Support NeoGAF

[Spookie]

IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN! Where we all start frothing at the mouth like a child let loose, without a parent, in Toys'r'Us over the upcoming releases!

Location: Earls Court, London - 27th to 30th September
Tickets: £9-£12, A couple are left for Friday and Sunday if you fancy going

UPDATE #1

Offical hashtag for NeoGAF is: #GAFEG. Use it to communicate with each other tomorrow.

Highlights this year:

The WiiU is here! Finally letting the unwashed masses in the UK get their hands on it. Be prepared for queues if the Vita from last year was anything to go by. Rezzed has come along to expand the PC showing this year, Indie Games Arcade is back; has been promised to be bigger and better. Retro zone will also be returning too!

Games to see include (credit to IamMikeside for compiling the list):

2K Games:
Borderlands 2
XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Activision:
Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Bethesda Softworks:
Doom 3: BFG Edition
Dishonored

Capcom:
DmC: Devil May Cry
Resident Evil 6

Codemasters:
F1 2012
F1 Race Stars
GRID2

EA:
Battlefield 3: Premium
Crysis 3
Medal of Honor: Warfighter
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
SimCity

Get Games:
Hotline Miami
Luftrausers

Konami:
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Zone of the Enders HD Collection

Mastertronic:
Serious Sam 3: BFE
Sniper Elite V2

Microsoft:
Dance Central 3
Fable: The Journey
FIFA 13
FORZA Horizon
Gears of War: Judgment
HALO 4

Namco Bandai:
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Nintendo:
New Super Mario Bros U
NintendoLand

SEGA:
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit
The Cave

Sony:
God of War: Ascention
Gran Turismo 5: Academy Edition
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Smart As
Sound Shapes
Tokyo Jungle
Unfinished Swan
When Vikings Attack!
Wonderbook: Book of Spells

Square Enix:
Hitman: Absolution
Tomb Raider

THQ:
Company of Heroes 2

Ubisoft:
Assassin's Creed 3
Far Cry 3
Just Dance 4
Rocksmith
ZombiU

Other:
AirBuccaneers - LudoCraft
Carmageddon - Stainless Games
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission - Mastertronic
Dead or Alive 5 - Tecmo Koei
Dream - Hypersloth
DUST 514 - CCP Games
DV8: Rules are Made to be Broken - Gamoso
Fluid Football - Appy Nation
Guns of Icarus - Muse Games
Hypoxia - Xpod Games
Natural Selection 2 - Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Strike Suit Zero - Born Ready Games
Warface - Trion Worlds

Developer Sessions with the likes of: Hideo Kojima, Chet Faliszek, Guys from Relic Entertainment (CoH2), Criterion, 343, Ubisoft and more! Be sure to queue early for some of these as they might well be full this year around looking ticket sales.

With regards to Meet Ups I'll leave that to everyones discretion. I know some folks are bringing friends or partners and probably want to see things on their own schedule. But I'll put locations and times in next week so people can meet up and rave about what they saw. It'll be easier to orginize things in the first post than have people digging through the thread like last year.

Thursday
Morn: FREEZING OUR ARSES OFF IN THE QUEUE AT 9AM! / Lunch: / Eve:
Friday
Morn: / Lunch: / Eve:
Saturday
Morn: / Lunch: / Eve:
Sunday
Morn: / Lunch: / Eve:

If you're a first timer and have any questions feel free to ask I know for a couple of us it was our first time last year and we all learned a lot of dos/don'ts from last time. Be prepared and all that. It isn't a race though, I was there for two days last year and saw most of the developer sessions and still had ample time to see all the games I wanted. So don't be arsey with people if you feel they are spending too long playing a game, remember everyone is here to have fun.

Highlights from 2011

More here

 

[AHA-Lambda]

OT is up? Ok, now I'm getting excited

Any details for a gaf meetup or something similar?

