R3PLAY – Arcade, Retro And Videogaming Expo

Blackpool is hosting the most amazing gaming expo of the year. Seriously! The R3PLAY Expo takes place on the 6-7th November 2010 and is all about celebrating 4 decades of gaming history.

According to the event organisers R3PLAY will feature the 3 “C’s”:

CONSOLES: Ranging from the humble Atari 2600, through the SEGA vs Nintendo console wars of the 1990s, to the all-conquering behemoths that are the PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Video game consoles from all corners of the world will be showcased at R3PLAY allowing visitors to play on rare and obscure machines they may never see again!

COIN-OPS: Arcade and Pinball Machines have captured the nation’s imagination since the first mass-produced classics of the 70s and 80s. R3PLAY not only looks at the retro classics, but thanks to the support of leading arcade communities, there will be plenty on offer for the new generation of arcade gamers, too.

COMPUTERS: The UK was a world leader in 80s computing and R3PLAY will celebrate the diverse history of Acorn, Amstrad and Sinclair, as well as their international competitors such as Commodore and Atari. Furthermore, fans of PC-based gaming will be able to enjoy both the very latest releases, in addition to classics such as Commander Keen, Descent and the original network version of Doom (Deathmatch anyone?). The National Museum of Computing will also be on hand, raising awareness of computing history in the UK.

TV personality and gamer Iain Lee Gail Porter (yes, the lady that had her boobs and bum projected onto the House of Parliament by FHM) will be hosting the event.

As well as getting your hands on more classic computers, consoles and arcade machines (set to free play) than you can image, you will also get the chance to challenge the creators of IK+ (Archer Maclean) and Sensible Soccer (Sensible Software) at their own games! There will also be an Ocean Software showcase, featuring the many, many hit games Ocean created during the 80’s and 90’s. Talk about jam packed with stuff. It’s a classic gamers dream weekend!

There will be competitions, raffles and memrobellia for sale, all for £12 for a single adult day ticket or £20 for a adult weekend pass. Check out the R3PLAY website for lots more detail about the weekend and to purchase tickets.

Essential Details:

• Dates: Saturday 6th – Sunday 7th November 2010
• Opening Times: 11:00am – 8:00pm (Sat), 10:00am – 7:00pm (Sun)
• Location: Norbreck Castle Exhibition Centre, Queen’s Promenade, Blackpool. FY2 9AA

See what other gaming events are going on all over the country at Events for The Average Gamer.

Update 12th Oct 2010: Unfortunately, due to filming commitments Gail Porter has been replaced by Iain Lee, who used to present the entertaining, if short lived, computer games show Thumb Bandits with Aleks Krotoski. So he’s a pretty good replacement.

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