Convention Wars: Return of the Expo

This year I have been fortunate enough to set off round the globe in search of games and glory. Although when I say I set off round the globe I mean I went on a trip to Tokyo Game Show and I visited London to go to Eurogamer. Nonetheless it was a vast journey for such a handsomely short fellow like myself. My journey started off in the home of many gaming Giants, Tokyo, and lead me through what has to be one of the biggest and most packed convention halls I have ever seen. After that there was a short respite in which I wandered in the glow of the neon lit streets of Akihabara until I returned home to a more local affair in London. I guess that’s all I really need to tell you about my trip in terms of travel and elegance. I know you are all dying to know my verdict of the two. Or at least have grown tired of my rambling.

Both conventions were a blast, and like many things in life it all comes down to preference. So take what I say with a pinch of salt and understand I was a little pond fish dipping my tiny toe in to a very unfamiliar ocean who sang to a very different tune when I set foot in TGS. Here is the blow by blow bout between TGS and Eurogamer expo. It will be drawn out in rounds comparing and contrasting the wonderfully electronic world that I delved head first into while I was away from my humdrum life in a stuffy room packed full of games. I guess it wasn’t that much different after all.

Round 1: Size

Both conventions are grand in scale and are ever expanding. This year’s TGS saw close to 250,000 scuttle between halls in the moist heat in a bid to play whatever had the shortest queue over the two days, whereas the much more humble Eurogamer had a far less claustrophobic attendance of just short of 50,000 over four days. Now, I know you have definitely heard that size isn’t everything and it is certainly the case. Although the spectacle and allure of such a grandiose show like TGS might have been what you have always dreamed of but trust me when I say something that big can hurt. With so many people scurrying around the show floor you’ll be hard pressed to move let alone try all the fine games that are on display. On the other hand the lack of attendance in Eurogamer does mean there is a little less effort put into certain aspects, mainly the booths, but I’m getting way ahead of myself there. So our first round finishes with both parties wheezing heavily as Eurogamer delivers a rather heavy right hook to the underbelly of TGS’s bloated stomach.

Winner: Eurogamer!

Round 2: Games

When the second round bell rings both sides come out swinging for the fences. On one side you have all the Japanese exclusives and on the other the first public demo of Halo 4. For those who are massive fans of imported games your allegiance will lie with games like Project X Zone, Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires and Ex Troopers as well as JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All Star Battle. Although at Eurogamer there were the likes of Call of Duty Black Ops 2, Assasins Creed 3, Hitman Absolution, Halo 4, Dishonoured and Tomb Raider. Now for me both shows had a lot to say on the games front but the wait to play the games was a massive factor for the shows. Although there was a large amount of games at TGS I struggled to play a lot of them due to exceedingly long queues. At Eurogamer however some games I was able to stroll up to and play with no wait at all, yeah sure I had to wait an hour to play CoD but that was for two full matches of a fairly long game type. Compare that to the two and a bit hours I had to wait to play five minutes of JoJo’s or the hour I waited to play one match of Guilty Gear and Eurogamer seems to basking in the limelight.

Winner: Eurogamer!

Round 3: Booths

Looking a little bit worse for wear Tokyo Game Show staggers towards the centre ring, only to be met with a fearsome growl from a very confident Eurogamer. But it’s not over until it’s over. As the two competitors eye each other up and down there is the slow realisation that for all Eurogamer’s bravado, TGS is definitely still in the running. Nothing quite compares to the spectacle on show at TGS. There are flashy stalls and humble hovels in which you can invest a lot of time just staring at how pretty the scenery is. Sure it’s a wait to play the games but I’d sure as hell prefer sitting in Phoenix Wright’s court of law as opposed to staring at a dreadfully dull block with some game art slapped on it. What about taking a trip around a Monster Hunter 4 booth in TGS? Being confronted by a large Dragon perched up a large rock?! Needless to say I was more than impressed by the scenery and booths at TGS and the comparison between the two is like night and day.

Winner: Tokyo Game Show!

Round 4: Cosplayers

With things starting heat up after the third round there is a spring in TGS’s step and Eurogamer is running scared. And no wonder: it’s the cosplay round. If there is one other thing than games you go to a convention to see it is undoubtedly the amazing costumes that the attendees craft and wear. Now both expos did have their fair share of dress-up but as expected Tokyo was on a totally different level. The time and effort put in to the costumes was unbelievable. After being confronted by half the cast of Final Fantasy I stumbled in to a pack of characters from Dynasty Warriors who looked like they had just walked out of the game. There were some amazing costumes down in London but they were few and far between in comparison to TGS.

Winner: Tokyo Game Show!