If you're a first timer and have any questions feel free to ask I know for a couple of us it was our first time last year and we all learned a lot of dos/don'ts from last time. Be prepared and all that. It isn't a race though, I was there for two days last year and saw most of the developer sessions and still had ample time to see all the games I wanted. So don't be arsey with people if you feel they are spending too long playing a game, remember everyone is here to have fun.

Ok, I'm a first timer for the EG Expo. What fundamentals should I know?

 

[Spookie]

OT is up? Ok, now I'm getting excited

Any details for a gaf meetup or something similar?

Excited? I've got less than a week before I've got to travel to London! DDDD

No details yet, I'm hoping we can hash something together on the Thursday and I'll put it in the OP bolded, underlined and in italics.

Ok, I'm a first timer for the EG Expo. What fundamentals should I know?

- Use the cloakroom- I was tripping over bags last year and it's free to stash your backpack.
- Bring a camera and a spare battery for your phone or a mobile charger, mine was drained by 12pm last year.
- If you're in early plan to see the popular games first. I managed to play Skyrim for a good 20 minutes before a queue began to form and we were asked to give up a spot. It'll leave you more time to explore and see some of the more unpopular games you wouldn't have seen otherwise.
- Wear Deodorant, seriously the amount of people who don't even practice basic hygiene is horrific.

 

[Mikeside]

Put me down for all day Thurs/Fri/Sunday and as a maybe for saturday

 

[BGBW]

Someone save me a place in the WiiU queue.

 

[nelsonroyale]

Spur of the moment thing, I booked afternoon session on Friday

 

[radioheadrule83]

My photos from last year:
Day 1
Day 2 (includes bespectacled GAF hoverhand pic)


Gonna check out the Kojima and Faliszek talks if I can, and play the Wii-U!


I'm there Thursday to Saturday this year! I might have to be elsewhere on the Saturday though... not sure yet. Definitely up for meetups each day. I'm staying near Hyde Park.

 

[Mikeside]

My photos from last year:
Day 1
Day 2 (includes bespectacled GAF hoverhand pic)


Gonna check out the Kojima and Faliszek talks if I can, and play the Wii-U!


I'm there Thursday to Saturday this year! I might have to be elsewhere on the Saturday though... not sure yet. Definitely up for meetups each day. I'm staying near Hyde Park.

It's-a me!

Who else has earlybird tickets for Thursday? Am on my own in the morning, so am definitely up for finding some people to queue with

 

[AHA-Lambda]

- Use the cloakroom- I was tripping over bags last year and it's free to stash your backpack.
- Bring a camera and a spare battery for your phone or a mobile charger, mine was drained by 12pm last year.
- If you're in early plan to see the popular games first. I managed to play Skyrim for a good 20 minutes before a queue began to form and we were asked to give up a spot. It'll leave you more time to explore and see some of the more unpopular games you wouldn't have seen otherwise.
- Wear Deodorant, seriously the amount of people who don't even practice basic hygiene is horrific.

Thanks
I admit I was going to carry around my bag hoping I could get some games signed by Kojima. Don't know how realistic that will be though

 

[nOoblet16]

I'll be there Thursdays and Fridays (Day tickets), I won't really be playing the games all that much though cause I already played quite a few of them at Gamescom.

 

[Alpha_eX]

Don't stay in the venue for lunch, there's a ton of places the other side of Earl's Court Station, just walk down Trebovir Road. Get some fresh air, help reduce the crowds for a bit. The food inside is overpriced and pretty bad.

I'll be working there from Monday through till the Sunday, hoping to get some more time on Wii U, multiplayer this time. As tempting as it is, don't waste time in queue for Rayman Legends, it plays exactly the same as Rayman Origins. I'd say the same for NSMB-U but don't want to start a flame war. Try Zombi-U and Nintendoland for the multiplayer fun.

Black Ops 2 will have a massive queue, so will Halo 4, get in line early. If the Black Ops 2 set up is anything like in Gamescom, you will have 20 minutes, two matches.

