The huge popularity of domestic gaming, along with the rise of E-sports, has seen a corresponding rise in the number of gaming events. Product releases, video game conventions and gaming competitions can draw visitors in their tens of thousands. Here’s our rundown of the best gaming events of 2018.
Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3)
We start with the biggest gaming event of all. E3 ran from June 12-14 and saw keynote presentations from major game producers. E3 recently made the switch from an industry trade show to a public event, which saw attendance top 65,000. Open-world games were the heavy hitters in this year’s show. For example, Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Spider-Man received the best reception from fans and the media.
Tokyo Game Show
Once a juggernaut on the gaming convention scene, the Tokyo Game Show has seen its international relevance wane in the last decade. Western gaming conventions have started to eat into its territory. Nonetheless, Japanese gamers, as well as fans of Japanese games across the globe, still flock to the annual event. Sony took the lion’s share of the headlines at this year’s event. It was announced that the PS Vita would be going out of production, and then Sony pushed on with a flood of titles for their PS4 consoles most notably a reboot of their cult classic, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy. Looking forward to 2019, it appears that VR will continue its march into mainstream gaming, with Sony declaring that they intend to develop VR versions of classic series, such as Kingdom Hearts and Everybody’s Golf.
North East Retro Gaming (NERG)
Easily the most irreverent video game convention on this list, NERG shuns trailblazing gaming announcements in favour of celebrating old-school gaming classics. Catering solely for those who play first or second-generation console games, if you’re a Streetfighter II or original Mario Kart fan and wanted to meet like-minded people, then Gateshead Stadium was a 2-D, low-bit paradise.
Blizzcon
This gaming convention focuses solely on the gaming behemoth Blizzard, who masterminded the Overwatch, World of Warcraft and Diablo titles. This year’s event saw the announcement of new installations in the Diablo and Warcraft series, as well as a bolstering of their E-sport competitions. The most notable example of this was the finals of the Overwatch ‘World Cup’.
Obviously, the events outlined above are only a small selection of this year’s highlights. All of these exciting gaming conventions will return in the new year, along with a number of others. There are a plethora of events you can choose from. Whether you prefer retro classics, first-person shooters or indie offerings, there is a gaming convention out there for you. Start thinking about your tickets now!
Photo by DIFE88
