Play Expo Manchester 2015

Over the weekend I travelled to the Play Expo in Manchester. This is the pictures and videos I captured over the event. PS: Sorry for the shaky cam...I don't have the steadiest of hands!

Hope you enjoy!

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PLAY Expo prop shoots announced

We are bringing some green screen prop shoots along to PLAY Expo this year. We will have a Jurassic Park Raptor Shoot along with the Star Wars Emperors Throne. These shoots will be in the screen.play area and will be timetabled over the weekend.

Photos will be £5. These are purchased on the day of the show and you will receive a 6×9 photo print as you leave the area.

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Play Expo tickets now on sale!

The tickets for the next Play Expo are now available. The next even on the horizon is Play Margate which will take place 21/22/23 if August at the Winter Gardens, This will be the first time the event has taken place there! Then later on in the year Play Expo returns to Event City in Manchester on the 10th and 11th October! All the info including where you can buy your tickets is right here.

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Fingers at the ready to PLAY it!

Get your game face on this summer at the Museum of Science and Industry’s first ever gaming event, featuring some of the most popular video games of the past 30 years. Running fromSaturday 25 July to Sunday 9 August, PLAY it! Manchester – in partnership with leading gaming specialists Replay Events - is a hands-on celebration and immersive gaming experience for fun-loving visitors young and old alike.

From Pong and Pacman to Minecraft and Halo there is a game to suit beginners and experts, dads and daughters, multiplayers, retro fans and everybody else in between. Over 120 games and consoles are available to play during each 90 minute pre-bookable gaming session, which run at set times throughout this family friendly 16 day event.

Split into 6 different zones, featuring the most loved and popular games linked by theme, content and brand – from Mincecraft, Atari and Lego to Wii, Megadrive and Nintendo, PLAY it! Manchester offers a unique opportunity to experience the very best in contemporary and retro gaming culture within the museum’s historic Great Western Warehouse, part of the oldest surviving passenger railways station in the world.

PLAY it! Manchester also plays tribute to Ocean Software, one of the most recognisable names in gaming. Established in Manchester in the 1980s, this globally renowned software development company are responsible for some of the most iconic games produced for the Sinclair Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amiga & ST, NES, SNES and Megadrive. A selection of these family favourites will be available to play throughout the event.

Visitors are also invited to experience life in the 1980s computer room, and take part in fun challenges, from freestyle BASIC programming to fondly-remembered educational games such as Granny's Garden and PODD. Never before has a career in STEM, science technology, engineering and maths, promised so much fun.

Whether you’re a family dropping in for a 90 minute session, a seasoned gamer making the most of PLAY it! Manchester’s full-day pass, or a night owl visiting the twice weekly adult-only evening sessions, there are plenty of opportunities to test your skills, show off to your kids or play something new for the first time. So come along and PLAY it!

PLAY it! Manchester runs from Saturday 25 July to Sunday 9 August at the Museum of Science and Industry as part of the museum’s summer programme.

PLAY it! Manchester is recommended for ages 6 +

Tickets are available to book now via www.mosi.org.uk/playit.

Subject to availability tickets may also be available to buy at the museum on the day.

Listings:

25 July – 9 August

Daily sessions, 10.15am–11.45am, 12pm–1.30pm, 1.45pm–3.15pm, 3.30pm–5pm

25 July, 30 & 31 July, 6 & 7 August

Special adult-only evening session, 7pm–9pm

Tickets and prices

Full day pass £10

Entry to all timed sessions on a specific day, for one adult or child. Excludes evening sessions.

Family session £12

Entry to a specific timed session during a specific day, for up to 4 people.

Up to 2 adults with children aged 16 or under.

Individual session £4

Entry to a specific timed session during a specific day, for one adult or child.

Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Individual evening session £5

Entry to a specific evening session, for adults aged 18 or over.

Refreshments are also available to purchase on site during each session.

Booking information

To avoid disappointment, buy your tickets online at www.mosi.org.uk/playit

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Play Expo Blackpool 2015

This video has arrived a bit late due to the fact it was due for upload a couple of weeks back so sorry about that but here is just a few of the events that are at the Play Expo Blackpool being held on the 2nd,3rd,4th May.

Thanks for watching!

All Play Expo Info and tickets can be found  at : http://www.playblackpool.com/

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Transformers coming to Play Expo

Stars of the original live action transformers movie Bumblebee and Barricade will be making their way to Manchester for a special appearance at Play Expo. Both vehicles will be on display in the screen.play area of the main hall. Whether you side with the Autobots or the Decepticons, or you just love beautiful American muscle cars this is a fantastic opportunity, so make sure you bring your camera!

