Eager gamers from across the country and abroad descended on the city yesterday for the chance to be amongst the first to play some of this year’s most anticipated games at the GAMEfest event held in the NEC.
With London’s EuroGamer Expo being only a week away, this inaugural show of gaming extravangance was brought to Birmingham by UK retailer Game in the hope of debuting exclusives to avid gamers while wetting the appetites of the many who’ll be more than happy to queue for hours in the upcoming months as these top titles are finally released.
With high expectations from hardcore fans, most were far from disappointed as GAMEfest seemingly stole much of the thunder from next week’s EuroGamer show after Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 opted to make its UK debut at the Birmingham event rather than in London.
It proved worth the wait as COD: MW3 impressed throngs of queueing fans with both its impressive gameplay and its equally excessive exhibiting stand on the day. It seemed there would be very little threatening the popularity reign of MW3, with the possible exception of Battlefield 3 where the long line of waiting gamers and 15 minutes gameplay turaround time suggested it has just as big and loyal a fanbase as Modern Warfare… even if the Battlefield 3 stand was a little underwhelming.
Other games being showcased included the much-anticipated Batman: Arkham City which, despite the console limitation, seemed to be every bit as good as the original. Meanwhile, titles exciting a lot of visitors included Elder Scrolls V: Skrim, Unchartered 3, Gear of Wars 3, Prototype 2, Saints Row the Third, FIFA 12 and Quake follow-up Rage. Also on display at the event were EA’s Mass Effect 3, and Star Wars: The Old Republic, games that clearly won’t even be out until next year.
Amongst the thousands of visitors to the show were cosplay characters, gaming mascots Mario and Sonic, a lot of gamer girls, dancers and even a number of well known gaming fans including Digital Spy’s Gaming editor Matthew Reynolds, Xbox Live editor Daniel Maher and even music star Lethal Bizzle and illusionist magician Dynamo.
Having only taken place a week before the EuroGamer Expo, the completely sold out GAMEfest show not only proved the NEC is an amazingly great venue for huge gaming events but that there is an unquenchable thirst for quality gaming shows outside of the capital.
The three-day event opened its doors as a massive success for both visitors and exhibitors alike and left most wanting more next year so let’s just hope they deliver.
Check out our galleries from the event here.
For more on GAMEfest, visit http://events.game.co.uk/
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