Britain’s favourite Arcade, Indie and Retro video gaming expo is returning to its spiritual home at the Norbreck Castle Exhibition Centre, Blackpool over the early May Bank Holiday Saturday 2nd – Monday 4th May 2015 and if you’re a fan of gaming you’re in for a real treat.
Play Blackpool is brought to you by Replay Events, the organisers of Play Expo and will come jam packed with hundreds of games, consoles, arcades, traders, exhibitors selling comics and other merchandise, and there will be cosplay events, too.
First and foremost, Play Blackpool will have a tear-inducing nostalgic collection of all your favourite retro consoles and computers. It’s an opportunity to play classic games on the machines you owned when you were still at school or finally get your hands on some of the rarer or more unusual consoles you only ever read about. The event will have hundreds of machines running classic and modern games – Sega’s, Nintendo’s, Atari’s, Playstation’s, Commodore’s, Spectrum’s, Xbox’s, Amstrad’s, Neo Geo’s, PC Engine’s – almost every games console you can think of.
PC gamers don’t get left out either – the Replay LAN will feature classic networked games from the FPS, Realtime Strategy and Driving genres.
With Blackpool being the Daddy of all seaside arcades the organisers say they will be a featuring huge video game arcade containing many classic arcade machines – but all set to freeplay so no need for pockets full of coins. Outrun, Pacman, Donkey Kong, Street Fighter, Space Invaders, Space Harrier and so many more classics will be there to play.
Indie game fans will be in for a treat as well at this show. “We have a good number of indie game developers attending,” say the event team, “who will be bringing an eclectic selection of retro inspired modern games as well as some developed for the Oculus Rift which will also be playable at the show.
“If you are looking to spend some pennies our trading hall will definitely be where you will be heading,” they add. “We have an entire hall filled with all manner of gaming and merchandise retailers and still more to come! So whether you are in the market for a cool gaming T-Shirt, Toys or Figures, Anime, Comics or that elusive game you have been trying to add to your collection for years, Play Blackpool will meet your needs.”
Fans of Cosplay will be pleased to hear that the event will be hosting a free to enter cosplay masquerade both days at Play Blackpool with some great prizes from its sponsors for the best characters as chosen by a panel of judges.
If you think you are pretty hot at gaming you can prove it at Play Blackpool. “Not only do we have one of the qualifying heats of the UK Classic Gaming Championships at the show, but the Retro Collect squad will be on hand with all manner of quirky and well loved tournaments for you to get your game on to,” say the team. ” There are some great prizes to be won courtesy of Funstock.co.uk and all tournaments are free to enter. So whether you think you’re Fantastic at FIFA, Superb at Street Fighter, Cool at Call of Duty or even King of Kong, Play Blackpool will be right up your street.”
Old show favourites such as the frankly bizarre Video Game Carnival will be making a return – the ringmaster will be bringing his popular sideshows such as the amazing Fruitcade, Lazer Pong, Micro Machines Mayhem, Jelly Sports, the Picture Postcard and Giant Gameboys to the show. Megaplay – powered by ProjectorGames – is multiplayer gaming turned up to eleven featuring remakes of arcade classics and brand new party and arcade games with a twist, Megaplay can support up to 48 players on a single screen.
The event will also host a presentation on the history of the acclaimed 1980s 8-bit British games company Gremlin Graphics, whose assets are now owned by Urbanscan. You’ll be able to meet some of the original members of the studio or fire your questions at them in our Q&A session. Many traders will be selling posters and Gremlin merchandise which you can then take to the signing session afterwards or just bring your own games along with you to get signed by the gang.
Throw in some retro game communities like ‘Amibay’ who will be hosting a live computer hacking session, ‘Retro Hardware’ who will be demonstrating diagnostic techniques, ‘GamesThatWeren’t’ who will be showcasing a number of unreleased games, a live Podcast from ‘Retro Asylum’ and even a retro inspired play called Together in Electric Dreams about a dinner date between Lord Alan Sugar and Sir Clive Sinclair and the show is already looking like one you can’t afford to miss.
• For more information visit www.playblackpool.com
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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