EGX 2016: The GAMR Review: A Strong Show But Where Were Microsoft and Nintendo?
Game Expos are a mecca for gamers all over the world. In recent years EGX has gotten bigger and is trying to position itself as a big player in the gaming expo calendar. The thing going against it though is that it happens very late in the year with all the big games coming out within a few weeks of the show. This, however does not stop thousands of people flocking to the show over the course of the 4 days. For the second consecutive year, EGX is being held at its new home at the NEC in Birmingham. It once called Earls Court in London home (RIP to the much loved venue) and some say Earls Court was a better fit. From personal experience I would say this is true but this year EGX has ironed out the kinks from its previous freshman NEC event.
The most notable difference from
last year is the rise of the Indie developer space. As you walk into the show
you are thrust into the ‘Rezzed Zone’ which is by far the most engaging and
creative part of EGX. Indie developers are so keen to speak to you about their
creations and you can’t help but be on their team as you play their games. The
level of creativity is outstanding and the crowds do seem more clued into what
it meant to be an ‘Indie Dev’ this year more than ever. We tried our hands on
all most all the Indie games on show and we have to say this was a very
rewarding experience.
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| The Beautiful Windlands! |
Of course the AAA games were here
too, with the new Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare pulling a decent crowd as well as the new Gran Turismo
title. VR is definitely the theme this year, PlayStation VR had a big push
prior to its launch in a few weeks, with all demo slots booked up, it’s
certainly a good omen for the new PlayStation venture. ‘Rovr VR’, ‘Vive’ and ‘Oculus’
were also going strong with people lapping up the new way to play videogames
throughout the expo. PlayStation VR is the only real consumer option as ‘Rovr’ is
a great party piece to have at an expo but will not translate to the home space
due in part to its current limitations as hardware. The Oculus and Vive however
will likely only be limited by their cost, with potentially thousands required
to get the tech, the hardware to use it with and of course games! We weren’t
sold on any VR other than PlayStations offering, as the tech is still not there
for other super immersive experiences.
PlayStation had a massive glowing
blue stand with a stage and a lot of demo games being shown off. They demoed
games live on stage and got the crowd pumped with giveaways and competitions.
In previous years Microsoft were duelling it out with Sony for the crowd's
affection but this year the Microsoft presence is minimal at best, there were a
few consoles that had some AAA demos on (Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2) but no
stage and no marketing whatsoever. This is particularly strange seeing as they
just launched the Xbox One S and have a real opportunity to capitalize on some
of Sony’s recent missteps with the PlayStation Pro confusion, but nope, they
didn’t bother showing up at all.
As for Nintendo, well, there are
some T-shirts on sale by merch dealers but there was actually otherwise NO
NINTENDO official presence at all! Madness, not one game, no giveaways,
nothing. Do they know they need goodwill for the launch of a new gaming system
next year? Much like Microsoft in previous years, Nintendo have been at EGX,
but this year, not a sausage. Why is this? I haven’t the foggiest. Do they not
think the show is important enough? The crowds are here in their thousands,
people are hungry to play and have loose wallets. This could be a big problem
for EGX going forward, if hardware and software developers don’t think it is
important showing up then what is the draw? Not all people want Indie games,
most people want the AAA experience from their favourite platform. As a core
PlayStation gamer I am cool with it, but what about the kids who come to see
Mario and Splatoon? There is effectively very little for them to play this
year.
EGX has been fun but there is
still a lot of room for improvement to safeguard its future. The crowds are
getting bigger (sold out all weekend) but the turnout from big developers and
hardware folks is a little concerning. EGX needs to finds its USP, it can’t
just be the UK’s biggest gaming show (void because it is the only commercial one
aimed at all gamers). The GAMR team had a great time this year, hands down
better than last year’s effort and Indie games stole the show.
I now need to have a lie down away flashing lights and screens for a good while to soak it all in.
Read more
about the games we played, developers we interviewed and much more on our EGX2016 feed.
Jake
Buchanan | @HDD_Heart
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