As the first Spring Auckland Armageddon Expo since 2020 set the stage, the scene was set for the return of bigger brands and more variety, a welcome return for those not solely into anime or cosplay.

With still more than an abundance of anime and cosplay to your hearts content if that’s what you’re after, the return of bigger brands like PlayStation, Mighty Ape and Samsung were certainly a highlight to see, making the event start to feel a glimmer of what it used to be years ago.

It was disappointing to still see no return for Xbox and Nintendo though, who were usually a highlight alongside PlayStation of my visit to Auckland Armageddon.

Saying this, PlayStation and Mighty Ape were nowhere near as grand as they used to be. Given the scope of Mighty Ape as a whole online shop, I was surprisingly disappointed by how small their stand was and how little stock they had on display.

PlayStation’s stand was more of a Spider-Man 2 stand, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it is a major release after all, but ultimately it didn’t show any of the wide scope that PlayStation as a brand is usually known for.

The slow rise of physical guests continued. Voice actor legend Troy Baker was present at this year’s Springeddon and became one of the reasons I attended the event. It was a lot of fun having the likes of Troy Baker attend, but the second main stage where I watched his panel was incredibly small and had a screen at the back that unfortunately made it no easier to see the voice actor.

The show floor, as expected, was very busy, and popular. On the other hand, a negative term to otherwise use could be cramped. Most of the time you couldn’t see the vendors, especially in artist alley, because so many people were standing and struggling to walk in all directions. With not a lot of ventilation I could tell of, a part from the doors on the outskirts, the space become very hot and suffocating, despite only being in Spring.

The unique and tasty food vendors outside were a breath of fresh air, literally, and it was cool to not only see the generic stalls, but also more unique food and drink options.

Artist alley remained one of the most popular spots of the event, as mentioned by the bustling crowds. There’s nothing better than finding something exciting and different, perhaps only found by being exposed to an independent artist. A lot of the bigger vendors selling items felt generic and cheap, which was a shame when comparing to the more independent artists who are vying for recognition.

Although continuously rising back to its former grandeur, Auckland Armageddon can’t quite keep up with the momentum required to grab people’s attention long enough to stick around for years to come, unless you fall into a very specific anime or cosplay niche. Saying this, you can’t deny the crowds, so albeit my time attending an Armageddon Expo may need a long deserved break, I’ll still be there admiring from afar.

The post Armageddon Expo (Auckland, NZ) 2023 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The beautifully aesthetic world of Azoria is a welcoming sight to lovers of cozy fantasy video games.

Available on Switch and PC, Fae Farm may follow your typical farming simulator genre and gameplay, but that doesn’t mean to say it doesn’t hold its own ground with an abundance of heart and a sprinkling of magic.

Azoria welcomes you in with a cozy, warm hug. The locals are eager with quests to give you and to help you along the way, never having you stop to twiddle your fingers with nothing to do. Gameplay is simple and inviting, yet a bit tedious at times too. On one hand, always having to go into menus within menus to do things can be something to get used to, especially if a Switch console isn’t your usual go to. On the other hand, moments like tools auto changing to whatever you start interacting with, e.g, stone or trees, is a handy feature to minimise unnecessary clicking to enhance the experience.

Fae Farm guides you in a gentle direction through quests, but never forces any linear expectations on you as a player. Feel like exploring Azoria yourself for a while? Go right ahead. Or perhaps you prefer to tick off quests faster than your budding farm can keep up? That works too.

Night time at Azoria quickly became one of my favourite times to explore and play the game, which is saying something when usually not a lot is happening at that time or quests may be limited. The hustle and bustle of the residents continued with no limitations to time, so I loved chatting with residents and visiting the shops as the vibrant art style filled my screen along with the perfect night ambience. It should be noted though, that like most farming sims, if it gets too late, you will auto-spawn back home in bed to start a new day. I didn’t mind this too much though, as loot doesn’t get lost, so sometimes it felt like a win-win situation if I was eager to drop off loot into storage anyway.

Building character relationships was just as important as completing quests and building my homestead. With guidance at how to shape these relationships, or not, it wasn’t long before Azoria started to feel shaped to my imagination.

Fae Farm can be played on your own, online or locally with up to four players. Before the game’s release, excitement hit me at the possibility of being able to play another local co-op game with my partner, as local co-op games can be few and far between. After playing through the first chapter, which can be a bit of a task as your fellow player sits patiently eager to play too, I was disappointed to discover that local co-op only existed if the person wanting to join had their own Switch.

