Top 5 Stories From ESGS 2018
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Another year full of e-sports and video games is almost done. The Electronic Sports and Games Summit is probably the most important event in the Philippines that looks into the local e-sports scene and the video games industry in general. And this year’s ESGS isn’t short of exceptionally sound attractions and happenings that every local fan can experience when checking out the event. Here are the stories that stood out for this year.
Square Enix visits ESGS for the first time
This year’s Electronic Sports and Games Summit got a bit more special thanks to Square Enix! LEFT ALIVE Producer Shinji Hashimoto and Director Toshifumi Nabeshima went to the Philippines and dropped by the SMX Convention Center to present their upcoming action game to ESGS con-goers. They showed us some sweet new Left Alive footage as well as give us a lowdown on the game’s features. It’s a bit sad that they’re only present for one day, but during the Media Presson Q&A, they mentioned that they are happy to come back next year if they have new games and projects to show to their fans!
Kojima Productions and the Insurgence of .. Merch
The long-anticipated arrival of Kojima Productions in ESGS came in the form of, yep you guessed it, merchandise. From shirts, toys, high-end phone cases, and even tape, Kojima Productions gives fans a taste of Death Stranding through the power of commerce! And also as expected, this year’s ESGS gives con-goers a more refined and focused merch area filled with video-game related goodies such as stickers, art prints, accessories, toys, etc. Heck, even ESGS has their own sticker set and shirt for sale in their very own merch booth!
Datablitz/Capcom booth brought in the big guns in the form of Devil May Cry 5 and Resident Evil 2 Remake
It’s been a staple for ESGS that every year they have international AAA developers flew in and showcase their new games for us fans to check out. This year, we got Devil May Cry 5 and Resident Evil 2 Remake thanks to the folks from Capcom and Datablitz. We spend a chunk of time every morning to try out the game as much as we can. Feel free to check out what we think about DMC 5 and RE 2 based on the playable demo.
Predator booth’s awesome VR presence
The Acer Predator VR booth is one of the prettiest this year. Armed with 3 Kat Walk VR setups, a showcase of their Predator laptop lineup, their own merch area, and another HTC Vive VR area setup featuring 4 stations found on their booth’s second level (!?!). Con-goers can play a couple of VR games including the popular VR rhythm Beat Saber. We get to try out a few games including a horde-mode survival horror game, a John Wick-themed shooter, and lastly the aforementioned Beat Saber.
Board Games and Indie Games were also presented greatly
As anyone who reads our stuff online, it is known that we always get giddy whenever we see indie games during game conventions. This year’s ESGS has a lot of top-notch indie games from our dear local developers. Headlining that list is of course Secret 6’s Project Xandata, showing us a well-polished build of their fps multiplayer game that genuinely makes us want to fall in-line in their booth again for another 5v5 skirmish. It is that good.
Other than Indie games, Tabletop gaming has solid presence this year. Ludus offers con-goers a fairly big area full of tables and chairs for tabletop games. During the weekend, anyone can just walk in the area and check out demos and freely play a couple of featured games such as the new Combatron card game, as well as mingle with fellow hobbyists and communities who showed up and share their passion of their respective game. We’ve seen Warhammer 40k skirmishes, Kill Team games, Magic The Gathering booster drafts, and some good old-fashioned Dungeons and Dragons being played in the Ludus tabletop gaming area.
That’s a Wrap!
This year’s Electronic Sports & Games Summit has its fair share of things that are worth checking out. Every corner of the venue has something for every con-goer; be it merch, an artist alley section, games with prizes, and of course video games. And that’s just touching on the video games part of the show. During the whole weekend we were all also treated by exciting tournaments and grand finals from several games from different genres and esports leagues. Thinking about what we can expect from Gariath Concepts and ESGS in the future, we can only see them aim to be bigger.
Miggy, Migs, and Carlos gather after running around like crazy people for three days at ESGS 2018 to highlight the notable products featured this year.