 

[Spookie]

Who else has earlybird tickets for Thursday? Am on my own in the morning, so am definitely up for finding some people to queue with

*wave* I'm staying in London Wednesday night so I don't have to get a 5am train again. So I'll be queued up first thing.

 

[radioheadrule83]

Alpha, what hours are you working? will you be able to do any meets?

*wave* I'm staying in London Wednesday night so I don't have to get a 5am train again. So I'll be queued up first thing.

What day do you go back / head back to Liverpool this year?

I'm travelling down the Thursday, crack of dawn, I probably should have done what you did - but I'm already holed up in a hotel over Thursday and Friday. I'm staying Saturday too - a friend is having a party not too far from London.

 

[Mikeside]

*wave* I'm staying in London Wednesday night so I don't have to get a 5am train again. So I'll be queued up first thing.

Oh yeah, I totally forgot! Lol
Will PM you with my number.

 

[jufonuk]

coming on the 29th in the after noon, here for the Wii-U and some dev talks

 

[Mikeside]

Fable, Gears of War: Judgment and Dance Central 3 have been added to Microsoft's offerings this year.



I took the liberty and have made a list by publisher to put in the OP if you want it, Spook.



2K Games:
Borderlands 2
XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Activision:
Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Bethesda Softworks:
Doom 3: BFG Edition
Dishonored

Capcom:
DmC: Devil May Cry
Resident Evil 6

Codemasters:
F1 2012
F1 Race Stars
GRID2

EA:
Battlefield 3: Premium
Crysis 3
Medal of Honor: Warfighter
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
SimCity

Get Games:
Hotline Miami
Luftrausers

Konami:
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Zone of the Enders HD Collection

Mastertronic:
Serious Sam 3: BFE
Sniper Elite V2

Microsoft:
Dance Central 3
Fable: The Journey
FIFA 13
FORZA Horizon
Gears of War: Judgment
HALO 4

Namco Bandai:
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Nintendo:
New Super Mario Bros U
NintendoLand

SEGA:
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit
The Cave

Sony:
God of War: Ascention
Gran Turismo 5: Academy Edition
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Smart As
Sound Shapes
Tokyo Jungle
Unfinished Swan
When Vikings Attack!
Wonderbook: Book of Spells

Square Enix:
Hitman: Absolution
Tomb Raider

THQ:
Company of Heroes 2

Ubisoft:
Assassin's Creed 3
Far Cry 3
Just Dance 4
Rocksmith
ZombiU

Other:
AirBuccaneers - LudoCraft
Carmageddon - Stainless Games
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission - Mastertronic
Dead or Alive 5 - Tecmo Koei
Dream - Hypersloth
DUST 514 - CCP Games
DV8: Rules are Made to be Broken - Gamoso
Fluid Football - Appy Nation
Guns of Icarus - Muse Games
Hypoxia - Xpod Games
Natural Selection 2 - Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Strike Suit Zero - Born Ready Games
Warface - Trion Worlds

 

[Spookie]

I took the liberty and have made a list by publisher to put in the OP if you want it, Spook.

Done ty.

What day do you go back / head back to Liverpool this year?

Saturday eve about 6pm to avoid the foot traffic like last time.

 

[Seda]

@NintendoUK
We are excited to announce #Pikmin3 for #WiiU is playable to the public for the first time ever in the UK @Eurogamer_Expo next week! #EGXP

 

[Katzii]

I will be forever lost at the Pikmin 3 booth :|

There's a fair bit here I would love to try out; looks great! Glad I got four days, though, and I would love some pro-tips on getting the most out of Eurogamer Expo!

 

[Stuart444]

I doubt I'll see any of you guys (and know it anyway) but me and the gf are going. Coming down from Scotland for Thursday/Friday (Early bird tickets with the virgin media discount )

Went last year on the Saturday only and it was fun but I wish I could have been there for two days so this year, it's two days instead of 1 . Hoping Thurs/Friday will be less busy compared to Saturday last year but we'll see I guess.