Solo play was in this household then.

Among an abundance of farming sim games, you have to stick out from the crowd to gather new players, and not just rely on fans of cozy games or farming sims, though Fae Farm was obviously heavily curated towards them, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Personally, I haven’t played a lot of farming sims because they all feel the same to me, and I can get bored by the repetitive nature. Like I said, this doesn’t mean to say I don’t play them. The gameplay is the same, the quests are the same, but maybe that’s the catch. The familiarity to know what to expect provides comfort to many, and I can respect that.

In terms of performance issues, I did find my game lagging sometimes, which was a tad frustrating, even at the beginning of the game. Loading times were on the slow end too, which, similar to performance issues, I thought would have happened much further down the lines when the game bulked up its content, as opposed to in the beginning.

Fans of farming sims certainly won’t run out of options, especially on the Switch and PC, but that doesn’t mean to say Fae Farm doesn’t sprinkle its own magic into the group. That spark of fantasy magic brings life to Azoria in ways some farming sims don’t, and new players will no doubt find themselves spending hours paving their way across the magical land and building homesteads to their liking.

The post Fae Farm (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Starring Song Kang-Ho from the 2019 award-winning film Parasite, Broker tells the story of Sang-Hyeon, an everyday laundrette owner who also happens to sell abandoned children left at the church’s baby box on the side.

Him and his friend’s unlikely illegal business is shaken when a Mother who abandoned her child, returns and wants to help them find a good home instead of putting the child in an orphanage.

The starring trio, plus baby and soon a runaway orphan, have chemistry fit to be a makeshift family in real life. I was routing for them to be together the entire time as they navigated the ups and downs of being on the road and on the run, fighting for good, despite being painted as bad.

Exploring themes of isolation, abandonment, rejection, and the obvious, family, Broker holds its indie charm at its core, with high level quality filmmaking. I couldn’t help but be in awe of the cinematography, the thought and detail that went into every shot. Indie films to me will always be known as hidden gems because it’s a shame that not everyone will find them and experience them, unless you’re a cinephile or someone willing to dive into foreign films.

Lead Song Kang-Ho, was the reason I jumped on the boat to watch Broker. He’s a brilliant award-winning actor who has been cast in multiple films, including many directed by Bong Joon-Ho of global Parasite fame. There’s an ease when it comes to actors like Song Kang-Ho of this calibre, and I’m so happy his talents continue to be shown in such films as Broker.

A whole lot of heart is at the core of Broker and lovers of indie films will rejoice at another glance into the harsh yet beautiful realities of being human and the difficult decisions put in front of us.

The post Broker (Bluray – 2022) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Zombieverse is the ultimate live action role play game and I couldn’t be more into it, as if I was surviving the apocalypse myself.

Set in an apocalyptic South Korea, castmates are tricked into thinking they’re taking part in a lighthearted dating show. Little do they know, this particular dating show involves the undead as well.

Whether it’s the storytelling lover in me, or the apocalyptic genre being a favourite of mine, pulling together celebrities and everyday people to play out the zombie apocalypse is right up my alley.

Improv is no easy feat, especially if you have no idea what’s happening next, both physically and mentally. To top that off, you’re in a high stakes scenario of the world ending, so there’s that too. Because of this, I commend the castmates for doing a fantastic job playing out their daring escapes from zombies, and would love to see them grace our screens again.

A cast of likeable and relatable people led the escape for freedom, something which I find doesn’t always happen with reality-like shows. Because of this, it wasn’t long before my partner and I were binging the show, our eyes glued to the screens and needing to know what was happening next while we routed for our favourites.

Episodes featured objectives to solve that reminded me of high-stake escape rooms. With a variety of objectives, typically leading to escape from whatever location they’d found themselves in, never left me bored or feeling as if the storytelling was repetitive.

Coming from New Zealand myself, finding gems like Zombieverse is what I love. Exploring stories routed in reality makes me feel connected to the rest of the world and allows a glance I may otherwise never get to (obviously minus the apocalypse of course).

If you’re looking for a binge worthy show that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but also offers brilliant relationship-building, then Zombieverse is the one for you.

