Insomnia 53: a gaming festival worth losing sleep over
Two weeks ago, thousands of gamers descended upon Coventry’s Ricoh Arena for Insomnia, the UK’s biggest gaming festival which this winter made its 53rd appearance in 14 years. With Boar Games already expanding its sights to London for Eurogamer Expo 2014 back in September, I thought it would be a good idea to go along and see how Multiplay’s collosally large event stacked up.
Unsurprisingly for an event this prestigious, Insomnia had more than enough to see and do for those who love a good gaming expo; Long lines of consoles old and new swept across the exhibition hall, playing everything from dusted off classics like Starfox and Super Mario Kart to the latest Forza game, and brand new title Block-n-Load, a Team Fortress 2-cum-Minecraft shooter by Runescape developers Jagex.
There was the vast indie section filled with burgeoning developers attempting to show off their unique, Unity engine alpha demos and fill up their mailing lists. And there was, of course, enough over-priced merchandise being sold to make a games fanatic mess their pants with exuberance and fork over the contents of their wallets in return for one measly Pacman mug.
The event also played host to a number of gaming celebs, most notably KSI and the Sidemen, whose exploits on youtube have racked up millions of views online. Two meet and greet booths were set up for fans to receive autographs from their gaming idols, both of which had massive ques that snaked endlessly around the show floor and lasted for most of the day.
If the jam packed exhibition hall and youtube sensations weren’t for you, there was a main stage running various ceremonies and events throughout the festival, from merchandise giveaways to indie game reveals and, my favourite, a stunning cosplay tournament. All this was presented with reasonable levels of aplomb by two cheerful guys who I think might have been from Hollyoaks. I’d never before, but might since given that they gave me a free Block-n-Load sticker for jumping up and down in front of the stage in a fangirlish manner. Oh yes, there’s nothing I won’t do for free stuff.
But it wasn’t all fun and games. Insomnia stands out from similar events with its huge focus on the world of competitive gaming. And I’m not just talking about the kind of competitive which causes your flatmate to destroy his controller after you’ve scored a 90 minute rebound on FIFA. This was the kind where big gaming teams from round the world came together to show off their skills in front of hundreds of people, winning thousands of pounds in the process.
Rather unacceptably for someone who claims to be passionate about video games, the world of Esports has for the most part slipped under my radar, glimpsed only in rare Buzzfeed articles in which a 16 year old wins $1 million playing DOTA 2 and I grumble with jealousy. Nevertheless, at Insomnia I had the chance to get far closer to the Esports scene than I’d ever been before and, whatever your take on the matter, there was no doubt that this was pretty serious stuff.
While the more casual visitors milled around the exhibitions, upstairs Call of Duty tournaments raged over LAN, with jersey-wearing men and woman staring unyieldingly at their assigned screens, looking for that next kill, plant or capture with a level of concentration usually reserved for a member of a an actual bomb squad, let alone a virtual one. It was the sort of place where I imagine using a grenade launcher results in an immediate ban and, if the mood of the players I was watching was anything to go by, likely being burnt at the stake.
The genuine 24/7 gaming… is all part of that Gaming Mecca feel that makes Insomnia what it is – an exciting haven for UK gamers.
Meanwhile, if you wanted to bring a more personal gaming element to the Ricoh, you could’ve joined many hundreds of Bring-Your-Own-Console ticket-holders in the event’s famed LAN hall. Here you could book a seat to set down your own console and play for 24 hours a day, with access to all exhibitions and a big Esports tournament if you were so inclined.
While I didn’t get much of a chance to have a bigger look around this section, apparently it’s proof the event isn’t just called Insomnia for the hijinks. This is genuine 24/7 gaming, something which makes me feel like having a nap just thinking about it, but for many gamers is all part of that Gaming Mecca feel that makes Insomnia what it is – an exciting haven for UK gamers, and a beautiful reminder of how strong the industry is over here.
Nevertheless, if there’s anything I didn’t like about the event it’s that Minecraft was everywhere. Yes, it makes sense for it to be there for the thousands of kids who’d rocked up with hundreds of hours already logged on Mojang’s block-based architecture sim. Yes, I do enjoy the odd go playing with all my virtual Lego on creative mode, hovering around the map dressed as Batman. And yes, Minecraft does have more scope than most games for bending the rules; The Hunger Games variant in particular is always interesting, even if my experiences playing it have always turned out a lot more Rue than Katniss Everdeen (that’s a Hunger Games reference, because I like to keep it real).
It just seemed like everywhere you went more Minecraft screens loomed, another set of diamond pickaxes were being held aloft, and more Minecraft youtubers were taking over the Expo Stage to chat about Minecraft . The variety of the event was harmed somewhat is my point, and in many ways it made me about as sad as this cow looks.
Still, one small personal grievance about the world’s most popular indie game shouldn’t get in the way of what was an otherwise brilliant experience, the spectacle of which is only made more impressive by the fact it happens three times a year.
People of all ages were there to celebrate the weird and wonderful of gaming culture, and overall appeared to be having a great time. Although a rather fun game I developed was trying to spot the baffled parents, utterly bemused by what was going on around them and lamenting that they’d spawned offspring with interest in it.
For more details on attending next year’s Insomnia events, head to the Insomnia website here [divider_top]
Follow Boar Games on Twitter at @BoarGames
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