You “Rezzed” Me Up: Why every gamer should go to EGX
A massive convention hall filled with video games to try, developers to meet and a bounty of people who absolutely adore gaming: EGX is everything a gamer could want from a weekend, and every Easter it all happens on Warwick University’s doorstep.
There’s just something about EGX Rezzed, an annual gaming expo that takes place at Birmingham NEC, that makes it feel niche and yet incredibly approachable. Yes, there are still the hardcore cosplayers, the men with long hair who sit down in the retro area to play Sonic 3 for 12 hours and the massive gaming tournaments at which players’ hands appear to move so quickly on a controller you’d think Red Bull had given them hyper-dexterity instead of wings.
But as a first-time attendee at Rezzed I was happy to find any trepidation I’d had about feeling excluded evaporate almost immediately. The NEC was lit up like Christmas with games new and old, on all kinds of platforms and with all kinds of control methods. It felt a little bit like the sense of awe I had when I first played Crash Bandicoot as a child and knew I loved gaming (Crash did make an appearance in the retro area, although I also remembered the frustration I felt whenever I died so I left it alone.)
While having its roots in PC and independently made games, Rezzed had grown this year to incorporate more big titles than ever before with Alien Isolation, Infamous: Second Son and Titanfall all taking their places on the show floor. There were also a series of fantastic developer sessions with famed developers, including but not limited to Dean Hall [designer of Arma 2 survival mod DayZ], the creators of Alien: Isolation at Creative Assembly, and Techland, the development team behind Dead Island, who were there to promote their upcoming zombie-Mirrors Edge hybrid Dying Light.
But despite the big names and big games, Rezzed still manages to feel inclined towards the Indie, with massive sections devoted solely to independent developers attempting to spread the word about their latest projects. One such developer was Alan Zucconi, creator of gravity-defying shooter 0rbitalis, who was literally giving away Bourbon biscuits to those who stopped to talk to him. He explained the difficulty that was involved with getting your game noticed when there was so much to see and do: “If you look around you’ll see there are 1000 games, maybe one or two of which you’ll actually remember. If you want someone to remember the game, you have to do something a bit different, push things over the edge a little bit.”
The Leftfield Collection: Where Indie Games go to thrive
Indeed, if there was anything that occurred to me while circulating the convention centre, looking at the ways in which the games in all their different stages of development had tried something innovative or unique, it came to my attention just how narrow the general definition of video games was. I had liked to think I was a bit indie for downloading Papers, Please on Steam, but actually seeing first hand the extent to which Indie developers are challenging convention made me realize just how mainstream my tastes had been. I felt a bit ashamed, like I’d been the unknowing “Ed Sheeran fan” of gaming all along.
Broadening horizons is just one reason why student gamers in particular should want to go to these events. If you had any interest in getting into the industry EGX was the place to be for networking with new and established game-makers. I’d only gone to write about Rezzed, but ended up with a wallet stuffed with business cards, some of which were from people occupying the same kind of positions many Computer Science graduates will be hoping to have in a few years time.
But even then, it doesn’t matter if you’ve no interest in development at all. Simply being in a room that size with a group of like-minded individuals was better at fostering a sense of gaming community than I’d ever got from watching videos of E3 or coming across another sweary forum online. It was never awkward to chat to people in the queues about the events of the day, or to sit down and have a go on something with a complete stranger, although this last part wasn’t entirely true of the two guys I utterly annihilated at Super Smash Bros Melee. Sorry chaps.
The crucial point is that I had started the weekend worrying that I would be in some way an outsider at EGX Rezzed, but in the end experienced something quite the opposite. It was friendly, it was eye-opening, but most of all it was very, very enjoyable, and highly recommendable to anyone with the smallest interest in games and how they are made.
So roll on 25th September for EGX London! I might even wear cosplay this time (NB: that’s not a promise).
To find out more about going to EGX click here, or check out some of our Indie Picks, including 0rbitalis, from the links below. Many of these games are still pre-Alpha build but they still need as much support as possible, so give them a look! Also, be sure to read our other articles on EGX Rezzed and Alien Isolation. [divider]
War for the Overworld – Subterranean Games
Standpoint – Unruly Attractions [divider_top]
Follow @BoarGames, or EGX events on @EGX_Rezzed and @EGX_London
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