Should be fun, I plan on seeing Ni No Kuni as soon as possible though >_>

 

[Mikeside]

I doubt I'll see any of you guys (and know it anyway) but me and the gf are going. Coming down from Scotland for Thursday/Friday (Early bird tickets with the virgin media discount )

Went last year on the Saturday only and it was fun but I wish I could have been there for two days so this year, it's two days instead of 1 . Hoping Thurs/Friday will be less busy compared to Saturday last year but we'll see I guess.

Should be fun, I plan on seeing Ni No Kuni as soon as possible though >_>

If I were you I'd wait until a bit later to see that as its pretty niche and shouldn't get too busy - make the most out of the early bird and see something mega popular before everyone else gets in!!

 

[GJS]

I'm there on Sunday with early entry, even that is probably going to be busy this year due to the virgin media offer. Going to be in London on Saturday as well for some birthday things for friends so I'm staying in the South Kensington EasyHotel Saturday night.

 

[Stuart444]

If I were you I'd wait until a bit later to see that as its pretty niche and shouldn't get too busy - make the most out of the early bird and see something mega popular before everyone else gets in!!

heh, might check out some of the fighting games during the early bird hour. Mainly since last year, it was mobbed, I couldn't get into the fighting game area let alone try out any of them >_>

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

I wasn't going to go this year but revengance has hooked me in.

Im going to be in the 18+ booth all day friday, if there are any meetups going on i may show my face.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

dbl post sorry.

 

[JennyTablina]

I'm likely going to be living in the Wii U booth all weekend with Katzii - We shall survive with help of our Pikmin crews!

Also great to know theres a cloakroom, I'm trying to work out the extent of stuff I wanna take with me for the weekend.

Does anyone who has been to previous Eurogamers know what the event is like with freebies and swag, I know there's stores, but my last gaming event was Video Games Live where I managed to nab a fair bag full of swag in the space of a day.

 

[Audioboxer]

I was going to pass my mobile around through PM prior to event, but here is my twitter instead - http://twitter.com/Gavin_Devine

Send me a message/@ reply if anyone needs some company. I'm going down with my girl so we'll be doing things together, but over two days (Thur/Fri) more than enough time to meet up. I'm going to see Kojima on the Friday night at Game BAFTAs as well.

 

[Mikeside]

It's this week, woo!

They added Rayman Legends, Pikmin 3 and Merlin: The Game to the lineup. I didn't see an announcement, but they're there.

Also the Indie Arcade has been announced:

•A Bastard (George Buckenham)
•BaraBariBall (Noah Sasso)
•Dirac (Orihaus)
•Don't Starve (Klei Entertainment)
•DRM: Death Ray Manta (Rob Fearon)
•Gear Up (Doctor Entertainment)
•IsoChronous (team-iso)
•Kairo (Locked Door Puzzle)
•Last Knight (David Hagemann)
•Proteus (Ed Key/David Kanaga)
•Sentinel (Matthew Brown)
•Sokobond (Alan Hazelden/Harry Lee)
•The Button Affair (Oliver Clarke)
•Tower of the Gorillion (Circuiton World Design)
•Where is My Heart? (Die Gut Fabrik)
•Zineth (Arcade Kids)

 

[Stuart444]

Looking forward to this, only a few more days left. Hoping I get enough sleep on the bus so I'm not tired for the first day.

My main concern though is finding my way from the Victoria coach station to the railway station. Gonna do some google maps action later .

