PLAY EXPO (formerly Replay), 13-14 October 2012, Manchester

[Joey]

ummmmmmm give me a description of you and where we were...... I have a rough idea

Shortish, slim, short reddish hair, large tattoo on back of neck. Was wearing a replay events t-shirt and I ran the Halo 2 and History of Tekken comps.

I forgot to bring my RG Forum badge from last year so may have spoke to more members without realising!?

[Treguard]

The ghost buster were the best. Dunno if they won though.

The Ghostbusters outfits were indeed epic. I can only assume they didn't win as they weren't 'Cosplay' enough. My highlight was my mates 10 year old kid getting annoyed with two blokes hogging the Goldeneye on the N64 (wandering round looking lost and not going anywhere near each other) and offering them tips on how to play it because he wanted them to finish so he could have a go against me and his dad.

[SimonH]

We are screaming out for a 2/300 member event with a close bar and 30/40 systems - this is not what Play was about but so many members are asking for it, this should be a collective effort and I'm sure it will happen next year.

Thanks again!
Shaun

If that sort of scale is your thing then you do need to check out the regular Retro Computer Museum weekend events - Usually up to 60 systems, nothing newer than a Gamecube (maybe a PS2 if we have to) but sadly our available venues - those places with enough space and low enough fees - do not usually include a bar (but a café is included so food and caffeine are available ).

The next event is in the planning stages, but dates will be around the Easter bank-holiday weekend in 2013 and are likely to include both the Friday and Monday to allow you to mix your need for retro with any family events. The location will be Snibston Discovery Museum in Leicestershire so you could bring the family, they can go and to the whole Snibston thing and you can hide in the gaming area.

Watch our website or facebook page for more details and of course we will announce on here once details are confirmed.

[DPrinny]

Zangeif next year?

Can I fit it all in a small pair of pants?

[mohicankid]

Zangeif next year?

Can I fit it all in a small pair of pants?

Just don't try pulling them above waist level and you'll be fine!

[markopoloman]

ummmmmmm give me a description of you and where we were...... I have a rough idea

Shortish, slim, short reddish hair, large tattoo on back of neck. Was wearing a replay events t-shirt and I ran the Halo 2 and History of Tekken comps.

I forgot to bring my RG Forum badge from last year so may have spoke to more members without realising!?

Right.... Gotcha! You called me markopoloman!....

[PhaseMagazine]

Another post for you guys!

Full weekend video highlights:
http://www.phasemagazine.co.uk/watch-pl ... ighlights/

Cait

[RetroBob]

Wow, I'm glad I booked today off, I was shattered! I thought the use of space was good, it didn't feel too crowded despite their being a lot of people there. Tons of retro, I could always get on something, sometimes a wait for the arcades though but I can't fault the variety of cabs and as last year, I loved the pinball; you just can't recreate the physics, weight and noise of a real table. Facilities in the place were good (esp with being near to the Trafford Centre, hotels etc.). It was a shame that the talks were cancelled on the first day due to the vendor letting down the organizers, but I was glad Sunday's talks went ahead as I was keen on hearing Sol again, I'm totally sold on Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing Transformed. One word to describe pro gamers... morons - but at least they were out of the way of the retro, I'm guessing that was intentional

Overall, a great show, well done to all those involved with organizing, volunteering, exhibiting etc.

That's two years in a row that we've seen too much of King Hippo guy's gut!!!

[boggyb68]

My thoughts:
First, all my comments are based on the fact it was an expo and had a wide demographic to meet individual interests:\

The good:
- Range of systems (I spent most of my time in the arcade/pinball section)
- the RG members, markopoloman, jdanddiet, mainvein, mohicankid (saw briefly), Jagfest/Laird (you do exist!), woody cool, resident (trailer boy) paul, TMR, Sir Clive, Arcadian, Antiriad, Helensification (good chats with you), twoheadedboy (also some good chats) {subject to edit]. Didn't get the chance to speak to PSJ
- Dprinny sorta dancing, WTF!!!!
- An evening at the Premier Inn with Jeff Minter for 3 hrs, Felgekarp accused me of being a fanboy which I totally was. He was very gracious with his time.
- The amount of people; congratulations to all involved for the separate PR campaign behind the scenes
- Greater variety of goods to buy. Even console Passion's prices seemed a little lower this time.
- Food was generally a lot nicer than I was expecting, pricey but nice
- Felgekarp - door to door lifts and an absolute star as always - thanks bud!
- The efforts of every volunteer; I know many worked beyond their remit and events wouldn't happen without them!!!!!
- Despite my reservations I even found Cosplay quite fun!

The not so good:
- 'Tannoy' system - apart from a couple of messages I just heard a noise
- Queues for the Wii U, Need for Speed seemed totally unnecessary and self-defeating
- Speeches - I know Sat was a let down from external sources, Sumo one was swamped out with noise - couldn't hear a thing
- Carling (Grolsch was off almost immediately) at £3.50 a pint/can of Pepsi £1.50, hmm - I know the Asda petrol station was quite popular!
- Pinball and Cabs were hard to get on - don't mind that but some Pinball people hogged the machines for literally hours
- The awful, awful, awful behaviour of the CoD Players (well some of them), young kids around and idiot teens shouting "F uck you c unt" to each other. Absolutely disgraceful and not regulated.
- If Metal Gear (Re)vengeance was sectioned off because it was 15/18+, why was there 64 player CoD games with no such sanctions?
- The relatively low amount of RG members (at least on the photo shoot)

We are screaming out for a 2/300 member event with a close bar and 30/40 systems - this is not what Play was about but so many members are asking for it, this should be a collective effort and I'm sure it will happen next year.