Fans of the genre may get frustrated by castmates’ decisions, but I think that makes it all the more fun. Humour weaved its way through the show, never taking itself too seriously, as mentioned earlier, so make sure to share a laugh or two with friends and family while watching Zombieverse.

The post Zombieverse (Netflix) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Developers Don’t Nod Games, best known for Life is Strange, Vampyr, Twin Mirror, Gerda a Flame in Winter and so on, are back with another beautifully shaped narrative story, Harmony: the Fall of Reverie.

Initially released on PC and Switch early June (2023) and PlayStation and Xbox late June (2023), Harmony: the Fall of Reverie has players take on the role of Polly, who has returned home to find her hometown drastically changed by megacorporation MK. Unlike others, Polly has the gift of clairvoyance which connects her to another realm called Reverie, the realm of the Aspirations of Humanity. The line between the two worlds is thin so it’s up to us and Polly to decide how we want the fate of the world to pan out.

Recently, I’ve gone through the backlog of Don’t Nod Games and caught up with all of them, enjoying each and every one of them in their own unique but familiar ways. Because of this, Harmony: the Fall of Reverie attracted me from the get go and I was incredibly excited to deep dive into the worlds of Reverie and Brittle.

I’m not going to lie, it’s taken me a while to get used to the idea of 2D games again, taking on a more simplistic art style rather than using today’s increasingly realistic graphics to bring fictional worlds to life. As Dusk Falls, a narrative driven 2D game helped me appreciate and admire how rewarding 2D games can be, especially when having branching narratives and granting more opportunities and resources for endless choices that might otherwise not have been possible.

The art style of Harmony: the Fall of Reverie is gorgeous. Full of colour, texture, beauty and grit, every still image on the screen could be a work of art. Not one shot of the entire game wasn’t worthy of sticking up in a framed picture on a wall, and that’s saying something behind the quality and effort put in by the team to produce a high quality piece.

Characters from both worlds are fleshed out and layered, creating bonds between characters and players very easily, depending on which relationships you choose to pursue. On one hand, the Aspirations were my favourites, making us players constantly think from different perspectives and question our own choices and morals. On the other hand, Polly’s everyday family and friends complimented her in ways rewarding to the story and also pulled us in different directions when approaching scenarios.

As a narrative driven game, Harmony: the Fall of Reverie has no action gameplay. You won’t even find yourself hitting random buttons for quick time events. That doesn’t mean to say there isn’t action, it just plays out determined by how you have chosen the story to play out in the Augural.

Picture the Augural kind of like a family tree or a timeline.

Here is where you are constantly deciding which branch to take, with no going back once a decision has been made unless you start the game all over again. As someone who has currently only played the game once through, I’m unable to deep dive into how detailed choices actually make an impact on the story. It’s no secret there are an abundance of choice driven story games that claim players drive the story, only to have it pushed down the same path anyway. Saying this, there are also games like As Dusk Falls that utilise the 2D narrative story to provide an abundance of actual different choices and endings. My guess is Harmony: the Fall of Reverie is the latter, so I’m excited to revisit the game at a later date, making different choices and following other paths.

Players will find themselves lost in the narrative of Harmony: the Fall of Reverie very early on. The multiple path choices fill your mind with endless storytelling possibilities, leaving you eager to find out more and tell yourself, as the gaming hours add up, to play just one more chapter…

The post Harmony: The Fall of Reverie (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

As we travelled through the misty mountains to Wellington, it wasn’t long until we were greeted by the misty mountain of Sky Stadium, or perhaps the misty towering carpark and building, as a day of Autumn rain settled in at Armageddon Expo’s Wellygeddon.

Despite the rain, people flocked to the yearly  event, putting aside the umbrellas (this is windy Wellington after all) and most without raincoats to get a sprinkling of rain on their everyday outfits and extravagant cosplay costumes. Luckily we managed to pay for a carpark at the event location, even though the carpark chaos and sheer high numbers was insane. Although expensive carpark pricing continues to rise, it certainly made the journey to the event short and easy.

After rushing to find the bathroom because of the long journey to get to Wellington and to get inside the event as we needed to wait to receive our media passes outside, the size and design of Sky Stadium made it quite the task to access the bathroom facilities. It may seem like a pointless thing to point out, but with the number of people and various ages at the event, no doubt needing easy access to such facilities, I wonder if they struggled to find these locations quickly as well, unless just happening to stumble upon them on their journey.

