Next weekend, the bi-annual London MCM Comic Con returns to the London Excel centre, filling the Docklands-based convention centre with crowds of comic & anime fans, cosplayers and gamers from Friday afternoon til its close on Sunday evening. Getting bigger and bigger each year, this month’s MCM Comic Con will feature loads of things to see and do, as well as many vendors happy to exchange currency for various pieces of merchandise.
Here’s a brief look at some of the things you can expect once you enter the exhibition hall:
Gaming @ MCM
MCM eSports Stage – Powered by ESL
The eSports stage makes a return to Comic Con with the MCM Expo Group recently partnering with the Electronic Sports League (ESL), who will be producing the Razer-sponsored League of Legends Invitational and Open Tournaments taking place across comic con weekend. If you’re up for some MOBA-action, or just want to spectate some matches, you’d probably want to check this out.
Nintendo
A regular feature at past MCM Comic Cons, Nintendo will be present with their booth demoing upcoming Wii U and 3DS games. Expect to see games like the upcoming Mario Kart 8, as well as min-tournaments for the game being held during the weekend. As a new addition to the Nintendo Booth this year, the Nintendo Online Store, will host a pop-up shop for fans to buy Nintendo games, apparel and merchandise such as bags, posters,and even some of the exclusive Nintendo statues from First 4 Figures. The F4F figures range from around £70 – £300, so your wallet may suddenly feel a lot lighter if you’re suddenly tempted by the 14″ Zero Suit Samus or the 22″ Tanooki Mario.
Tecmo Koei
The team at Tecmo Koei have prepared a range of activities for their booth such as having playable builds of Dynasty Warrirors Gundam Reborn on PS3 and Atelier Rorona Plus, coming to PS3 and PS Vita. Special badges and other goodies will be available for completing set tasks, one of which is a special Rorona badge you receive when you complete the Atelier Rorona Plus demo at the booth. Visitors also will have the chance to take a photo with Marie Rose from Dead or Alive 5 and purchase various Tecmo Koei games and merchandise. A full list of what’s on offer at the Tecmo Koei booth can be found at their dedicated site: tecmokoeiexpo.com
Namco Bandai
Fans of the Tales series can look forward to seeing Tales Of series producer, Hideo Baba at the Namco Bandai booth along with Tales of Xilla 2 being playable before its release later this year. Ace Combat Producer Kazutoki Kono will be accompanying Baba-san, both of which will take part in a Q& A on stage on the Saturday from 12pm! As well as Xilla 2, Ace Combat Infinity, Naruto Revolution, One Piece Unlimited World Red and GRID Autosport will all be on show at the booth for you to check out.
Indie Games Zone
For the first time, MCM London Comic Con will be showcasing the work of independent games developers in a dedicated zone. With the influx of great indie games over the past few years on both PC and Consoles, you might just see the next big game among the titles on offer in the Indie Zone at MCM.
Anime, Cosplay & Asian Culture @ MCM
- This show’s Anime Guests of Honour are Blue Exorcist: The Movie’s director Atsushi Takahashi (Rideback) and producer Takamitsu Inoue (Naruto, Shiki).
- Special guest Wendee Lee has voiced some of anime’s most iconic heroines, including Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucky Star’s Konata Izumi and Cowboy Bebop’s Faye Valentine.
- The UK’s three leading anime distributors – Manga Entertainment, MVM Entertainment and Anime Limited – will be taking part in an on-stage industry panel.
- JapanEx has been expanded to create a new PopAsia zone, packed with all the vibrant colour, delicious food, beautiful art and fabulous fashion of traditional and modern Asia.
- As well as hosting a Cosplay Masquerade, MCM London Comic Con will be the venue for the UK qualifiers of the EuroCosplay Championships, Europe’s biggest cosplay competition.
With excitement for MCM building, priority (early-entry) tickets have begun to sell out quickly. The Weekend tickets have sold out completely and priority tickets for Saturday are running out fast. General Entry tickets will be available on the door, but Priotity tickets helps you get in earlier and beat some of the extremely long queues that MCM has become famous for over the years.
More more info and to buy tickets, go to mcmcomiccon.com