There has been a buzz among the gaming community in Ireland over the past few months with one event being hyped above all else, GamerCon. This is the first year GamerCon will be taking place and it promises to be Ireland largest ever gaming convention.
GamerCon takes place in the Convention Center Dublin which is one of the countries most prestigious event venues. The event will be happening on the 18th and 19th of March which also happens to be St. Patrick’s Day weekend, meaning a lot more people and gamers alike around town. Initial numbers where expected to be around 20,000 attendees across both days, but with Saturday completely sold out and Sunday selling out fast, it looks like it will be closer to 30,000. GamerCon Founder and CEO Ferdi Roberts along with his team have been working tirelessly to make the event not just the biggest gaming convention Ireland has ever seen, but the best as well.
The event boasts a number of different sections and zones to appeal to all kinds of gamers. First up is The Retro Zone which will have various old consoles,PC’s and arcade cabinets running classic games from the past such as Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros and more. It will be a trip down memory lane for a lot of gamers and it will also introduce some old games to new people, helping to create some nostalgia for a new generation.
Next up is the Gamer Zone, this will have all the latest consoles current generation consoles playing all of today’s most popular video games. You can take it easy and play for fun or try your hand at some of the gaming tournaments that will also be taking place over the weekend.
Now onto the future of gaming technology, The VR Zone. Virtual reality has been taking the video game industry by storm recently as it allows gamers to immerse themselves even deeper into virtual worlds they love to explore.
Then there is the gaming phenomenon known as E-Sports, something a lot of people never thought would come to fruition. If you had told me as a kid that I could play video games for a living and compete in tournaments all over the world, I would have thought it was nothing more than a dream. This is a reality for a lot of talented gamers nowadays and e-sports is growing in popularity each year.
Lastly, something I haven’t heard discussed a lot of when talking about GamerCon but something I hope to see, the indie developers.
GamerCon will have a lot more on show than just its namesake, there will be live music from Irish band All Tvvins, €1,000 to be won in Cosplay competitions, a huge Merch Market where you can buy some of the goodies on show, some of the world biggest YouTubers like Little Carly, Little Kelly, AIi-A and so much more.
As curator of The Retro Zone at GamerCon I have to say I am really looking forward to seeing it come to life, we have chosen some of the all time retro greats to have on show at the event so I am sure all retro fans will enjoy it. As well as the retro zone I am looking forward to trying out some VR for the first time as it is on the completely opposite scale to my usual 8-bit outings. There is so much gaming goodness under one roof that I know I will be kept busy trying to experience it all over the 2 days and I am really looking forward to it. This is just the first in what will undoubtedly be a long line of GamerCon events to take place in the country and elsewhere. So if you are making the journey to GamerCon, I hope to see you there, have fun and enjoy the games!
Thanks for reading,
Naoise.