Hope everyone else who is going has fun!

edit: Audioboxer: Following you on twitter btw ^ might send you a quick tweet depending on what me and my girl are doing (only there thurs/fri ourselves)

edit 2: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/eurogamer-expo-2012-live-developer-sessions

Live streaming dev sessions including the one I wanted to see on Sunday but didn't have the money for all 4 days. Awesome (the oddworld one )

 

[Zoibie]

I'll be there Friday and Saturday, only have early entry for the Friday though so I'm hoping to use that to get in on some Wii U action. Also promised a friend I'd try out Dishonored, but apart from those two I don't really have a set list of games I want to see. I'll most likely just be wandering the floor looking for the shortest queues.

 

[Stuart444]

I'll be there Friday and Saturday, only have early entry for the Friday though so I'm hoping to use that to get in on some Wii U action. Also promised a friend I'd try out Dishonored, but apart from those two I don't really have a set list of games I want to see. I'll most likely just be wandering the floor looking for the shortest queues.

I did that last year on the Saturday... most queues were just huge. On the bright side, I did get to try out El Shaddai which only had a queue of one person and I quite enjoyed it.

 

[Fright Zone]

Heading down on the Friday. It's been a couple of years since I last went, looking foward to it.

 

[Mikeside]

I'm kinda tempted to skip a couple of sessions and just watch them back later, depending how the queues for games are this year.

 

[Mikeside]

Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 added to the list... I wasn't expecting that!

 

[Citizen K]

Anyone know a good place to park?

 

[Stuart444]

Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 added to the list... I wasn't expecting that!

Wow, was not expecting that. Awesome

 

[Mikeside]

Anyone know a good place to park?

If you don't want to pay through your nose then try finding somewhere nearby (on the tube routes) on here: http://www.parkatmyhouse.com/uk/

Worked well for me in 2010.

 

[Spookie]

Right looks like I'll be meeting IamMikeside and another fellow on Thursday. This time I'll be charging my phone, bringing a camera and a tablet so I should be able to check my twitter account constantly if anyone wants to join up with us: Linkie

 

[Tattooth]

I have a spare sunday day ticket if anyone wants one, £10.

PM me if interested.

 

[Stuart444]

Right looks like I'll be meeting IamMikeside and another fellow on Thursday. This time I'll be charging my phone, bringing a camera and a tablet so I should be able to check my twitter account constantly if anyone wants to join up with us: Linkie

Like with Audίoboxer above, I'm following just in case. Don't know how I'll feel on the day

I'm more nervous now than anything. Mainly in case I get lost between Victoria Coach and Victoria Rail. Got lost last year too :/ both on the way there and on the way home.

Ah well, still hyped. For anyone who doesn't live nearby and are at a hotel/hostel, Where are you staying? My gf and I are staying at the Earls Court youth hostel, they were pretty nice last year so I decided to go with them again.

 

[jkh13]

Anyone know a good place to park?

If you don't mind walking about 10-15 minutes there is a Sainbury's on Cromwell Road that has a large carpark. I think it is free to park. It's not far to get to Earl's Court exhibition centre from there.

I'm more nervous now than anything. Mainly in case I get lost between Victoria Coach and Victoria Rail. Got lost last year too :/ both on the way there and on the way home.

Just head to Buckingham Palace road (the big road) there are a million signs pointing to the entrance of the tube station from there, you won't get lost.

 

[Spookie]

For anyone who doesn't live nearby and are at a hotel/hostel, Where are you staying? My gf and I are staying at the Earls Court youth hostel, they were pretty nice last year so I decided to go with them again.

Literally down the road at a Best Western got it on the cheap 4* hotel for only £77 a night! I roll out of bed then crawl down the road in to the queue

 

[Stuart444]

Just head to Buckingham Palace road (the big road) there are a million signs pointing to the entrance of the tube station from there, you won't get lost.

Thanks, will keep that in mind, hope it goes better than last year. The tube also didn't have any obvious directions when hunting for the district line so had to ask someone :/ ah well, might come back to me when I'm there.