Thanks again!
Shaun

So I wasn't worth mentioning in the RG role of honour.. and you met my missus ( who thought you were a really nice bloke).. I've now set her straight on that.. ;0)

Good to see you again though mate..

B.

[sscott]

... And you mate!

[Antiriad2097]

Shortish, slim, short reddish hair, large tattoo on back of neck. Was wearing a replay events t-shirt and I ran the Halo 2 and History of Tekken comps.

I forgot to bring my RG Forum badge from last year so may have spoke to more members without realising!?

I have just made the connection between Joe at the event and Joey here! Did that bloke get his prize eventually?

[psj3809]

So turncoat/traitor boy was present on Saturday,.

I got a free ticket and free travel, which isnt the thing to say no too so ended up going.

I would have bet my house you would have had a lot of negatives ! You may have some valid points but due to your past comments its difficult to take them seriously.

My wife goes to the Trafford Centre a lot ! Shes come back a few times and said 'that silly retro show youre going to was advertised at the centre....'. Seeing how many people came to the show i dont think advertising was a huge issue.

Personally dont think you needed a site plan, its obvious where everything was, part of the fun for me is wandering around looking at the various machines/stalls.

Every year people moan about the cost of food. Yep food at Blackpool was 'so cheap' for a sandwich ! Anyone with sense went to the chippy outside as the prices at the hotel were ridiculous. But its the Trafford Centre, tons of restaurants nearby. Plus come on, we're happy to spend xx amount on some rare game but faint the second a burgers a few quid. I had a burger from BBQ Burger and they were surprisingly good, £4 was alright. Its lucky you did get a free ticket and travel as you might have spontaneously combusted on the spot if you had to pay yourself

Seriously though any show i've been to the prices are always high, never in a million years was it going to be £2 a pint or £2 a burger, never. Thankfully i went to get a burger about 11.30am before the queues, bit like going to a footy match and leaving just before halftime to get a burger as later there'll be a massive queue.

So turncoat/traitor boy was present on Saturday,.Not nostalgic, playing in a big barn in the middle of a business park, hey ho it's an old criticism but what can you do?

Ehh ? How many events have you been to ? Not a little sly dig that it should have been in Blackpool as that has tons of nostalgia ? Everyone i know who went to Blackpool said the place was a dump, full of chavs and stag parties and most kept away from the town centre. Huddersfield wasnt known as a retro gaming metropolis, Stoke ? I have great fond memories of that, a great show but the actual place it was held in wasnt the best but i dont care as long as theres tons of retro stuff around. Warehouse/barn/hotel conference centre, I'm personally not bothered.

I went to Olympia shows in the 80's which were huge great exhibition halls/warehouses but you didnt care, just had tons of games to play on. If people didnt know how to change games then just ask someone, everyone i spoke to was friendly, you cant expect to have someone on every row of computers ready to help out if someone hasnt figured out how to press a button to change a game.

The dig about people with egos, bit unfair that. A huge show like that will get people moaning about anything, granted queues were massive, they were letdown with the sound system but look at the positives, to get a show like that off the ground was great. I had no interest in the modern stuff and like others have said some of the 'pro' players on CoD and that just seemed quite odd/rude (then again they might think us old retro heads might be the same).

But come on, some of your digs. Yeah i didnt know where the food was when i first got there, simply asked someone and then hey presto i know where it was. Same for the toilets. Surely people didnt need some master great big map to find out where everything was ?

I would prefer a pure 'retro' show on a bit of a smaller scale but the queues for the machines werent bad at all, a fair few friendly people who saw you were waiting and then said 'here have a go' and moved on which were nice of them. And again i like the way retro was at one end which seemed 'seperated' due to the huge displays of the current gen stuff. At Blackpool i struggled to get on the pinball machines. But come on RMLF you were never going to be that positive at all were you !? Due to your past OTT comments about moving from Blackpool i personally find it hard to take your comments seriously as you were never going to have a huge list of positives were you? If someone else has negatives fair enough though.

I hope from this show people will want to do something themselves, really do want to go to another show now.

[Gonad]

I had a burger from BBQ Burger and they were surprisingly good, £4 was alright.

He's got a point about the food. It was never going to be mega-fantastic, but those BBQ Burger guys should have been done under the trade-description act!

"Six-ounces of Lanacashire's finest rump burger served in a toasted bun with lettuce, onions and cheese".

I think mine nearly ticked 2 of those boxes!

I went to the Trafford Centre the next day.

I dunno why it took so long for the bar to serve people. Maybe they had too much of a selection/untrained staff or something. The bar queue's weren't nearly so long at previous events, and the bar wasn't any bigger/better staffed.

[the_hawk]

So turncoat/traitor boy was present on Saturday,.

I could be here til doomsday and am sure will get a battering for saying this, but let more people help with the creative and dont let ego's get in the way. Share the load and make it special and not a bit of a mess.

I cannot comment on the event as I wasn't able to attend, so it may well have been every bit as ghastly as you have implied.

However you seemed pretty determined to hate it & find fault form the moment it was announced & it sounds like you've been pretty successful with that.

Thankfully there are a lot of smaller events, many in the NW so hopefully you can get along to those & enjoy them a lot more.

[psj3809]

He's got a point about the food. It was never going to be mega-fantastic, but those BBQ Burger guys should have been done under the trade-description act!

Must admit i've had worse burgers ! But yeah most of these places make out the burgers some stunning rump burger made with the finest ingredients/salad etc etc but you know its not. Perhaps because i was starving in the morning but the one i had was alright but i've never been to a show where the foods been amazing, but not too fussed. But there were a ton of options over in the Trafford Centre.

But yeah with 4000+ people its a shame some of these caterers didnt have more staff or that. But again its no surprise, every gig i've been to theres crazy queues for the food/drinks (at least it was easy to get to the loo's !).