I’ve never been to this type of event before, so I really had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that the Metro Convention Center in Toronto was combining a series of exhibits under one roof: gaming, comic books, sci-fi, anime and horror.
Needless to say, the place was packed.
As we made our way from the parking lot to the convention place, we could see the cosplayers in the distance, snapping pictures of each other. Everything from Sailor Moon to Naruto, some with really amazing outfits, preparing to enter the Masquerade contest that was taking place in the evening.
Inside, the lines for the tickets were crazy, but moving fairly quick. We had our press passes waiting, so we only had to wait for a friend to get his. The lower floor was even crazier, people everywhere, even more costumes, reporters, cameras, a whole bunch of dodging to get to the actual entrance to the exhibit grounds.
This area was too cramped to even be able to see things properly. Although there was plenty of content to see, it felt like it was all tossed together in there, and you would be moving from anime to sci-fi booths without a distinct separation. To top it all, the aisles seemed too narrow for the amount of people just walking around.
Still, we spotted some pretty cool things, such as Super Mario themed plush toys, plenty of new and used games, a weapons booth with some neat swords, Batman outfits just for show, a life-size Terminator, a very realistic Pinhead mask and other cool horror props, tons of comic books and manga, lots of DVDs, collectible figurines, trading cards, even a little sideshow of oddities like shrunken heads and other creepy things.
At the time we were there, we saw George Romero and Adam West signing autographs, plenty of artists signing comics and illustrations, but what we really went there for were the games.
An area was assigned to the World Cyber Games, where players were battling it out in DoA 4, PGR3, Command & Conquer 3, Warcraft III, Starcraft and Counterstrike. The World Series of Video Games was also there, with World of Warcraft PVP and Quake IV tournaments plaus a Guitar Hero II contest – we got to see a very cool Chun Li play some mean Jessica on Expert. And as I recently found out, it seems this was the last we saw of the WSVG (you can read more about that here).
There were a couple of F1 cars equipped with a new steering wheel so people could come up and test it out with a racing game that I never found out the name of, some PC gaming to experiment, and at least eight Xbox 360 systems where Guitar Hero II was no doubt the life of the party. Almost on the opposite side of the pavillion and in the horror section, just past some very creepy sculptures, there was a playable Clive Barker’s Jericho demo hiding in a corner, nearly undetectable.
Major League Gaming was there too, telling people how they can become professional gamers, right next to the G4 Tech TV Wired Road Trip Bus. We also found some interesting gaming accessories at the Wolf King booth, the Warrior Gamepad (a circular keyboard designed for FPS) teaming up with the ergonomic Trooper Mouse (LED light, illuminated track wheel and laser engine for faster response). These were pretty cool and seemed like people testing them out were enjoying the experience.
The event took place over the course of three days comprising gaming tournaments of all kinds: trading card games, videogames, board games, RPGs and miniatures. But outside of the large cramped room there was a whole world of events that we never got to see, like seminars and workshops about the most varied topics.
For me, the highlights of the event were Chun Li playing Guitar Hero, two guys dressed as Master Chief (I thought at first they were Red vs. Blue, but then realized they were both blue…), someone dressed as Tonberry who kindly put his head back on in that heat so I could snap a photo, and a very nice Bomberman who posed for a picture.
After a quick walk in pouring rain back to the car (parking was full) I couldn’t help but feeling a bit disappointed, and not because I was soaking wet. Although the gaming portion had a very strong presence, a lot was missing. Where were the Wiis, the Nintendo DSs, the PSPs? Looking at pictures from the previous year, the Fan Expo seems to have downsized in that department.
The layout wasn’t prone to “window shopping”, so to speak, it was difficult to stop to look at something without being swept away by groups of people passing through. I think having different rooms for each area would have been a much better idea, since everything seemed to have been crammed into that single space, without any specific divisions to separate the themes. It wasn’t exactly functional, and the only area when we could walk freely without bumping into people was the gaming area.
Hopefully next year will be better, and hopefully I will have time to check it out once again.
Check out photos of the event here. More info about the Fan Expo at the official Hobbystar site.