We have been to Comic Cons, we have been to BYOC parties. And it was about time we attended a Gaming EXPO. So when IGX 2015 came around in Mumbai, we were all packed and ready to go. How was it, you ask, well..it was
Boombastic
IGX was quite the nuke. We hadn’t expected the expo to be filled with so many people. A variety of people had popped up and it was surprising to see so many non gamers present (We think free entry had something to do with it). The area was pretty much overcrowded and people had to wait in long flimsy lines to play games. There were all sorts of gamers- Casual, Fanboys, Hardcore and relatives of gamers. People were coming in even after 6, at which time the stalls were closing down and it was good to see the enthusiasm among people.
Though the event was a bit unorganized, we guess because it got overcrowded (you know how crowds in India can get), people were enjoying themselves- shouting, jeering, cheering. They were also enthusiastically taking part in competitions involving WWE 2K16, Counter Strike 1.6 and Mortal Kombat. More details on who won in our IGX Competition coverage.
Since it was a gaming expo, it was expected that there would be some games to play. First let’s talk about the games. Some of the games included:
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- PES 2016
- FIFA 2016
- Unchatered: The Nathan Drake Collection
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
- Batman Arkham Knight
- Bloodborne
- Until Dawn
- God of War 3 Remastered
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
It was a little disappointing to see only released games available, since expo are generally used to exhibit un-released or soon to be released games. However we think that will change radically in the coming years.
Due to the event being unorganized people had to wait in relatively longer lines to play a game. Some people were playing for 5 minutes while some were being allowed to play for 10-12 minutes in which case the exploration became slower. Though not much of a hindrance, it was a wee bit frustrating.
In the second half of the hall were where the stalls had been put up. Games The Shop had put up a stall along side Indian Developers Apar Games and Vanishing Point. Genesys Gaming were also there and the CS 1.6 competition was being held by them. Digit.in was also present. On the other side were people from Acro Tech India who basically had all their products branded with MSi. Then there were Cezor, a company whose idea, according to us is pretty awesome. Then there was the most attractive part, the Virtual Reality by Absentia who were displaying their VR device with games like Medal of Honour and Call of Duty Ghosts. We discuss the highlights among them in our Hands-On coverage.
For the fans of various games and anime there were stalls put up by Psychostore and Superhero Toystore, who were selling merchandise of some of the popular games like Assassin’s Creed, Batman and anime like Dragonball and Naruto.
The back was not left empty with the Logitech Steering Set on display and the cosplay going on. For those who had just tagged along with their partners or relatives food was the only relief from all the boredom (For them, hehe), and there was plenty of variety to chomp on till the end of the day (Provided you eat everything).
VERDICT
IGX 2015 is a great step in the right direction for the Indian Gaming Community. We played a lot of awesome games, got our hands on some serious nerd swag, and met with very interesting people; some of them we are sure to be working with in the near future. We hope that IGX returns the next year, and is bigger and better. There were some crowd control problems (but when is it not in India), and there were some start hiccups, but full marks to the organizers on making this happen.