You can catch the article here
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Game of Thrones appearing at Play Expo

Winter is coming to Play Expo and with it, the Iron Throne. At the Expo they will have the Iron Throne from the smash HBO TV series Game of Thrones at Play Expo and we will be running professional photo shoots for anyone who would like their picture taken on the seat of kings. Why not come in cosplay as your favourite GoT character and have your photo taken on the actual Iron Throne? Professional photo opportunities will be available at various times over the weekend and can include a 6×9 glossy print for £5.

More GoT news to follow in the coming weeks…

You can catch the article here
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Play Expo - Heroes and Villains of Star Wars

Red Five standing by for incoming transmission…

“Darth Vader to carry out surprise inspection of Starship Event City. The Sith Lord will be accompanied by notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett. Rebel Alliance preparing to send R2D2 to carry out reconnaissance on the Empire’s plans.”

Dave Prowse, Jeremy Bulloch and Kenny Baker are the latest guests to be confirmed for the screen.play feature of Play Expo 2014. All are best known for their roles in the Star Wars series of films, as Darth Vader, Boba Fett and R2D2 respectively.

Dave and Kenny will be appearing on Sunday 12th October, whilst Jeremy will appear on Saturday 11th. All three will be available for photo-shoots and autographs priced at £15 each.

As well as the personal appearances, Play Expo will feature a celebration of the best Star Wars video games and other surprises.

More guests will be confirmed shortly.

Play Expo takes place on 11/12 October at EventCity, Manchester. Tickets are on sale now and available through the expo website www.playexpo.net.

Dave Prowse, MBE is an English bodybuilder, weightlifter and actor, best known for playing the role of Darth Vader. In Britain, he is also remembered for parts in A clockwork Orange, The Tomorrow People and as having played the Green Cross Code man.

Jeremy Bulloch is an English actor best known for the role of the bounty hunter Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy. He has appeared in numerous British television and film productions, including Doctor Who and Robin of Sherwood.

Kenny Baker is an English actor and musician. He is best known for playing R2-D2 in the Star Wars movies and has also appeared in The Elephant Man, Time Bandits, Willow, Flash Gordon, Amadeus and Jim Henson’s Labyrinth.
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Guest Speaker Charles Cecil

Charles Cecil MBE, the visionary head of Revolution Software who created classic adventure games such as Broken Sword, Lure of the Temptress and Beneath a Steel Sky will be appearing at Play Expo on Saturday 11th October.

Charles will take to the stage to discuss a subject close to his heart – Engaging with your audience. He will also recount his personal history of the adventure game, from the 1981 ZX81 game Inca’s Curse through to 2014′s episodic title Broken Sword: The Serpent’s Curse.

Charles is a superb public speaker and one of the heroes of the British video games industry. In 2006, he was awarded the status of “Development Legend” by Develop. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s 2011 Birthday Honours for services to the video game industry

You can catch the article here
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Stars of Red Dwarf land at Play Expo

News is coming in thick and fast regarding this October's Play Expo. Stars of the hit TV show Red Dwarf are going to be making an appearance. Craig Charles known for the character Lister will be at Play Expo on Saturday and Sunday while Chris Barrie who is popular for his character Rimmer will be appearing on the Saturday only. Both will be available for photo-shoots and autographs priced at £15 each.

You can catch the article here
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Cinemaware to appear at Play Expo

The Norths biggest video game expo is taking place this October in Manchester. The latest bit of news is that Cinemaware are set to appear showcasing all their latest new and exciting games. 

We are delighted to be welcoming the amazing CINEMAWARE to Play Expo this year. Cinemaware are the company behind a whole host of classic Amiga games that are being updated for modern systems.

Following on from the release of Rocket Ranger, Kings of Chicago, and Defender of the Crown, Cinemaware are now hard at work on remastering their wonderful WWI fighter pilot hit WINGS.

As well as displaying Wings, Cinemaware will also being showing a mystery game for the first time in the UK and also taking part in a talk/Q&A where they will discuss the past, present and future of one of the best loved 16 bit brands.

