For several years I’ve attended Eurogamer and in that time, its not only increased in size (quite considerably) but changed from being a London based event, to one in Birmingham. Now situated at the N.E.C, the change of venue is largely for the better. The space feels more open, cooler and importantly, you don’t feel like you’re in a building that could collapse at any moment. Despite those positives, I still think EGX - as it has now become known - has a lot of work to do to become a gaming event that’s not only entertaining but one that competes against those around the world. I’m not in any way suggesting that I don’t enjoy my visits to EGX, but it certainly falls short in some areas.

Unfortunate Timing

Arriving after Gamescom and PAX South and on the same weekend as TwitchCon, EGX has struggled this year to draw exclusive reveals. As an individual who spends a vast amount of my life online, there’s very little that I haven’t seen. Having said that, I feel that all gaming events need at least one major player to make a unique announcement or reveal. Having Yogcast sign breasts or T-Shirts to baying fans doesn’t really count. If EGX is going to have any industry relevancy outside of just offering gamers brief demo’s, it has to try to entice and convince developers that the show is the one to save their reveals for.

Press Support

I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve asked for press access to a videogame at EGX and this year, I asked twice. The Division and Battlefront both had absolutely enormous queues and despite me arriving only ten minutes after early entry passes were let loose, queue times were already over 3 hours for both games (nearer to 5). When I asked the floor teams whether they had a dedicated press unit or whether they were able to accommodate a specific time when I could come back, they all said no. The only way they would is if I had direct authorisation from EA and Ubisoft. I can honestly say in all the years of attending events, I’ve only ever needed prior clearance to play a game if it wasn't on public display. Perhaps I'm wrong to assume, but if you’re wearing a “Press Pass”, there's every chance you should have been vetted by the organiser. Would it really be so difficult to ensure one gaming unit on the biggest AAA titles is available for press and if no press need it, other expo attendees can. It’s what ArenaNet did back in 2011 and it worked wonderfully.

Booth “Babes”

Just stop. Eurogamer is an event that attracts a huge demographic of people. The show floor is filled with a mix of men, women and children. Do we really need scantily clad women parading the floor selling energy drinks or graphics cards? Even more frustrating, when these individuals don’t even know the product they’re peddling, it’s insulting to us as consumers (I know because I asked such questions). The worst offender is Nvidia but there are plenty of other companies who desperately need to realise that this level of gutter marketing is dated and unwanted. 

Food and Drink

When EGX was based in Earls Court there was an opportunity to leave the venue and find food or drink that suited your budget. With the N.E.C your only choice of eateries is what’s within the confines of the venue or to travel into Birmingham city center. Although there are places to eat, the pricing wasn’t particularly great (Whetherspoons ran out of food) and because there were so few, queues were enormous. If you just wanted a light bite you would struggle to find anything and alcohol was ridiculously priced: £5 for a warm bottle of Budweiser at the Community Party is something I certainly begrudge paying. I’m not a 'tight' individual and will happily drop large sums of money on food and drink, but when both are poor in quality and overpriced, it tends to leave a sour taste. Can we not have some imagination in this area and attract some of the many touring eateries that travel the country for markets, events and gigs? If a single street near my house can every year, I’m absolutely positive Eurogamer can.

Lack Of Playable Units For AAA Titles

There were only a handful of games in the venue that had enormous queues and yet all those had very few playable units in comparison to the numbers that were expected to play the games. It’s not difficult to predict that Battlefront would be a huge draw. Yes it took up a huge amount of floor space but the majority of that was the life-size Tie Fighter model and a cinema area where those queuing would watch an overview of the demo before eventually playing. To have so few units for the thousands of people queueing is inexcusable. I know it’s a logistical challenge to setup and transport the number of computers required to power game booths and no doubt a technical headache, but it’s surely better from a customer satisfaction point of view. Waiting 5 hours in a queue for a 10 minute demo is crazy.