Manchester Play Expo - October

[Bensonrad]

Is anyone here going to this at all? anyone from the Sussex or London area. I rather hoping to find someone that take a parcel for me (Bezel & Marquee) and then I can collect from them when back down Sussex/London way.

Cheers
Ben

 

[Alpha1]

Not me

 

[RGP]

I'm kinda curious what everyone seems to have against this show? Maybe I've misread it but Ben starts out almost scoffing at it like it's been secretly pre dismissed.

I know for the guys down south it becomes a very long and probably quite expensive trip.

If anyone does need any goods handling through the show I can hold things in our area so long as they're properly marked but they must be collected by the end of the show - I still have stuff from NERG 2015 for people.

 

[Bensonrad]

I am not scoffing, just asking a question if anyone was going, as could not find a thread on the event, haha.

I can't say I know anything about the show at all. I'd love to attend some of these shows, but October is a killer month for me with the Bonfire Society scene in full flow down here in Sussex, I'll be parading about as a Pirate/Smuggler!

The person I am buying off is going to the show which is my main reason for asking, maybe if you fancy being super cool and I'll love you for ever is taking the bits off him and giving them to a Sussex bound person at the UKVac event later that month on the 29th, that would make me super happy (its a bezel and marquee)

Cheers
Ben

 

[Alpha1]

I'm kinda curious what everyone seems to have against this show? Maybe I've misread it but Ben starts out almost scoffing at it like it's been secretly pre dismissed.

I know for the guys down south it becomes a very long and probably quite expensive trip.

If anyone does need any goods handling through the show I can hold things in our area so long as they're properly marked but they must be collected by the end of the show - I still have stuff from NERG 2015 for people.

I've been twice, I only really went to play the arcades and pins but mostly to catch up with everyone. As I have less free time at the moment that means I don't have that luxury right now.

The distance + hotel costs also counted towards it, but mostly just no free time.

 

[RGP]

Ben, it's no trouble at all mate, I'm happy to hold any stuff for anyone for collection.

I don't even mind taking things in to ship on so long as I know what's happening.

There's something else happening that means I'll need to be really space conservative on the trucks this time.

From my point of view I'll be taking over 120 cabs which will hopefully be about 105 unique titles - doubling up one or two that are super popular and also that fingers crossed everything goes right a couple of the big deluxe moving games as well as my OutRun.

I believe the pin guys are taking about the same or a few more.

The arcade is a huge draw to the event - I wish we could do one down south it's just so costly per sqft and power costs are ridiculous - when you consider we gobble up at least 2 X 63Amp 3-phase supplies.

Hope to see a few of you there.

 

[aeroflott]

Play Manchester has grown into quite the commercial beast these days. For me it feels less "underground" than it did in previous years from an arcade perspective. I know RGP and the team put a ton of work into this this each year (and good on you for securing the contract and the hard work you put in - long may it continue), but I'd like to see more talks, competitions/tournaments to cater for the arcade enthusiast. Last time I went it felt like the arcade machines were there more for the nostalgic braying masses, rather than catering for the enthusiast.

Compare this to the Cosplay scene for example, by its very nature, it still manages to cater for the Cosplay enthusiast, rather than for anyone else just turning up on the day. Sure everyone else looks in and sees what's going on, but for them I would imagine Play Manchester feels more like their annual "big day out", simply by the way it's set up and executed. I don't get the urge to go to Manchester to play the machines - they are just there alongside the consoles and corporate stands for everyone to have a go on. This is great of course - allowing anyone and everyone the opportunity to play real classic arcade machines can only be a good thing. But as someone who collects and restores these things, it doesn't mean very much to me.

At the moment I'm in the mindset of giving it a miss this year as it just doesn't turn me on as it used to - the magic I felt at my first Play Manchester just isn't there any more, which I suppose was inevitable as it has become bigger and more successful as the years go on.

But I suppose it depends on the brief that RGP has (perhaps you can chime in James), if it's "Arcade games are always popular, bring 150 machines please, so the punters can play them" rather than "get UKVAC/Jamma+ to organise a tournament, do some talks about restoring cabs, warehouse raids, tech repairs, how to buy a cab etc etc, and get some interesting dudes along" then it is what it is.