Sven from Cinemaware said…

“Cinemaware is looking forward to joining the Play Expo 2014. We still have a great and supportive British fanbase and we are really excited to meet them all in Manchester! Please visit our booth and meet us for a a chat and personal demonstration of our new and classic games.“

You can catch the article here
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Play Expo Manchester 11th-12th October 2014

The Norths biggest video game expo is to return to Manchester! Play Expo from the 11th to the 12th of October at the  EventCity will be bigger and better than any that came previously. Now there is still a few months until the Expo hits the ground but there has already been a great amount of announcements made that are already getting me giddy for the expo.

First of all we should mention Tickets are on sale and are available from Here, You can currently purchase three different types of ticket at the moment and if you preorder your tickets as apposed to paying on the door you will receive a nice little discount the prices for prebooking are as follows .

Adult (1 day) £14 – Adult (weekend) £23
Child (1 day) £9 – Child (weekend) £14
Family (1 day) £42

If you don't have the spare cash to get your tickets now do not worry as you can book online all the way up until the 10th of October!

If paying online is not your thing then you can just as easily pay on the door on the day and those prices are,

Adult (1 day) £15 – Adult (weekend) £25
Child (1 day) £10 – Child (weekend) £15

Family (1 day) £45

Indie Dev's Welcome

So now that the money thing is out of the way we should get to the big stuff the things that we all go to the Expo for the games. First of is due to the massive success of the Indie section at Play Blackpool The Manchester Expo is expanding their indie section with special Packages available for Indie Dev's to show their latest titles on the main show floor so if you are a indie Dev and are wanting to get your latest creation out there for all us gamers to see then what better place to that! If you are interested then the link to contact Play Expo regarding that is HERE.

The First Special Guest

Now the first big announcement that has already been made is that Mel Croucher will be attending the Expo as a Special Guest. For those of you who may not know who Mel is he is the creative mind behind a lot of great games including, Pimania and Deus Ex Machina as featured on Plays on site Mel announced his appearance at Play in a rather unique way. 

“I’ve agreed to attend Play Expo, the most extensive celebration of video games history ever seen in the UK, to be held in Manchester UK on 11th and 12th October. My status is “special guest”, which translates as “old fart”, and I’ll be giving talks and signing stuff, as well as showing old and new games, blessing children and healing lepers.”

It's All Gone VR At The Expo!

The Second announcement made by Play Expo is that there will be a heavy presence by the Retro Computer Museum at the Expo Showing a large range of retro, rare and obscure systems along with some interesting tournaments to help raise funding for the museum. RCM have also announced that they are bringing something rather special to the Expo, A rather rare and classic piece of gaming history one which if did not exists you would not be seeing things like the Oculus Rift today!  RCM are fetching to the party  two, fully working W Industries Virtual Reality machines that will be system linked, enabling Play Expo visitors to play head-to-head against friends and family! How is that for something special!

Round One Fight!

For the fifth year running now Electronic Dojo will be leading the fighting game tournaments at the Expo with the assistance of Manchester Battle Arena. While it is still to early for Play Expo to announce what games will be present at these tournaments please feel free to leave your fighting game suggestions with the Expo team via This LINK.

Also for more info regarding Electronic Dojo or Manchester Battle Arena then please follow the links in the names.

Better Bring Your Dice

Following on from their hugely popular debut at Play Blackpool Dark Cleo Production  will be bringing the Expo masses and variety of awesome and interesting board and card games which proved super popular at the Blackpool Expo.

Are You A Pin Ball Wizard?

Northern Lights returns for its third year running fetching with them over 100 Pinball Machines for you to enjoy at your leisure over the weekend not to mention what is sure to be some awesome pinball tournaments. 

This Is My Idea Of Heaven!

Retro Games Party will be creating what is the largest public arcade or over twenty years by bringing a huge amount of classic arcade machines to the party which i can not wait for. I do love me some arcade action!

Well it is still early days and there is still much more to come but as you can see Play Expo Manchester is already set to be a huge and amazing Expo for all to enjoy! We will keep you posted on any new announcements as they arrive.

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The Breakout A point and click Indie adventure!

So as we have just announced that we are having a Play Expo Blackpool week were we cover as much of the stuff we saw at the expo over the next week the first thing we are covering well after the traditional shaky cam vid is The Breakout. A point and click adventure targeted at the older gamer who may remember the classics like Money Island from its first time round and are looking for a more challenging point and click adventure that still keeps all those classic mechanics of the old point and click adventure games but with a more modern feel then this game is for you.

The Breakout is a game developed by Pixel Trip Studios and is currently in its last stage of fund raising over at kickstarter and looks to be a promising and great looking game. The visual style of this game is right up my street and as i have mentioned before I am a big fan of High quality  indie studios getting more support and coverage so as part of that check out my vid of the demo then if you like the look of the game why not call over give these guys a quid or two and help a good studio develop a good game I will put the link below here so go check em out!

