Ireland's biggest video games exhibition is set to open this Halloween in the The Convention Centre Dublin. PlayersXpo will run on two dates, 28th & 29th of October, and is set to be an unmissable event for anyone with even a passing interest in video games. It will feature playable versions of new and upcoming releases, a vast retro games section as well as fantastic unique events, like concerts from renowned Irish composer Eimear Noone.
We chatted to Creative Director of PlayersXpo, Michael Finucane, about just what's in store for people at the exhibition.
What can people expect to find at the exhibition?
At PlayersXpo you'll get to meet a host of international YouTube celebrities, including Jelly and Slogoman, as well as some legends from the gaming industry like John Romero, creator of Doom, and Eimear Noone, an Irish composer who's worked on many games including World of Warcraft and Zelda. You'll also get to play some of the latest games; you'll get to experience two fantastic concerts by Eimear Noone, with the DIT Traditional Irish Music Ensemble. as she plays the music through Zelda and then there's the Retro Games Live Show on the Sunday night. All this combined with all the competitive gaming that we have with the 'turn up and play' competitions for Overwatch, League of Legends and FIFA. It'll be absolutely jam-packed with lots to do for everyone .
So is this a family friendly event then?
Yeah we're hoping to get a real spread of people in attendance. I've always referred to the target market as the family of gamers. The original Playstation is 22 years old, so even that's retro now. So from everyone who's gaming on the highest end PC's to people who are just casually gaming on their phone, we're trying to attract as many people as possible.
Gaming has changed so much and is now so accessible to everyone. It's not like the old days where you stick with your console and are loyal beyond belief to your Playstations, or Segas or Nintendos, that's all gone and now people are happy to play across all the different platforms and experience games however they can.
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Do you think Smartphones have opened up gaming to a much broader audience than ever before?
Yeah like the smartphone you have in your pocket is more powerful than the original Playstation. Technology has changed and the way that we engage with games has changed and it just makes it more accessible for everyone.
With video games being such a global industry are there any Irish specific companies that will feature?
We've an Irish based company called Fierce Fun who are going to launch one of their games at it, it's called MindFrame Arena. So we're very excited about that and championing the talent that's here in Ireland as well, so there'll be lots of people there to give talks to anybody who's interested in a career in gaming. John Romero and Eimear Noone are going to speak about their careers for example.
What do you think is unique about the gaming community in Ireland?
I think we're a very creative artistic fun loving nation, beyond just video games. We like to have fun and use our imaginations I think that's why video games are so popular here. It's also why we're producing some of the best game developers out there because of our fun-loving approach. We're a hot bed of creative talent from our poets and song-writers to our film-makers and now our game developers.
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There's lots of courses out there now and a lot of the colleges are offering courses around various aspects of designing computer games and that's really important. It's also why so many successful game developers have come over here. Breda Romero for example is a lecturer in UL.
Any personal highlights your looking forward to?
Too many to chose from. Playing death matches against John Romero in Doom. He's responsible for creating something that's been around for the last 30 years, it's just incredible. We're very lucky to have such great, talented people there. Even home grown people, Eimear Noone, who I mentioned has made music for Zelda, World of Warcraft, Overwatch.
I think those two concerts by Eimear Noone will be spectacular, she has some marvellous special guests coming in for that as well. I suppose, as well as seeing the latest releases, the FIFA 18's etc. We also have a really cool retro-zone that we're really excited about as it'll be a chance for people to see some really great products that never even launched in Europe, let alone Ireland.
There's also an Artists Alley we're setting up that'll give people a chance to view some creativity and artwork that they probably wouldn't have seen before and it's unique to the genre.
Any perks for students interested in going?
We'd love to see as many students there as possible. We have a special on for tickets at the moment, ticket prices are down to €12.50 for students with their discount. So we want people to come down and have fun. We have a good spread of stuff available from people who are very into video game to more casual people who just enjoy playing games even on their phone to just come down and have the craic.
It sounds like it's not to be missed, and tickets can be purchased here. Not only that but we're also giving away tickets to event for five friends. To enter, send us the answer to the following question on our Snapchat (CollegeTimesCT). #PX2017
What is coming to Dublin on October 28th and 29th?
A) PlayersPalace
B) PlayersZone
C) PlayersXpo
