Day two update - www.playexpo.net
Manchester - 12th October 2014
Sunday
morning at Play Expo went a lot more smoothly without car worries to hold us
back. The Games You Loved team got through the doors as early as possible,
quickly unveiled our stand and hit the arcades for some cheeky games before the
doors opened
Some more
exploration led me to a new indie game for Xbox 360 and PC called Tiny Keep, which invited me to begin my
‘tiny escape’. It’s a roguelike dungeon crawler with a charmingly cartoonish
visual style that doesn’t detract from the game’s dungeon setting. You progress
through randomly generated floors, hacking your way through enemies or leading
them into traps. Once I figured out how to control my character I found it very
fun, the random element is intended to keep players coming back for a varied
adventure while each level has its own distinctive theme and boss. My escape was cut short however when I
ignored warnings to leave an ominous skull totem alone, disturbed it and was
mowed down by a sudden ambush of skeleton warriors. As a gamer it’s hard to avoid
interacting with any given object, but I definitely learnt my lesson.
By Ben Cataldo
The second day of Play Expo brought
more of that old-school goodness with a modern twist, more costumed shenanigans
and Retro game competitions with both prizes and pride at stake.
Sunday
morning at Play Expo went a lot more smoothly without car worries to hold us
back. The Games You Loved team got through the doors as early as possible,
quickly unveiled our stand and hit the arcades for some cheeky games before the
doors opened
I greatly appreciated the chance to try Smash TV and Tatsujin –
two games I’d only heard of and would never usually get the chance to play, let
alone see them in an arcade cabinet where they belong. As a younger generation
gamer myself, experiencing all the 80s arcade machines in all their glory was a
real privilege. The only thing I’d seen like it was Funspot, the American
arcade featured in the movie King of Kong
so it was a bit like standing on hallowed ground.
Forgive me
for being a bit biased towards shoot’em ups but I have an unhealthy love for
the genre, so here we go. I was able to play a real Galaga machine for the first time ever! Seeing the solid foundation
behind the games I love was very cool, Galaga
has definitely aged well which is probably why the series continues to this day.
The same awe from playing on a real machine hit me when I tried Sinistar as well, it’s amazing to see
how an old arcade game can be as intense an experience as Sinistar is.
Hanging out
beside my beloved Progear cab while
waiting for a turn gave me a chance to take in the friendly atmosphere of Play
Expo. Shared passion makes for easy conversation and after a couple of attempts
at my mission from yesterday I finally cleared the game on a single credit, and
people who’d seen my efforts were quick to approach afterwards, have a chat and
ask for advice about the game.
Day 2 brought out my competitive streak, even if that meant losing to Chris from the GYL team at Kung Fu Master, something I’m sure he’ll remind me of forever!
Day 2 brought out my competitive streak, even if that meant losing to Chris from the GYL team at Kung Fu Master, something I’m sure he’ll remind me of forever!
Alongside all this was a massive walkabout with Chris and a few of the other GYL team and some cool chaps in the community. When it came to arcades from Star Wars to Outrun you could pretty much take your pick.
I spent some
time challenging people at Street Fighter
games on the SNES, you have to respect the amount of time and energy these
guys ‘n’ gals put into learning their fighting games, some of these brawlers
were seriously good. I entered 8bit Planet’s Smash Bros Melee tourney despite being a pretty average player
myself.
Just watching the physical act of pressing buttons quickly was
impressive enough; the better players’ hands were just a blur of movement and
the game was being played so fast that a non-initiate probably couldn’t tell
what was going on. As for myself I had the rare pleasure of actually winning a
couple of matches before being knocked out of the third round in some really
close games. One of my opponents was so good at mind reading he could tell
everything I was going to do before even I knew, impressive stuff all round.
Some more
exploration led me to a new indie game for Xbox 360 and PC called Tiny Keep, which invited me to begin my
‘tiny escape’. It’s a roguelike dungeon crawler with a charmingly cartoonish
visual style that doesn’t detract from the game’s dungeon setting. You progress
through randomly generated floors, hacking your way through enemies or leading
them into traps. Once I figured out how to control my character I found it very
fun, the random element is intended to keep players coming back for a varied
adventure while each level has its own distinctive theme and boss. My escape was cut short however when I
ignored warnings to leave an ominous skull totem alone, disturbed it and was
mowed down by a sudden ambush of skeleton warriors. As a gamer it’s hard to avoid
interacting with any given object, but I definitely learnt my lesson.
Finally I
tried out a retro arcade classic born anew on the Occulus Rift: Tempest! This was my first time trying
the Occulus Rift for any type of game, so allow me to state the obvious; that
it’s pretty damn cool. I won’t overdo it though. Even with the frantic shooter
action of Tempest and its constant explosion of trippy colours, I wasn’t freaking
out or having problems with my eyes afterwards like some testers have claimed.
Somehow even in this crazy cyberspace disco, being totally immersed and having
full use of my peripheral vision just felt natural. After trying Tempest I do wonder how I’d be affected
by an Occulus Rift game that makes use of visual realism.
By Ben Cataldo
GamesYouLoved
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