                                                FIND OUT HOW FAR YOU CAN GET!

So if you liked the look of this game now take into account my nonsense commentary is not in the game so that works in its favor then click kickstarter.

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Replay Arcade comes to Play Blackpool

One of the most popular features at the Play Expo events is always the classic arcade or the ‘Replay Arcade’ as they are often called. Throughout my many years as a Gamer I have spent what must be hundreds of hours and just as many ten pence pieces in arcade cabinets while I was on my yearly holidays to the great British Seaside. So it is really cool to be able to tell you that Replay Events announced that the Replay Arcade will be present and as enjoyable as ever at the Play Blackpool this May.
In a statement on the Website for Play Blackpool the following was said'

"With cabs supplied by arcade specialist RGP (Retro Games Party) we will have an eye popping array of classic and modern cabs, with a number of machines never seen before at events.

We will confirm which machines will be available nearer the time – of course feel free to send over your suggestions to us of what you would like to see. We can’t promise we will be able to bring every cab requested but we’ll do our best to have all your favourites!"


So if there is any Cabinets you would love to see at the Play Blackpool event get your suggestions in as for me I am going to be brushing up on my button mashing skills I will catch you in the Arcade soon!

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REPLAY Expo returns to Blackpool May - 2014!

Yep the Play Expo is back and this time it's at Blackpool! Go and check out some great retro stores, consoles and contests.

Crazy Horse Gaming hit the Expo back in October of 2013 in Manchester and it was a great Expo full of great people, games and events and Crazy Horse Gaming plans on being at Blackpool to check out this awesome event once again!
The Expo really is an amazing place to be if you love gaming and retro, with pinball machines arcades and consoles galore and a great atmosphere, you really do not want to miss this event!

"The UK’s favourite Arcade, Indie & Retro Gaming Expo returns to its spiritual home at the Norbreck Castle Exhibition Centre in Blackpool on 3/4 May 2014 - the early May bank holiday."

"There is an INCREDIBLE offer for those who secure their tickets now: earlybird (adult) tickets are priced at just £10 (TEN POUNDS!) per day or £18 for the weekend (and there are good deals on Family tickets, too). You simply won’t find a better value arcade and video gaming expo ANYWHERE!"

"As capacity at the venue is just 2500 per day – we advise everyone to grab their tickets as soon as possible fromwww.playblackpool.com to avoid disappointment!"

"Please note: this event will be in ADDITION to Play Expo 2014 which will also be returning in the fourth quarter of 2014."

"You now have not one but TWO chances to PLAY in 2014!"

(All Information and Images Courtesy of www.playexpo.net )

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Who says Computers Cannot be works of art?

                                                             

So as some of you will be aware of, Crazy Horse Gaming took a quick trip down to Manchester recently to check out the Play Expo and while I was down there I saw loads of pretty cool stuff. One of the Exhibits at the expo that caught my attention was a Little known Computer called the Amiga Walker. Now many of you out there Especially some of the older generation of Gamers like myself will be very familiar with the Amiga brand of home computers and the Hours of awesome gaming that came with them. Sadly Amiga are not around any more to continue with the awesome line of  computers they  produced back in the 80S/90s. However there is one awesome person who has done his absolute best to keep the legacy of Amiga alive and Kicking and he has done a great job. Allow me to introduce you to Justin, Justin has made it a personnel goal to painstakingly build a working model of the last ever hpme computer Amiga planned on releasing which never made it to the general public the Amiga Walker,  Not only has he succeeded in his goal of  building what I consider to be a home computer that is a work of art but Justin is now on a mission to ensure as many Amiga enthusiasts get to see this true piece of Home computer and gaming history by heading to expos up and down the UK displaying the Amiga. Now enough rambling from me I will let Justin tell you more about Amiga and the Amiga Walker as he is the true expert here and can explain it to you guys far better than I ever could so Justin it is over to you.

"The Commodore Amiga was a late 1980s/early 1990s home computer. It featured 16 million on-screen colours; stereo sound and full multi-tasking. This was at a time when the PC was monochrome and the “sound system” was a series of beeps.

The Amiga proved to be a very popular machine throughout Europe, particularly in the UK. The original machine was the A1000 which was followed by the “home version” being the A500. The other machines released over the years were A2000; A3000; A1200; A4000 and the CD32. (There were other models including CDTV but the above were the internationally recognised “Amigas”.

