Gamestart 2015: The report
Fans meet Gravity Rush Producer at one of many such session at Gamestart.
Gamestart 2015 in its 2nd year happened over the weekends at Suntec Convention Hall 401 and 402, The event drew a total of 17,000 visitors according to the official numbers. For the 1st time the event was held for 3 day instead of 2, with Friday being the being the Business Conference and VIP Day.
"The atmosphere was really great at the show this year. I think the crowd appreciated the fact that the show was a lot bigger, with more room to move around, and of course more games, demo booths, merchandise and activities both on the stage and off.” - Elicia Lee ( GameStart organiser)
This year inaugural GameStart conference was made possible with support by WDA. The conference covered wide-ranging topics which are relavant to game development such as nurturing talent, access to government support, bringing the game to market and protecting intellectual property. Industry insiders who were present included:
- Hugues Ricour from Ubisoft
- Albert Lim from Games Solution Centre
- Mike Ross from Twitch
- Mark Julio from Mad Catz
- Louis Vigil from Splitmedia Labs
Queue for the Public day reported to have started as early as 10.15pm on Friday night. First 500 of the ticket holders to enter the halls were entitled to random loot bags with goodies such as Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E TE Keyboards, Armaggeddon Avatar Pro 9 Headsets, console and PC games.
The Star Wars Battle Pod
Sony playstation VR booth
Sony VR and Starwars Star Wars: Battle Pod which are here in Singapore for the very first time where the crowd favourites. Queue for the Star Wars Battle pod were never ending and Pre-registration slots for the Sony Playstation VR were snapped up as soon as the doors open. The Bandai booth, Street Fighter 5 and Witching Hour’s Masquerada demo booths also saw a steady stream of enthusiastic gamers.
Hey look! It's the BB-8!
“The Battle Pod was brought in on a whim, and to be honest, we didn't know what the response
would be like. Then we had folks with lightsabers drop by and Star Wars fans who re-queued to have their experience recorded. But it wasn't until we had a full size BB-8 and several members of the 501st descend upon our booth on Sunday, that we realised that in some way, every attendee at GameStart came together to help celebrate a love for video games and pop culture. We just happened to be a part of something bigger.” - Yonk, Founder of Geek Culture, who were responsible for bringing in the popular arcade machine
Tom Clancy’s RainbowSix Seige showmatches
Tomoaki Ayano dressed up as Chun Li during the presentation
The stage saw large crowd flocking to it during Hearthstone and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow
Six Seige showmatches, as well as highly entertaining sessions with the producers of Just Cause 3,
Gundam and Gravity Rush. Capcom’s Yoshinori Ono and Tomoaki Ayano, who was dressed as Street Fighter character Chunli, drew the largest audience, and some lucky people walked away with PS4s and other prizes.
Gentle Love on stage
Performing together for the first time in Singapore, established musicians Norihiko Hibino, best
known for ‘Snake Eater’, Metal Gear Solid 3’s main theme, and AYAKI, together know as Gentle Love, treated the crowd to their innovative arrangements of popular video game music on saxophone and piano.
Capcom Pro Tour Asia Finals
eSports played a more significant role in this year’s event, a reflection of its status as a fast-growing
industry. The SEA Starcraft 2 Legacy of the Void Beta Anniversary Tournament Grand Finals saw
Blysk from Singapore beat EnDerr from the Philippines in a thrilling finale, and on Sunday, Korean
Street Fighter player Poongko emerged victorious at the Capcom Pro Tour Asia Finals, with a large
and enthusiastic crowd cheering him on. The Xtr3me3 Champions Cup 2015 was by the far the biggest FIFA tournament in South East Asia to date.
“The turnout was very strong and it was good to see everyone working hard and determined to
win the grand prize of $2000. FIFA is a soccer game, an international
sport watched by people all around the world, and we want to show the world that virtual soccer is
as fun and as tough as reality soccer." -Phirkhan aka Xtr3me3
Many waiting to try their hands at games such as Just Cause 3 and Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm.
"GameStart is a success once again and we are really satisfied and pleased with the result the show
has achieved. Alone we can achieve so little, together we can do so much. We hope to see more
publishers participating next year and look forward to be here again," -Rainel Tan, General
Manager at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Asia.
Merchandise from Blizzard, fan art from the Liongeeks booth, t-shirts from Xmashed Gear and socks
specially designed for the show by Freshly Pressed were snapped up and visitors watched live
sculpting demos of Street Fighter Character Ryu and GameStart mascot Alyse at the Kinetiquettes
booth.
Blizzard booth's giveaway session
Throughout the weekend, event visitors had plenty of opportunities to win prizes, with the individual
exhibitors conducting competitions and giveaways throughout the day, such as Blizzard raining items down from their two-storey booth. All ticket holders are also entitled to enter the GameStart lucky
draw with fantastic prizes from Obutto, Razer, Armageddon, Secret Lab and more.
One of the event’s most ardent supporters – Darren - celebrated his birthday at the event on Sunday
with his parents and friends, and was presented with gifts from the event organisers and Sony
PlayStation.
“We are nothing without our supporters. GameStart is all about the
community and we’re thrilled that Darren decided to celebrate his special day with the team and
everyone else who was there.”- Elicia Lee ( GameStart organiser)
Tuna cosplaying as Yuyuko from the game Touhou.
3 Cosplayers eventually emerged as the indivual judges favourite.
Event visitors enjoyed a visual treat as the cosplayers were out in full force to vie for a coveted spot
on the cosplay runway showcase. The three guest cosplayers Johnny (Junker’s Cosplay) from the US, Tuna from Korea and Karin (Acanthastar Cosplay) also from the US, spent Saturday combing the
show floor to select the best dressed to return the following day to participate in the showcase. Each
judge then picked their favourite from the 18 shortlisted participants on the final day. The three guests also had meet-and-greet sessions with their fans at the Neo Tokyo Project booth.
“We are truly grateful to all our exhibitors, partners and sponsors for their support, and especially to everyone who attended GameStart 2015. With the feedback that we have gathered from
you, we promise to make next year’s event even better!” - Elicia Lee ( GameStart organiser)
Head on over to after the break for a recroding of Rock Band 4 showcase and a gallery with more pictures taken at the event!