Again - no criticism of RGP or anyone else involved intended here - and it's possible I've missed some of what does actually happen Arcade-related at Play Manchester (I only went on the Saturday last time) - this is just my opinion on what has become a much larger event with a heavy corporate presence. It doesn't feel the same as it did in previous years.

aeroflott2016-09-12 14:13:49

 

[LAZORIAN]

I'm going with my housemate, really looking forward to it, always have a good time at Play Expo.
I don't mind its become a big event that's part of the draw. There is so much to do there I never manage to fit it all in but I'll be concentrating on the rarer pinballs and consoles this time.

I'm also going to the 'Vac meet so I get the best of both worlds as the arcade club event will be more intimate and all about the games and meeting people. I'm very lucky to be able to do both this year

 

[Smraedis]

I'll be going, but I'm already in the local area.

Despite the changes of the event over the years, I've always enjoyed it every year. I can understand the move with focusing on cosplay, as they can have stalls selling cosplay related things, but with games you just get traders, and nothing arcade related.

The only real negative I have is that less people that I know seem to go now, so it is less fun that way.

 

[bomjac]

Victim of their own success is on of the issues.

Hotel rooms around the event are now at premium prices ( when they first went to Manchester if you were quick you could snag 3 nights for the current cost of 1 night).

The event is crazy busy, especially on the Saturday which takes away a lot of the fun in meeting up and there are now several options available in addition to Play - Arcade Club, Revival, NERG to mention the main ones.

 

[Pacman83]

I agree with TT.
Give you an example. Freeplay Florida.
They cater for everyone. There's even Cosplay guys milling about in every event and there's pins, consoles and, most importantly for some, interesting talks. They're very popular over there, of course, Walter Day and Bill Mitchell are usually in attendance, but there's always some streaming going on, be it the Gorf challenge or a Super Mario Bros WR attempt. The links are advertised on their website too.

The Florida event is probably an eighth of the size of Manchester, but it is really great fun and extremely well organised. It's not that there's a massive interest and input in arcade for example, each genre has its own section and audience, with equal opportunities for participants and organisers.

Come to think of it, I've had my back to everyone for about 5 years. What do I know

Pacman832016-09-12 16:59:51

 

[DanP]

I'm kinda curious what everyone seems to have against this show? Maybe I've misread it but Ben starts out almost scoffing at it like it's been secretly pre dismissed.

I know for the guys down south it becomes a very long and probably quite expensive trip.

If anyone does need any goods handling through the show I can hold things in our area so long as they're properly marked but they must be collected by the end of the show - I still have stuff from NERG 2015 for people.

It's time for me too. Just can't get to meets like I could 10 years ago. Can make 1 or 2 a year tops and any that far north require a night away which is a military exercise to prepare and get past change control at home...

 

[RGP]

I've never made a secret that I love the event but not much of a fan of the venue itself which I think is half of it.

Just due to the sheer size of it, its hard to make an arcade that feel like an arcade.

We would love to do some streaming stuff but the cost of internet per day there is apparently quite high so to get Replay to swallow that cost we'd have to demonstrate that it could add definite value to the event. 3G is just a complete waste of time in there on the Saturday and Sunday so much so we have to go to the Trafford Centre and use their wifi to get schematics. I've since crawled most of antelope and arcarc to a local hard drive so that side isn't the biggest deal at least but hard to keep up with social media etc.

Last year we had a few arcade related talks, one of which was Warren Davies of Q-Bert fame, I have a great pic of him and me next to my cab and he generously signed it. Its a game that I've loved for ages and I was a little star-struck to meet the man I must say.

There is so much i'd like to do with our area but as TT says, to a certain extent we have constraints - nothing sinister just realistic parameters to work within.

 

[vib_ribbon]

i've never been but i'm always quick to chime in.

was it andy palmer who was looking to recreate the feel of a fun fair trailer at arcade club? would it be remotely possible cost wise/ logistics wise/ health and safety wise to construct some temporary walls + ceiling so the punter feels like they are walking into an enclosed area that has more of a feel of an arcade (or several arcades) and not in an open hangar?

