My Day at the MCM Expo

On the 29th October 2011 I managed to nab a press pass to cover the MCM Expo at London's Excel Centre on behalf of MCM BUZZ. Although I've been several times before, this was the first time I've gone as a member of the press, and you know what? I loved it! Join me as I share some photos, musings and articles with you all.

I was first greeted by these two cosplayers when I first walked in to the expo. Pikmin on the Gamecube was one of the first games I got for that console, and I loved it. It appeared that morph-suits were an essential cosplay piece for many convention-goers on that Saturday, but these guys Pikmin made me smile.

Next up was the Ninja Gaiden 3 Demo and Q&A over on the Gamespot stage. The presentation ended with a fans tournament, where the winner won a bunch of game related prizes. I wrote this up for MCM BUZZ, which you can read here. 

Myself, Fiancé and friend then gave Dynasty Warriors 7 XL a go. Being a fan of the series, I enjoyed spending ten minutes smashing through the usual hoard of enemies. You can read my hands-on here. 


A bit of a Nintendo-fest insued next for a while. As well as meeting Nintendo's favourite moustached plumber, I picked up a free Zelda ocarina (after answering a Ocarina of Time question correctly), and sampled a few of the Nintendo demos. 

Yay! I got an Ocarina!

Me meeting Mario!

The first of the Nintendo demo's I sampled was the one I was most anticipating trying-The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Feel free to read my hands-on review right here. I followed this up with Luigi's Mansion 2. It actually signalled the first time I have played a Nintendo 3DS. If I am being honest, the 3D didn't set too well with me, but Luigi's Mansion 2 benefited greatly from it. Check my hands-on review here. 

One of the highlights of the day was sitting through the Saints Row: The Third demo and Q&A session over on the Gamespot stage. Not only were the audience in hysterics for the most part, I was also highly impressed with what this next Saints Row instalment has to offer. I was even treated to a Professor Genki groin thrust in my face at one point during the presentation, before he walked off 70s dancing his way to another participant. Feel free to read my write-up about this here. 

I was given this Saints bobble-head, whilst my Fiancé earned himself a t-shirt after asking a question. Score!

Straight after the Saints Row: The Third preview, representatives from Namco Bandai took to the stage to present the upcoming Soul Calibur V. This was the first time that they had shown the game in action with guest character Ezio in England. As well as being shown some Ezio gameplay, we were also shown the Ezio reveal trailer. As you may have guessed, this demo session was largely focussing on the inclusion of Assassins Creed's protagonist. Although it was great to see Ezio in action, it would have been nice to see other elements of the game in action also.

Speaking of Ezio, I managed to grab a photo of a group of Assassins Creed cosplayers altogether, as you can see below.

After my third demo/Q&A presentation of the day, it was time to get some more gaming in. I managed to grab a go on The Darkness II which I really enjoyed (check out my hands-on review here). 

After much talk about Dark Souls being one of the "hardest games ever", I thought I'd give it a go. You can check out my hands-on review for that here. 

I also managed to catch up with my buddy Jess Bradley, (who you may recall me interviewing back in the early days of 8-Bit Girl) who was manning her own stall over at the Comic Village section of the expo. The lovely lady gave me a bunch of free Zelda related goodies too! I interviewed her and her co-conspirators, John-Paul Bove and James Stayte, all fellow gaming nerds, for MCM Buzz. 


As well as all the gaming excitement, I also managed to check out what the stalls had to offer. Yes, I went away with some Pocky at the end of it all...
I also interviewed Donna M Evans, an artist who I found on deviantART a year or so back. She tends to draw a lot of Zelda and Tim Burton fan-art, two of my loves, so I just had to grab an interview, and buy some Tim Burton related art too (my framed print of Vincent is awesome)!


Unlike previous times at the expo, I didn't really get a chance to snap a lot of cosplayers, but I managed to grab this final shot before I exited the venue, and headed straight for chinese food with my Fiancé and friends. 

No doubt I shall be attending again in May of next year, with hopefully plenty more to contribute towards the event on 8-Bit Girl!