"In the early 1990s Commodore realised, too late, that the A1200 had become too slow and so sought a more powerful user-friendly successor.

The planned successor, the Amiga walker was a prototype machine which was released in late 1995 early 1996 and was to feature the AAA chip set (64 bit; larger sprites; a chunky graphics mode – plus much, much more) and O3O Motorola processor.

Commodore/Escom asked the talented designer Daniel Gilgen to come up with some initial case designs. The design finally approved initially received a very poor public reception, being likened to Darth Vader’s helmet, a vacuum cleaner, or Dr Who’s K9."

"The case design was revolutionary and a few years ahead of its time (think of the I-Mac that was released a few years later to popular acclaim).

The Walker case was designed with the option for future upgrades. There was a tower system designed, which the Walker would sit upon thus giving access to a wide range of add-on cards.

Unfortunately Escom/Commodore went bankrupt before the Walker went on general release.

It is generally believed that there are three Walker cases in existence - two are in private collections and one in the public domain. As I thought that it was a shame that no-one would ever get the chance to see or use one of these machines....... I decided there needed to be a fourth.........

So I embarked on 'Project Amiga Walker'.

The Project took approximately seven months and was designed using the original specifications. The curvature of the case proved very difficult to replicate. It was decided to use aluminium as it is strong and quite easy to work with.

The complicated feet and front and rear panels were made on a CNC machine (with many thanks to Brian Ferguson).

The upper parts of the case were manufactured from 1mm aluminium sheeting and welded together then dressed back by hand (with thanks to Jerry Roe).

The final preparation of the case was carried out by an automotive body-shop as black shows every defect."

Early stages of the Amiga Walkers creation.

"The machine is powered by an Intel dual core E6600 on a Fujitsu motherboard with a custom PSU.

The system boots using the original Amiga Walker Kickstart ROM and the original hard drive images and to finally see an Amiga Walker booting as originally intended was a great feeling."

Shots of the internal make up of the walker and the boot up screen.

"When I later discovered that the Walker design rights are still owned by Klaus Schwagerl I realised I needed to contact him to obtain his permission in respect of the intellectual property rights.

After lengthy email correspondence and upon providing detailed specifications and photographs Klaus very kindly allowed this Amiga Walker to be officially licensed for private use and shows only.

At the Retro Replay 2013 Manchester Event I finally unveiled the Amiga Walker. It received an excellent reception generating a great deal of interest. To see the smiles on the faces of Amiga enthusiasts made the seven months of hard work seem all worthwhile."

   

More shots of the unit powered up and running and final shots of the finished unit.

  

"This licensed Amiga Walker will now go to as many shows as I am able to attend in order that as many enthusiasts as possible get to experience the Amiga Walker in the flesh. If you would like to learn more about this project and follow the original build please go to:

www.amibay.com"

So folks that is the Amiga Walker in my opinion one of the coolest looking Home Computer I have ever seen and Justin has done a great job building this working piece of gaming and computing history.

I would like to give a big Thank you to Justin and his wife for taking the time out to spend with Crazy Horse Gaming and for taking the time to send all the photos and Info regarding the creation of the Amiga Walker so Thank you so much to the both of you .

Please Visit www.amibay.com and show your support for the Amiga Walker and its continuous journey from expo to expo its a great project and a real pleasure to see out there keep up the good work guys.  

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Manchester Play Expo 2013

The Play Expo was recently held in manchester and Crazy Horse Gaming paid the Expo a little visit to see what all the fuss was about and to pick up a bargin or two of course. Check out what Mike saw and bought right here with this shaky cam master piece.

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Crazy Horse Gaming is Heading to the Play Expo!

Crazy Horse Gaming will be making the trip to Manchester on the 12th of October to check out the Play Expo.The Play Expo is a video gaming expo that promises the UK most diverse gaming expo with Arcade Machines retro displays as well as previews of new games that are not out yet.

"The UK’s most diverse video gaming expo is back! Play Expo returns to EventCity, Manchester on 12-13 October 2013 after a hugely successful debut last year. Play Expo will expand considerably on last year’s show and will once again feature four distinct events:re.play (retro systems and arcade/pinball machines) now.play (previews of the latest games and hardware) pro.play (casual and competitive tournaments) cos.play (costume competitions and dealers/traders)."

Crazy Horse will be there and we will be reporting back on what we find.

For more info on the Play Expo and Tickets go to; http://www.playexpo.net/

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