majority even full HD, and all multiplayer builds were networked across 8-16 consoles on the show floor. Ubisoft showcased James Cameron’s Avatar videogame by providing a 3D screen and plenty of pairs of the necessary eye-wear for the crowd. The recently released Forza 3 also made its presence known with two fully equipped racing seats and triple-screen setups.
<Only Activision let the side down by not acknowledging the events existence whatsoever. Plenty of reps from EA, Sega, Nintendo and Ubisoft were on hand to demonstrate builds of their games. Unfortunately, only a handful of producers and directors were there to demonstrate their own work – an inevitable by-product of a relatively young event.
<By far the busiest area of the Expo across the whole weekend was Assassin’s Creed 2, a sure fire sales hit for Ubisoft this year regardless of whether it’s predecessors short-comings are rectified or appeased by critics. Halo 3: ODST, FIFA 10 and Forza 3’s areas were perpetually popular throughout the event suggesting that Eurogamer have succeeded in not just attracting videogame enthusiasts but newcomers to the ever emergent industry alike.
The highlight of my weekend personally, however, was attending the assortment of developer sessions.; an explosive presentation of Split/Second from Black Rock’s Nick Baynes, an introspective look at Heavy Rain from Quantic Dream’s David Cage, a confident exhibition of brand new FPS Brink from, PC Mod extraordinaire studio, Splash Damage, all topped off with a surprise and unannounced live demonstration of the long awaited Splinter Cell Conviction. Each session was bookended with an organised Q&A that sometimes proved more revealing than the sessions themselves.
The BXB Crew: (LR2) Jasper "Noir" Kashap, Brett "Madmordigon" Harding, Arnold "DogEyedBoy" Cook,
Leigh "Mobiugearskin" Sherval, Steve "StealthySteveo" Rybowski.
Without any real competition in the UK, the Eurogamer Expo is already an impressive show. Almost guaranteed to return next year for its third event with even further backing and publicity, the only foreseeable issue is whether it will outgrow its current venue. At £6 a ticket, even a five pound price hike from Activision in exchange for their presence wouldn’t seem unfair. Roll on Eurogamer Expo 2010!