PLAY Expo Blackpool in 2 Weeks!

PLAY Expo Blackpool takes place at the Norcolympia Exhibition Centre in Blackpool on 30th April to 1st May 2016.

The team are very proud to announce that this year they will be hosting a world first preview and hands on of a game; Sociable Soccer. After years away from football games, Jon Hare is ready to show the world the ‘spiritual successor; to the classics hits Sensible Soccer and Sensible World of Soccer. Not only will Jon be giving a talk and Q&A session all about the past and present games, but there will also be tournaments overseen by Sky Sports eSports presenter Matt Andrews.

Over the course of the weekend there will be several other tournaments for attendees to take part in to flex their skills and win some prizes. 8bit Planet will be bringing both paid and free to enter Super Smash Bros tournaments, Super Mario UK Champion Sami Cetin will be returning with Super Mario Kart and Manchester Battle Arena will be setting up the ring for some brilliant fighting game tournaments.

For the very first time PLAY Expo Blackpool will be offering the chance for visitors to attend master classes with industry experts. Sega artist Duncan Gutteridge will be talking about his work on various Sonic projects and showing visitors how to draw this classic character. For those into Pac-Man Jon Stoodley, the first European and one of seven people in the world to achieve the perfect score on the game, will be discussing his achievements and dishing out tips and pro secrets on how to up your game on the arcade classic. Industry veteran Jim Bagley will also be giving a Q&A over the weekend on his recent world record video game conversion and upcoming projects.

The Museum of Games and Gaming will be bringing their “Why do we play?” exhibition to PLAY Expo Blackpool. The exhibit investigates the entire history of gaming from ancient games like the Egyptian Senet to the most modern of video games and why we have always been so interested in devoting time and energy to playing these games. The exhibition has been curated by ex-Psygnosis employee and Museum of Games and Gaming Director Phil Robinson, who will be on hand at PLAY Expo Blackpool to talk visitors through the exhibit and answer any questions they may have.

For lovers of more modern gaming, there will be a selection of Indie developers and studios attending with their latest titles for guests to get stuck into. The Indie Zone has been a popular area and it can be a great place to get hands on with new and upcoming titles, as well as being able to talk to the people who designed and developed them.

There will, of course, be the usual extensive collection of free play arcade cabinets and pinball machines and hundreds of retro consoles, computers and handhelds to play all weekend. The Retro Computer Museum will be bringing two linked W Industries Virtual Reality machines for attendees to play on together and if there’s a group then head to the PC LAN area to play some classic LAN games.

Finally, guests looking to spend some hard earned pennies on cool merchandise should head to the trading hall which will be full of video games, apparel and memorabilia vendors for that must-have item.

Tickets are available from www.playexpoblackpool.com.