 

[RGP]

i've never been but i'm always quick to chime in.

was it andy palmer who was looking to recreate the feel of a fun fair trailer at arcade club? would it be remotely possible cost wise/ logistics wise/ health and safety wise to construct some temporary walls + ceiling so the punter feels like they are walking into an enclosed area that has more of a feel of an arcade (or several arcades) and not in an open hangar?

Nope, it was me via Facebook and it wasn't for Arcade Club and it was with exactly this in mind.

However, the cost of buying a trailer, even second or third user and the logistics in transporting it outweigh my position at this time - by a massive factor.

I was thinking of pre-loading the machines roughly into place in something like this such that setup time would be reduced massively as we'd have most of the cabling done and only need to move the cabs to the wings as it were.

 

[AnDyC]

Ben I am going to the arcade club meet
In Bury if you can get it there I can bring it back for you

 

[vib_ribbon]

Nope, it was me via Facebook and it wasn't for Arcade Club and it was with exactly this in mind.

However, the cost of buying a trailer, even second or third user and the logistics in transporting it outweigh my position at this time - by a massive factor.

I was thinking of pre-loading the machines roughly into place in something like this such that setup time would be reduced massively as we'd have most of the cabling done and only need to move the cabs to the wings as it were.

it would have been a great idea even though one of those trailers would only hold a fraction of the cabs that you generously supply to these expos. would the alternative of temporary walling etc also be out of the price range?

 

[RGP]

We can get "walling" fairly easily, there's a provider brings truck loads of those beige boards that you can lock together to make a room or section an area off etc.

Its the covering we've always been interested in.

Take a cab like a Galaxian which has a laid back screen - the overhead lights give a massive amount of glare on them, my eyesight isn't great but i've seen plenty of people trying to dodge the light to see the bullets or the enemy ships.

This isn't just at Manchester, we have this problem all over.

We talked about putting a huge truss with cover up over it, i've worked on a few shows in the AV industry where they demonstrate new intelligent lighting and we build a 3m or higher truss with a load of velcro and tied cloths covering it to make a mini nightclub in a square tent - fill it full of fog/haze and let the cool drool-tastic lights go.

If we tick all the health & safety boxes and risk assessments for working with free standing load bearing structures we can do it.

I'm building up to doing this.

I was looking to acquire about 4 of these funfair trucks and do all the rigging etc off-site in our own time and then just bring them in, collapse the wheel-carriage and open the sides up.

We get 3 days to get in there and normally about 18 hours to pack and get out so anything I can do to make this easier is what I want to do.

Its a mahoooosive undertaking to get 120 cabs in there, checked after transit, powered up, balance the power usage, test and repair anything that's happened in transit.

There's a huge strain on human resources to do the physical work of moving them - that's the hardest bit and I am really thankful to the people who have volunteered the last few years to help on that side of it.

On the technical side, its a lot easier and smoother to maintain 120 cabs that you're intimately acquainted with internally than to sort out 50 of your own and 70 or more belonging to 10-20 other people.

We do our best to maintain 100% uptime including carrying spare boards, monitor chassis, even CPU's, RAM and logic chips and an entire touring tech-bench.

I love dong the shows and wouldn't have it any other way. I've never been afraid of hard work.

I just miss seeing the friends i've made on the forum and the shows are a great social vehicle which is what made me chime in on this thread really in the first place.

 

[Brettster]

Last year was my first Play I had an awesome day and was overwhelmed at the sheer amount of everything going on
It was the first time I'd seen many of the pinball machines and the first time I've ever seen so many pinball machines in one place
I got to play some cabs I'd never seen before too so it was great
Having to closed in would just make it too warm, it was bad enough when it was opened up
Maybe you could just have some free standing hoods over the most affected cabs to cut down glare

I really appreciate the amount of effort it takes to get that lot set up and I'm really looking forward to what's in store this year

 

[subzero]

maybe its just me, but since showmasters bought the event are the retro sections reducing slowly??