Thousands of gamers, anime fans and cosplayers of widely varying quality descended on ExCel, an exhibition centre in London, for one of the biggest events in the collective industrys’ calendar today, the 15^th MCM Expo. Running for two days, 23^rd May and 24^th May 2009, those few Electronic Theatre readers who managed to miss today’s show may just have enough time to organise the necessary travelling arrangements, and grab that Bomberman outfit they’ve been saving for a special occasion.

            Headline acts appear in the form of Linda Hamilton (The Terminator, Dante’s Peak) and the late Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus’ Antoninus, Tony Curtis, as well as featuring the car version of Bumblebee from the upcoming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen motion-picture and a panel with the director of Franklyn, Gerald McMorrow. However, as a videogames publication, there were of course more pressing matters for us to attend to.

            As a consumer show, little in the way of videogame-specific revelations were exposed, though a few tidy titbits were picked-up by the Electronic Theatre team along the way. Activision displayed Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, although it was unfortunately in video form only, and KOEI demonstrated the versatility of the Warriors franchise with playable versions of Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires and Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2, alongside the commercially available Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce. ATARI’s efforts, while concentrating mainly on their Wii titles, were commendable in addressing both the Hardcore Gamer audience alongside the average show attendee, and Eidos’ fully playable Challenge Rooms from the forthcoming Batman: Arkham Asylum simply never failed to draw a crowd despite unfortunate hardware issues. Assassin’s Creed II marketing featured heavily throughout the show, yet the game was suspicious by its absence, as was Ghostbusters: The Video Game, announced as appearing prior to the revelation of the European PlayStation system “timed-exclusive” deal.

            The stars of the show, however, had to be the two most central stands; that of Rising Star Games and Capcom. Capcom’s stand hosted an unfeasibly cosy Monster Hunter Freedom Unite centre, subtly dropping a bomb that will change the way many UK gamers look at the franchise, apparently due for an official announcement this coming week. Rising Star Games’ stand became a hub of activity later in the day, as queues grew for Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Rygar: The Battle of Argus. Little King’s Story was also available to play, and yet appeared to be cruelly neglected.

            Electronic Theatre will be bringing you previews of the currently unavailable titles over the remainder of the Bank Holiday weekend, but why not head out and see for yourself? The MCM Expo in London is open again tomorrow, with tickets available the door, sporting the return of the headline acts alongside DDR:UK’s Battle Fantastia and Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournaments, an exclusive showing of the first two Wakfu episodes and Masquerade, the MCM Expo’s world-record breaking Cosplay Costume Contest.

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