Bathrooms aside, it was time to tackle Wellgeddon. The ring design of the Sky Stadium was very familiar to me, but the frustrations of this design never seem to cease, even if I tried to remind myself to take my time, and not be in a rush. You know when you’re at a shopping centre, or walking along a path and a group of people just stop to have a chat in the middle of the space? That happened here too, despite the already minimal room, especially in certain parts of the ring. This caused build up and a back log of bodies bashing against one another quite often, soon relying on handholding to not loose my partner in the chaos.

Breathes of fresh air occurred on and off throughout the journey of Wellygeddon, and when I mean breathes of fresh air, I mean openings in the crowd where you had room to stretch your legs, take a moment to regain yourself and get your bearings. Because of the high intensity ‘flow’ of the Sky Stadium ring design, I often found myself having to back track as I’d missed something and being a woman of average height, I simply couldn’t see what I was missing out on at times.

Post pandemic world, artist alley continues to be my favourite new appreciation for the local artists. Finding unique gifts or household items is what I’ve loved for years. I will admit I never used to give artist alley as much attention years ago, across all Armageddon Expos, as I was often distracted by the bigger brands and names, but when you take that away (which I am still quite gutted about), you’re left to admire the smaller things in life, for Armageddon Expos, that’s artist alley.

I do wish I had the insight into understanding why bigger brands and names no longer seem to be attending any Armageddon Expos anymore. There was nothing better than the excitement of experiencing new games or previews of technology as they’d just made their way to our shores or were going to.

This ‘wonder’ made me feel less isolated in comparison to the rest of the world and excited for new things to come. Now we can all only hope to have access to such events overseas, which isn’t practical for a lot of people.

As mentioned earlier, the weather didn’t stop people from attending Wellygeddon, with crowds bustling and cars jam packed not only in the Sky Stadium carpark but also out onto one of the main roads into Wellington city. I wonder what pulls others into attending the Armageddon Expos with their families when a lot has changed about the event since Covid, with a lot less big brands, big shops and celebrities. For myself, anything entertainment related is my go to and I’ll never not jump to the opportunity to experience an exciting event.

Ranging from swords, food, pop vinyls, and artwork in all its forms, the local vendors and artists delighted people with their stalls and abundance of goodies to choose from. Although missing the big brands still, for video games and technology especially, we can always rely on the locals of New Zealand to come together and put on a fun event.

The post Wellington (NZ) Armageddon Expo Wrap-up appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

It’s time to get your thinking cap on and be transported into the late 1800s.

Channeling your inner Sherlock Holmes, it’s your time to lead an investigation into a sinister crime scheme where you seem to be the only one able to stop it.

A remake of the 2007 game of the same name, and both developed by Frogwares, Sherlock Holmes the Awakened, takes players into H.P. Lovecraft’s myth of Cthulhu, a mind-bending tale that’ll have both Sherlock and you, wondering what’s real and what isn’t.

Before we get started, it’s good to mention that Sherlock Holmes the Awakened was made during a war, the Ukrainian War, that’s happening right now.

With power outages, constant disruptions, it’s an honour to have played the game early, before its release and to have the time to experience their love letter to another Sherlock Holmes game, and one they have worked tirelessly on for all of us to experience.

You can get a glimpse into what working on the game in these conditions was like for the team in the video below.

Although some time as passed since Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, in both our world and in the game’s fictional universe, the familiarity soon shines through its characters and the voice actors, featured the first game, Sherlock Holmes Chapter One.

Chapter One was ultimately an origin story; Holmes didn’t even exist as a real person until he turned up at the end of the first game. In comparison, the Awakened throws us straight into the traditional Sherlock Holmes’ tales, set at 221B Baker Street, London, with the real Dr. John Watson, not far from Sherlock’s side.

Sherlock is slowly becoming the eccentric character the stories have told us, among his constant struggle between reality and fiction. This theme is heavily explored in the Awakened. The misty and dark streets of London in the lates 1800s sets us up immediately in the moody, and gloomy Victorian London. It certainly was a stark difference to the bright and colourful Cordona of Chapter One.

Thrown into the game, it’s not long before you question if the game is going to tell you what to do, having been used to games’ constant handholding these days.

