Lewis Terry's Experience of London Gaming Con

Representing 8-Bit girl at the London Games Con was a great experience, as despite being in a small venue, there was still a lot going on.  There were many events, speakers and of course plenty of games.  This was way too much for one person to cover in one day, so I lent a helping hand.  

After sitting through the initial opening which was hastily followed by Brentalfloss' Q and A, I went and browsed what the convention had to offer. There were consoles and games everywhere, even in the main halls and bar area. These consoles were showcasing the best of both retro and modern games.

I played a few of my favourite classics Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Dead or Alive 2, SoulCalibur 2, Smash Bros Brawl, Streets of Rage 3 and even Tempest 2000 on the Jaguar.  I also got dragged into a game of Guitar Hero World Tour on expert and lost horribly (much to the annoyance of the others playing) and skulked off to try my hand at BlazBlue Continuum Shift followed by Marvel vs Capcom 3.  

The other games on offer for free play were: Left 4 Dead 2, Mario Kart Double Dash, Super Mario Kart, Call of Duty 4, Turok Evolution, Bleach Soul Resurrection, Halo Anniversary, Cash Team Racing, Street Fighter IV, Bomberman, Loaded, Time Crisis 2, Mario Bros, Sonic 2, Kung Fu Chaos, Mario part 4, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Scott Pilgrim, Big Bass Fishing, Rayman 2 the Great Escape and House of the Dead: Overkill.

In between my gaming ventures, I attended the Pub Quiz, listened to some chip tunes of classic 80's tracks and talked with some of the keen gamers. The Anime League helpers were very friendly overall, aside from one guy who was handing out the papers for the quiz who clearly let his brief moment of power go to his head, making sure to only give papers to those he deemed fit, while making others wait or just walking off and not giving them papers at all.  Aside from this one clown, the rest of the helpers were keen, happy and pleasant, which was wonderful.

There was also a lot of gaming competitions going on for the whole duration of the event, right up until the disco.  The only thing that I felt that did not gel too well with the rest of the Con was the Anime presence.  While the whole show was put on by the Anime League, the Anime did seem out of place and unwanted amongst all of the gaming.  I spoke to one stall vender that was particularly dissapointed at the lack of interest in his stall because it was all Anime based.  It seemed like a loose tag on amongst everything else. However despite this, the show seemed to go down well with almost everyone who attended.  It would have been nice to see some gaming fan artists in the art section, but hopefully next year we shall see the show in a larger venue with more gaming goodness to offer.  

Guest Post by Lewis Terry