INSiGHT: MCM Scotland - Gaming

MCM Comicon is an event that takes place across the UK, with each iteration featuring its own mix of events. With a multitude of stalls and themes including a Cosplay stage, famous visitors, YouTubers, and independent comic authors, it caters to the whole "geek" spectrum. Cubed3 had the privilege of attending the Glasgow hosted MCM, and is excited to share the experience. 

LillySwifty and Sandy at MCM Scotland

MCM Scotland is always a blast; each year offering a new experience for fans from all fandoms... well, most fandoms. This year the organisers went all out and brought in some fantastic guests, and provided a great platform for budding and successful content creators. Comicon is hosted all over the UK over the course of the year and usually runs from Friday through Sunday. 

Upon arriving at the SEC and having a bit of a run around about where to get passes, which hadn't been printed due to a machine malfunction, it was time to make a beeline to one of MCM's staple visitors - Mr Tomska of YouTube fame, the creator of the ASDF, movies and many other popular sketches. After a short wait and some lending of a sharpie for signatures, the turn came and we had the chance to ask him a couple of videogame related questions. This mini, improvised interview was fun to conduct and Tomska is always "vewy nice" to chat with. When asked about his current favourite game he had these comments: 

"My current favourite game is definitely Red Dead Redemption 2, and though I have completed it 100% I am holding out for a single-player expansion to sink more time into it." when asked the follow-up question of how long did it take to 100% the game he replied "About 9 months." 

...Which is a quite respectable time frame considering his content outputs including the release of their new board game on the horizon. 

Tomska (Centre), LillySwifty (Left) and Sandy (Right)

After this, it was time to explore the main hall. With a quick stop at the 'All the Anime' stall to pick up some of the last stock of many series they released such as Full Metal Alchemist and Erased, which are both worth a watch for any anime fan. Many of these stalls from big publishers will sell the articles at a discount at MCM, so it's well worth combing their wares! Even Sony made an appearance with PS VR on display. Using timeslots, visitors were allowed to pick from a list of games including the new Ironman VR, and others such as BeatSaber and Truth and Blood. Deciding to roll with Truth and Blood it was time to explore further into the hall while waiting for that time. 

This year MCM featured a dedicated cosplay stage, which was very much to my colleague's liking, as well as running a few workshops. These workshops were mostly about building cosplay objects, but they did also run one about becoming a videogame environmental artist. This workshop was focussed on what to generate to make a good portfolio as well as the expectations of the industry on artists who design environments. Unfortunately, these workshops had limited spaces with a system that only confirms spaces but doesn't let visitors know, there isn't space on the workshop which led to a little confusion. 

It was incredibly disappointing to find that the gaming scene was almost non-existent in Glasgow this year, with no publishers showing their upcoming titles, and, though advertised on the website, no sideQuest game corner to be found. The main gaming info was provided purely through guests and PlayStation's VR offering. That said, they played host to a spectacular cast of stars this year including Nolan North, Troy Baker and Charles Martinet all of whom were selling signatures and photo opportunities, which were disappointingly expensive with the lowest prices being around £25 and the highest being £55. Unfortunately for this reviewer, it means there was no chance to hear a personalised 'Wahoo' from Mr Mario himself. The main stage also ran an event with Troy and Nolan about video games which unfortunately conflicted with the PSVR time slot but was most likely incredible to experience! 

Upon arriving at the PSVR stand they had just had a person leave from the Blood and Truth setup, meaning there was not much waiting around to take a shot at it. While PSVR is quite old at this point it was great to try it out at this event further cementing personal feelings about buying it, namely that as soon as there is money available it will be thrown at a cashier in return for a PSVR headset. Blood and Truth is a great experience with some next-level responsiveness. It expands on the premise of the London Heist section of PS VR Worlds, and is so interactive it's scary! It has loads of accessibility features which were turned off for the duration of play in this instance, and aside from slight dizziness when moving the first few times, the experience was overwhelmingly positive. 

Aiming via Blood and Truth's iron sights mechanic.

The final thing that was scheduled to happen was an interview with James MacKenzie of childrens' game show Raven, fame. However, communications fell apart and no confirmation of the interview was received at the convention itself meaning that until his PR contacted us we had no idea the interview was scheduled and so sadly it didn't happen. 

FINAL COMMENTS 

Though there were a few hiccups with the press pass organisation and interviews, it was a great experience with some fantastic opportunities to meet idols, spend at least two months of wages, and generally have a blast. MCM is a staple Con across all of the UK, and attracts droves of visitors each year. An essential event for people of all cultures. 

MCM Comicon could be near you next! Take a look at their schedule by following this link.