PREVIEW: MCM Expo London

The MCM Expos are among Britain’s biggest entertainment showcases and the London oneis the flagship event.

The expo celebrates the worlds of movies, manga, comics, TV – and, of course, video games. Over the years, gaming’s presence at MCM has grown, with more and more publishers signing up to exhibit their latest titles.

The first London MCM Expo of 2012 will be held next weekend, once again held at the ExCeL centre. While the October show tends to be bigger, there is still a plethora of gaming delights for attendees to check out.

MCM proudly reports it will be hosting various UK premieres, including first playable copies of hotly anticipated hits like Aliens: Colonial Marines and Lollipop Chainsaw, and a first look at Jagex’s Transformers MMO.

Throw in competitions such as a Dead or Alive 5 tournament, developer interviews on the GameSpot stage and the usual abundance of cosplayers – plus special guests from popular TV series and films – and it will be a weekend to remember.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

Date: Friday, May 25th – Sunday, May 27th
Venue: ExCeL, London
Expected attendees: 60,000+

www.mcmexpo.com

Dealer/Table Enquiries: 0844 448 7600
Exhibitor/Sponsorship Enquiries: 01327 878550
Next London?show: Friday, October 26th – Sunday, October 28th

Capcom

Dragon’s Dogma storms onto shelves the day MCM Expo opens (Friday, May 25th) and Capcom will celebrating with playable demos. The publisher will also be giving consumers the chance to try out its Kinect-controlled mech-battler Steel Battalion: Heavy Armour.

Rising Star

The publisher will be catering for its avid fans by giving them hands-on time with upcoming Cave-developed retro shooter Akai Katana and PS3 RPG Rune Factory Oceans. Rising Star will also use the show to re-promote Xbox 360 beat ‘em up King of Fighters XIII and its BIT.TRIP compilations for Wii and 3DS.

Jagex

The UK MMO firm makes its MCM debut with demos of the latest build of fantasy title Runescape. The Expo will also have the first public showing of Jagex’s upcoming online title Transformers Universe. Attendees will be among the first in the UK to reserve their character name and pledge their allegiance to either the Autobots or Decepticons.

Tecmo Koei

The star of Tecmo Koei’s booth will be console fighter Dead Or Alive 5. Not only will there be playable demos, but the publisher will also be holding a DOA tournament with plenty of prizes up for grabs. Gamers will also be able to sample Warriors Orochi 3 and Ninja Gaiden 3.

Warner Bros

Demos stands will show off both zombie-maiming action game Lollipop Chainsaw and accessible superhero platformers LEGO Batman 2: DC Superheroes, the hotly-anticipated sequel to the best-selling LEGO game to date. Lollipop Chainsaw will also draw in the crowds with a squad of zombie cheerleaders.

WATCH OUT FOR… Nintendo will be on hand to show off a variety of 3DS and Wii titles as part of its annual Nintendo Unleashed sampling tour… Square Enix will also give gamers a taste of some of its biggest upcoming games… Finally, GameSpot will interview the developers behind Aliens: Colonial Marines, The Old Republic, LEGO?Batman 2, Steel Battalion, Dragon’s Dogma and more.

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