Games Market Europe Report

The UK had a reasonable year last year when it came to consumer and trade events. With the absence of ECTS this year, which is normally held in London; Andy Lane, Barrington Harvey and team have strived to keep some sort of UK based trade event alive in the capital. Games Market Europe was the event and held in London's prestigious Business Design Centre which can only be described as "cosy" was an excellent place to network and play the odd game here and there without the usual booming sound systems and uninvited non trade folk.

Games Market Europe was quite a laid back affair with only a few stands available and even fewer games on display; although the people there did seem to be chatting away (myself included) quite happily. The venue, which is a fraction of the size of Earls Court (the usual home of ECTS) was pleasant and bright enough thanks to the sunny day that was occurring outside.

So what was on offer at the event other than a peaceful looking bar and plenty of space to move around unhindered? Well nothing new I'm afraid. I did get decent hands on with Ubisoft's forthcoming King Kong game which is coming on nicely and looking very atmospheric, although I wasn't so sure about one moment controlling a human character, battling dinosaurs whilst navigating some beautiful environments at times; then switching to Kong himself whilst he wrestled with a T-rex in some sort of side on beat em up view.

Eidos were also present which meant I managed to play the entire demo of the forthcoming Total Overdose which is actually due to hit retail in the next few weeks. Whilst not looking the greatest game to hit Xbox and looking pretty much identical to its PS2 counterpart; the game was actually quite fun. Total Overdose is very similar to Max Payne with the bullet time effects but has enough charm of its own to be something a little bit different (those acrobatic moves and a free roaming landscape). Playing the game was very easy to get into and will no doubt be accessible to veteran gamers and beginners alike; although racking up huge kill combos will no doubt become an art form and a little harder to master. Other games at the Eidos stand were Conflict; global Terror and Commando's Strike Force.

Far Cry Instincts was also available to play and roiling demos of Ghost Recon 3 were viewable alongside a playable version of Prince of Persia kindred Spirits. Powerhouse Ubisoft had the most impressive stands here and as you can see from the photos; the most cosy and comfortable!

EA had some games on display including Need for Speed Most Wanted and James Bond from Russia with Love which both looked like typical EA games non optimised for Xbox. I had a reasonable play of James Bond but the level that was in the demo was basically an empty maze which bond had to navigate. To be honest this was not the kind of thing I would have had displayed as it was not exactly breathtaking high octane action. Naturally EA was showing off FIFA 2006 game to the max although I did not actually play.

As predicted, Microsoft was represented but not showing anything we haven't already seen before except a non powered display set up of the Xbox 360 which will no doubt be featuring at a retail outlet near you in the future.

I managed to get a decent play of the forthcoming Codemasters game Heroes of the Pacific which played very well and will please WWII flying fans. The demo featured a customised spitfire which handled quite well albeit very much arcade. I was informed that although the onus on the game is geared more towards arcade thrills there will be a setting for the simulation gamer. The game did appear quite impressive with the sheer number of targets available on screen at any given time rather than a bare sky as seen in other flying games.

Other Exhibitors such as Vivendi Universal were showing games such as the Hulk, F.E.A.R and Crash Team Racing (The Hulk being in the shops already stateside) and generally no system was favoured over the others with Xbox, Gamecube, PS2, DS being available to play. The atmosphere was excellent and peaceful which does make a change from the usual events. Whilst the event was more open than last years EGN if Games Market Europe can continue to attract more exhibitors and retain it's peaceful approach then perhaps in the future we might see a little more exclusive content appearing at the show.

Posted By: Robert Cram

Date: 2005-09-02