Game City 3

Having missed a few days of university (whoops!) I have finally returned absolutely shattered from Game City 3 in Nottingham. Like any self-respecting cheapskate, I was volunteering so I could blag my way into the event for free and was also delighted at the prospect of breaking a world record for the largest gathering of Zombies in Nottingham’s Market Square for Halloween!

Now the latter wasn’t just a case of standing around in the cold amongst terrifying costumes and getting free face paint. Jonathan Coulton sang with a zombie choir and we did a Fillipino prison-stlye mass dance of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Our final zombie count was over 1300, but I can attest to there being many more as we ran out of wristbands to add all the zombies to the official count!

Not only was the event about mass participation for the general public, we were also blessed with the likes of David Doak, Jonathan Smith, members of the EyeToy team, Midway Newcastle, Bizarre Creations, Media Molecule, Harmonix, Splash Damage and a special evening with the One Life Left team… in bed!

All in all a fantastic event with a really broad appeal, just check out the huge screen we had in the market square, featuring Wii Sports and Rock Band, and you can see how we sparked the interest of ordinary passers-by.

I don’t think I could attempt to recommend Game City more. I was given some tiring duties as a volunteer, missed out on Indiecade and most of the talks and became undead, but I still had an utterly fantastic time! Not only did I discover I like tea, but my own indie game has had many experienced eyes cast over it, from Channel 4, an EyeToy designer, lecturers from the University of Derby and a number of kind and interested journalists. I take my hat off to Iain Simons for making my boyfriend and I aware of the event and locating us a great hotel.

Now, if that is all… BRAAAAINS!!!