Literally down the road at a Best Western got it on the cheap 4* hotel for only £77 a night! I roll out of bed then crawl down the road in to the queue

Not bad pricing, lucky man

 

[jkh13]

Thanks, will keep that in mind, hope it goes better than last year. The tube also didn't have any obvious directions when hunting for the district line so had to ask someone :/ ah well, might come back to me when I'm there.

When entering the tube station from the rail station side, keep left and go past the Victoria line barriers. The District/Circle line barriers are on the other side of the station. You want a District line train rather than a circle line though. District line trains have green railings and poles inside, circle have yellow.

 

[Stuart444]

When entering the tube station from the rail station side, keep left and go past the Victoria line barriers. The District/Circle line barriers are on the other side of the station. You want a District line train rather than a circle line though. District line trains have green railings and poles inside, circle have yellow.

Thanks for the information. , appreciate it. Should help us reduce how much time we waste after arriving in London

 

[jkh13]

Thanks for the information. , appreciate it. Should help us reduce how much time we waste after arriving in London

Np, glad to help . My office is next to Victoria station so I know that area like the back of my hand .

 

[Audioboxer]

Literally down the road at a Best Western got it on the cheap 4* hotel for only £77 a night! I roll out of bed then crawl down the road in to the queue

Makes me realize how good a deal I got. £127 for 3 nights in a premier inn, only £29 a night on the Thur/Fri. The Wed night at £69 is what killed it. Putney Bridge so it's like ~2 miles away, need to get a 8/9 min underground journey, but I can live with that.

London price tax is ridiculous.

By the way, the Kojima BAFTA event is on fire

Dear Mr

28 Sep 2012 - 19:00 @ Princess Anne Theatre The BAFTA Annual Games Lecture with Hideo Kojima sponsored by Autodesk

We have a large waiting list for Friday's lecture. If you have booked a member ticket and are no longer able to go, please email events@bafta.org as soon as possible so we can fill your seat. Unfortunately we are unable to offer refunds on paid tickets.

If you have already cancelled your ticket, please ignore this email.

 

[Bazza]

I was going to pass my mobile around through PM prior to event, but here is my twitter instead - http://twitter.com/Gavin_Devine

Send me a message/@ reply if anyone needs some company. I'm going down with my girl so we'll be doing things together, but over two days (Thur/Fri) more than enough time to meet up. I'm going to see Kojima on the Friday night at Game BAFTAs as well.

added you on twitter, gonna be going down with a few friends on Friday and will probably be hanging out with them most of the time but its a long day lets see what happens.

 

[Audioboxer]

added you on twitter, gonna be going down with a few friends on Friday and will probably be hanging out with them most of the time but its a long day lets see what happens.

Cool, I'll be tweeting things/pictures from Eurogamer as well, so there's a good chance someone will be able to find me without even asking

I'm generally quite a reserved person, but @everyone don't feel shy to say hi, we all have at least one thing in common at Eurogamer, gaming. There's no need to share life stories or anything, just talk about the games Or NeoGAF. I don't care what you look like/where you're from/what games you like to play, I'll have a chat with anyone, even if it's just for 5 mins. My GF is cool like that as well, and she actually plays games, not just being dragged along by me haha. (not that it matters if you're going and don't really play games, just adding she'll be able to hold a convo down on gaming )

 

[Mikeside]

Cool, I'll be tweeting things/pictures from Eurogamer as well, so there's a good chance someone will be able to find me without even asking

I'm generally quite a reserved person, but @everyone don't feel shy to say hi, we all have at least one thing in common at Eurogamer, gaming. There's no need to share life stories or anything, just talk about the games Or NeoGAF. I don't care what you look like/where you're from/what games you like to play, I'll have a chat with anyone, even if it's just for 5 mins. My GF is cool like that as well, and she actually plays games, not just being dragged along by me haha. (not that it matters if you're going and don't really play games, just adding she'll be able to hold a convo down on gaming )

This has been bugging me for a while - you're a Something Corporate fan, right?