Traditionally, Sunday can be quite a slow day at eGames, with many punters having expo-ed to their heart’s content in the preceding days. Not so eGames ’08: the day, while not as busy as Saturday, was packed with attendees and events. On the main stage, attractions included showcases from Sony and Nintendo, and a PC build off hosted by Scorptec. Also exciting was the terrific Monash retro games challenge: we’re not sure Monash was expecting the enthusiastic and good natured response they received, either!
The race to build a PC gets hectic.
Slightly more disappointing was the final few nails in the coffin that was the Develop Theatrette this year. Although the schedule was packed with great speakers, barely a soul turned up throughout the weekend to see them. In fact, one Develop technician remarked to this writer that the highest attendance for the weekend was by 2pm Sunday a total of eight. Luckily, this was soon to change as the last two presentations for the weekend drew respectable crowds. We spoke to Andrew Owen from Monash University, who is also heavily involved in the organisation of eGames, and he explained the dilemma: “Because there are walls up, I think people think it is a bit exclusive, but you can’t blame the festival, because the last two years there weren’t walls and people would come and sit because they could see, but we all complained because it was too noisy. They’ve done the right thing by the exhibitors and the speakers, and said alright, and put the walls up, but then people aren’t coming in, even though we had announcements. So, I’d say it’s something that we might have to say, ‘well, knock the walls down!’”
Rounding out the day and the expo was a terrific grand final match of FIFA 09 on the Digital Lifestyle Stage. The mood was truly tense as the finalists, who had worked their way through the competition all weekend took each other on. In one of the most exciting displays of e-sports we’ve ever seen, the pair went toe-to-toe the entire match, entering extra time three-all. The eventual winner, Jason, outpaced his opposition during overtime to win 6-3: a remarkable result. Having won a PSP, Jason will now go on to represent Australia internationally.
PALGN's most dashing writer inspects his run-chart for the day.
It is clear from this year that eGames continues to grow. While some forays into new avenues might not have been the success the organisers may have hoped for, they proved a step in the right direction and provide many opportunities for improvement. Indeed, Andrew Owen remains very optimistic about the expo’s future: “[eGames is] getting recognised in the local areas besides Australia and New Zealand, the whole of Asia. And I predict within the next three years, that it won’t be like an E3, but it’ll be an international digital entertainment festival across the whole IT spectrum. I think Melbourne will be the place to be for South East Asia … so it’s only going to get bigger. People need to come and show the government that these are things that need to be supported. We need to make those people in power realise that we’re a force to be reckoned with, and we’re not just depending on coal mines and tourism, that we are a smart country.”
And so ends eGames - but our coverage isn’t quite over yet. Stay tuned to PALGN for more previews of unreleased games playable on the show floor, interviews, and features on important aspects of this year’s expo.
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