ButtonBandits.com

[singlepic=110,320,240,,right]Yep it’s another rumour coming out of Play.com Live! This time from the PDC darts booth/cafe corner where the keen eyed ButtonBandits.com crew spotted a curved Wii sensor bar. Did they make up there own custom sensor bar for the display even though it wasn’t on a curved tv? Or is it the first sighting of an alternate design? Click the image for the full size view and take a look. What do you think dear readers?

Ubisoft, in my opinion, had one of the most impressive presences at the show. They really pushed the boat out on this one. They’re main area on the main floor consisted of a mix of Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 and Soul Caliber 4. The next floor up had Haze pods and then, if you go upstairs again, you see one of my favourite parts of the show, the Farcry 2 presentation area.

The Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 area consisted of not only several pods all with playable versions of the game but mini-casino too with a roulette table. Also there was a mini stage with huge glittery dice where scantily clad Vegas show girls would dance every so often. We watched them 6 times. The game itself is also shaping up to look really special. Something to definitely keep on eye on over the coming weeks.

Also intertwined in that area was about a million Soul Caliber 4 pods. This was certainly not a bad thing as it meant everyone could have a go and you wouldn’t have to wait too long either. The game is playing superb. It’s still Soul Caliber but it’s the finest version and most stunning that I’ve ever played. I managed to get a couple of game with the legend that is John Watson and, well, what can I say? I totally thrashed him. The prize for winning the Soul Caliber 4 tournament (a Dodge Nitro SUV worth £20,000) was on display all weekend too. They left the hazard lights on though so I imagine the battery’s flat by now but congratulations to the winners all the same. Click continue reading for more

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In terms of an actual booth, I was quite disappointed with Square Enix. To put it simply, there was no booth. There was a wall with a few screens in it showing trailers and some seats. That was it.

I have the sneaky suspicion though, that the handheld Square-Enix games such as FF:XII Revenant Wings and FF:VII Crisis Core were playable at other booths. If any reader has more information please leave a comment

We’d almost think Oxygen Games had drawn the short straw when we saw they were tucked away right at the back, however, it was right next to the bar… And probably quite appropriately too seeing as they were showcasing PDC Darts. They had 3 normal pods set up for each different version and then a replica darts area for the Wii.

Me and Mademan decided to have a game on the Wii version and the controls were a bit fiddly to say the least. First you had to hold the Wii-mote on its side and position your arm as if you were going to throw a dart. Fair enough. Then you had to aim your on-screen cursor where you wanted to throw i.e. treble 20. Right. Then you hold A flick your wrist back and throw as if you were throwing a dart (obviously don’t let go of the Wii-mote) and let go of A at the very last second. We made a bit of a fool of ourselves in front of the booth babes a couple of times but once we got used to it, it was fine. There were, however, quite a lot of people who were struggling with the control mechanism.

The presentation of the game though is top notch with everything looking near identical to television coverage of the game.

The Codemasters booth was the first thing we saw upon entering the actual event. They had six X-Box 360 pods all showcasing a playable version of Race Driver: Grid. We managed to play a drift race mode and a normal race mode and they both looked extremely pretty. Opposite the pods was a huge screen with the trailer for the game.

Codemasters only brought one game but it looks like they put a lot of effort behind it. In my opinion, bringing one good game is better than bringing lots of mediocre titles. Race Driver: Grid was not something I’d heard of however it proved not only to be a slick, polished racer but tremendous fun and very re-playable.

It wasn’t all fun and games at Play.com Live (well 95% of it was). The red ring of death reared it’s ugly head in the over 18’s only area. To be fair it was hotter than the sun in there and all the Xbox 360’s had been encased in plastic bubbles to stop them being “borrowed” by people, so they had little airflow to keep cool. We got a quick video of it before it was whisked away to the emergency room.

Rollup! Rollup! it’s time for the Play.com live image gallery. Take a look at the goings on over at the stage and the show floor.

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There were fun times to be had at the Sega booth. With the dreamcast.com incident firmly in the past and talk of Shenmue 3 and Dreamcast 2 in the air, the only thing spoiling the area was Mario who decided to play his best of chums act with Sonic again, both posing for photos with show goers together. Sadly it’s seems they are now truly best of friends as despite the encouragement of the crowd, sonic refused to kick Mario out of the Sega booth. Elsewhere Sega had on show a number of titles  with Sega Superstars Tennis and Football Manager Live drawing the biggest crowds. The best way of describing Superstar Tennis is that it basically plays like Mario Tennis but with Sega characters, so clearly the superior game and a lot of fun. Take a listen to our podcast for a full preview of football manager Live, where you can also here Sega confirm that Dreamcast 2 will launch at “about the same time as Shenmue 3″.

My first ever ‘games expo’, and it hopefully won’t be the last…

 It was all over almost as soon as it began, which is standard for any fantastic event, yet Play.com Live 2008 was well worth the cramp, sweat and beers of the hectic weekend. Being the first show of it’s kind in the U.K for a number of years, it was never going to be perfect, yet all niggles were put firmly to one side as the games, atmosphere, celebs, bands, and the majestic Wembley Stadium  made for one of the most memorable weekends of my gaming life… Click continue reading for more.

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A short video montage we have had put together of the show courtesy of body in the box productions.