The first thing I noticed about ESGS 2018 was that there was never any shortage of noise no matter where you go in the venue. Stepping into the cold room where Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit was being held, it immediately felt more like I stepped into a nightclub. Loud music boomed in my ears as the cold pierced my skin. There was never any shortage of people I could accidentally bump into if I wasn’t paying attention.
Yet despite that, I couldn’t help but marvel at the wonders of what this year’s ESGS has given to us in presentation. Being part of the media covering the event, we were allowed to enter the venue far earlier than anyone was allowed to. Though, this didn’t really mean that we could try out the exhibits early because everyone was still preparing for the opening. This just meant we could take pictures and talk to a few people before the event started.
My team and I wandered around in the meantime not really having much to do but to take pictures of booths that haven’t opened yet. Thanks to the fact that we were covering the event, we were allowed special access to a second floor room exclusive for media personnel. Surprisingly, there weren’t that many people in the media on the first day. The big room for media personnel winded up being more spacious than anticipated. Due to the comfort of the room, we had decided to stay there until opening time.
Visiting the Booths of ESGS
The first event I was really looking forward to was to playing the demo for the Resident Evil 2 Remake and Devil May Cry V. Capcom had set up their own booth for players to play in. And I had my eye on them before the ESGS had even begun. I made sure to line up as soon as it opened and I wounded up being one of the first three people to play the Resident Evil 2 Remake demo. I also had the chance to try out Devil May Cry V before release. I’ll leave my thoughts out on the two games in another article.
One other booth we had our eye on was the Kojima Productions booth which were selling merchandise that practically cost a small fortune. While we were able to see some pretty cool stuff made by Kojima Productions, we unfortunately were not able to talk to anybody on the development team as they did not show up on the venue the whole day. We heard word that the booth was simply there to sell merchandise. Needless to say, it was quite a downer.
Since this was ESGS, I was eager to try out everything I could before the day ended. I pretty much paraded the area in circles to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. One of the most interesting areas in the venue that caught my eye was where the indie games were being showcased. There weren’t too many on display, but I did manage to catch on to a few interesting games. I even scored an interview with Yangyang Mobile, of which I became a big fan of after the release of their game The Letter (2017). I talked with one of the lead artists regarding an upcoming visual novel Love Esquire and got some details as well as some background info on The Letter. If you’re interested, I’ll make sure to talk about it in detail in another article.
Another indie game that caught my eye was Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption which had already been released a week early before ESGS 2018 took place. I never played the game myself but PlayStation Galaxy has already released a review about it on our website. I also managed to get an interview with one of the lead publishers and got some insight regarding the game’s development and some plans for the future. If you’re interested in the game, you might want to hear details regarding that interview in another article.
Merchandise, Merchandise Everywhere!
The first thing you might want to have if you plan on entering ESGS, is money. There’s a whole lot of stuff for sale there. And sure, technically the primary focus was always on esports but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some tech and trinkets that don’t require some serious cash to buy.
Personally, it was one of the things that I feel conflicted about ESGS 2018. I couldn’t take a few steps without looking at something trying to be sold at a ridiculously high price. High end performance CPUs and computer parts, video game merchandise and anime trinkets, college applications, and etc. Perhaps my poor wallet was a bit strained and hurt at the event but I couldn’t really appreciate the fact that ESGS 2018 just felt like one big electronic and trinket bazaar.
I particularly didn’t feel too attached to one attraction which boosted heavy music all over the area in an effort to attract attention. They succeeded, but I don’t think they got the result they wanted. I was in the middle of testing out a demo of a game when I couldn’t even hear the audio not because of the people talking but because of the painful ringing in my eardrums. No matter how I looked at it, I didn’t see much of a reason for them to put such loud music. I wounded up missing the opening act because I couldn’t hear any of the announcements.
Fun But Lacking
I don’t want to say it at the risk of sounding conceited–I was practically offered a free way in and was given some level of special treatment–but I honestly expected more out of ESGS 2018. Nothing besides the Capcom game demos and indie stands ever really made me excited. Then again, this is only the first day. I can’t wait for the Road to the Nationals this Saturday. I know that’s going to be a fresh source of entertainment!