Round 5: Shows/Dev Sessions

The previous round left Eurogamer taken aback, after starting strong it seemed like the end was near and that it would not be long until they delivered the final blow. But with the competition back to neck and neck this round could help either side turn the tide of battle. With Tokyo Game Show everything happened on the floor in Japanese, which unfortunately left me at a loss. Although that being said a lot of what I did manage to find out about and see was always behind a closed door or something that came through the ether online. After attending Eurogamer last year I had very high expectations for TGS. I was expecting crazy presentations every hour and lots of developer panels but to the best of my knowledge there weren’t many at all. Eurogamer was the exact opposite. Every hour of everyday the floor was open you could go to different shows, presentations, live demos and talks from some of the industry’s most well known games designers, like Peter Molyneux. Not only was this accessible for all but the schedule was constantly updated, letting everyone know what was on and when. The only thing preventing you from entering were the queues but even the the vast majority who waited to see the show usually got in. There was no need for a press pass to enjoy and of the developer conferences , which in my eyes is a massive plus. TGS did have its fair share of shows though with an Indie Dev night and a cosplay night but I only attended the cosplay night and not only was it short there was just a little bit too much Project Diva for my liking. For me this one is heavily in favour of Eurogamer; sorry TGS.

Winner: Eurogamer!

Round 6: Free Swag

Now after such a painful loss at the hands of Eurogamer you would think TGS was done for after that last round but if there was one thing that could help tie the fight one last time it would be free stuff. And my god does Tokyo Game Show know how to do free stuff. Every booth had something to share/shove down your throat. I finished every day with an unreasonable amount of free bags and merchandise draped around my neck like some kind of corporate noose. There were Sega bags, DmC bags, Monster Hunter 4 Satchels, decks of cards, lanyards and pamphlets everywhere. I even managed to blag myself a Resident Evil 6 hand towel. A God damned hand towel! Where as everything in Eurogamer you had to work for. Yeah there was some awesome free stuff on the go, like the Hitman bobble head and some CoD T-shirts, but you had to play and win to get that kind of stuff and once it was gone that was it. There were certainly no RE6 hand towels, that’s for sure. If you were willing to look and were lucky enough both conventions did have free stuff but TGS just did the free stuff a hell of a lot better. Especially with the free book of Arc System cards I got from the BlazBlue booth; I can’t begin to describe how pretty they are.

Winner: Tokyo Game Show!

Round 7: Merchandise and Stalls

In the final round both contenders are struggling to find their feet, begging for this madness to stop. Fortunately there is not long to go and boy is it a close one. This also has to be the most costly round too. I know I spent a fair bit across Eurogamer and TGS but from what I can tell I think my fellow Ready Up comrade Danny may be on the verge of bankruptcy after raiding all the TGS stalls on day one, two, three and four. Both shows were amazing for merchandise although I did find TGS a tad more expensive. At TGS there were a lot of developer merchandise stalls and the odd one or two independent sellers, but even they were well known companies like Sanwa. Eurogamer had more focus on independent retailers. There were quirky anime retailers, Insert Coin Clothing stalls, as well as a good few collectible stalls to line the sides of the exhibition hall. This was a real tough decision for me. Both had amazing vendors and unfortunately for my bank balance I just had to splash out on a few awesome collectibles that caught my eye. Although TGS just gets the jump on Eurogamer for the exclusive developer merchandise and dedicated hall to purging my wallet.

Winner: Tokyo Game Show!

Post Match Analysis:

With both combatants heavily beaten and disastrously out of breath it boils down to a judges decision. Eurogamer and Tokyo Game Show both gave it their all with a strong showing on both sides. But to put things in perspective I had to look at what is really important from an expo, it’s not the flashy lights or the free seizures that come with, its the games. The experience. Sure I was wowed by the size of Tokyo Game Show but that was also the downfall. It was too big. I never really got to play much while I was there. And I sure as hell had a lot more time than the general public to prance around like a child in a candy store. Although when I was in Eurogamer it felt like the gaming world was at my fingertips. No stall was too far and no queue too long. Everything was in abundance and there was plenty to go round. No it didn’t have the same feeling of exclusivity that some games at Tokyo Game Show had but I doubt we will see Western releases for many of those games, which left a bittersweet taste on my gaming palette  There was certainly no retro area at TGS, which was great fun at Eurogamer. I mean who can argue with a 10 player Bomberman set up right next to some SSF2T?

So with the points tallied and the victor decided I am proud to hold our homegrown hero’s arm high. Eurogamer was fantastic and I genuinely felt that I didn’t need to be press to get the full experience. I know I’ll be booking tickets for the 2013 expo as soon as possible.

The Victor: Eurogamer!