The controls are explained slowly over time, but a deep dive into the player menu, every nook and cranny is necessary to set yourself up as a player. Being familiar with the first game, dynamics started coming back to over time, but it’s not hard to wonder how difficult or not it may be for newbies, with frustrations possibly occurring. We can only hope players stick it out as you may find yourself walking in circles at times, especially in new locations and without a detailed map.

Despite this, after solving your first case and not being handheld, the Awakened reminds you of why you loved Chapter One.

Sure, there were moments that would take result in a stand-still, baffled by what you could possibly be missing, but ultimately, putting in the hard work and making your brain think, made the reward of solving the case even more worth it, perhaps even a tad proud and eager to take on more cases.

The Awakened makes you think a lot and may make your head feel as though it wants to explode at times, but you will get there and possibly not even realize what you could solve with hard work and determination.

Like all Kiwis, we get a kick when New Zealand is mentioned in stories or in few and far between places.

Not once was it expected to have it come up in a video game, especially Sherlock Holmes the Awakened.

Without giving anything away, the second mission plants the seed for the entire game to come, like a domino effect. As a Kiwi, you can’t help but be fascinated by the interpretation of a culture familiar to you and possibly not to others around the world, particularly based on the controversial relations and social roles of the late 1800s.

The loading screen for the Awakened does feature a disclaimer, as it did in Chapter One, acknowledging the reality of certain races at the time in history, suggesting it’s important we don’t forget this history, even if it is hard to hear.

By chapter three (there are seven in the Awakened), the game transports you to another location, an asylum in Switzerland, fully immersing you into your crime solving ways, and perhaps finding yourself hyper-focusing and finding your brain working in mysterious ways, just like Sherlock.

Not long after this, you’re transported yet again (Sherlock and Watson certainly get around), this time to New Orleans. The bright and sunny New Orleans location was a reminder of Cordona, the setting of Chapter One, as mentioned by Sherlock too in the game. For some reason it also made the map a lot easier to navigate, rather than squinting your eyes in some dark locations, struggling to have any clue where you’re going.

Least favourite moments, in terms of gameplay, came in a later chapter where you must drive a boat around a dark and murky swamp with a low light lamp.

Going in circles and struggling to navigate physically soon became a thing as the boat would often get stuck in the environment, even flipping at one point. Having no map didn’t help. It got to a point where my partner had to be recruited to start searching for me, also helping with the odd puzzle too. Another eye in tough situations helped a lot.

Something interesting to note was the lack of need to change outfits.

In Chapter One, the narrative constantly required players to change outfits to go undercover, changing your social status and acceptance, playing a huge part as to whether someone would even talk to you or not. In the Awakened, this was taken away completely, and not once do you have to change clothes to navigate different environments, except solely for cosmetic reasons.

Another difference in the Awakened was the story, being much more linear than Chapter One and having very minimal side quests or ‘open’ mini worlds for Sherlock to visit, depending on your chapter. Plus, once you move onto the next chapter, you’re told you can’t revisit.

Personally, it was easy to speed through the Awakened, in the best way possible, as I was eager to find out what happened next, playing in decent length gaming sessions, and determined to get through the harder puzzles. This could, of course, be a good thing or a bad thing, especially as we have Chapter One to compare to. As someone who loves ticking off a new game, it did feel as though one isn’t allowed the opportunity to linger in spaces or immerse themselves in a location before being shipped off to another.

The ending, without spoiling of course, was rewarding but somewhat simplistic. Perhaps due to the narrative limitations of being a remake, the Awakened draws from traditional Sherlock Holmes, crime solving cases, as opposed to Chapter One, that took a deep dive into the many layers of Sherlock’s past, present and predicting his future.

Players who are looking for a narrative mystery that doesn’t hand-hold or take you too far off the beaten track, will find the Awakened an exciting remake, allowing a new group of players the opportunity to experience a mind-bending tale.

The post Sherlock Holmes the Awakened (PlayStation 5) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

What happens when you put a bunch of people on a island, inviting them to an exclusive restaurant experience?

Oh yeah, and did I forget to mention the head chef is also crazy, having recruited a team of brainwashed workers to support him too?

Mark Mylod’s The Menu leaves you guessing for quite some time as to what shock factor or disturbing piece of information will be revealed to give the film its thriller / horror name. Although it leaves you with this uneasy feeling for quite some time, its not until stalker photographs of each individual attendee end up being laser printed on their tortillas that things start to heat up, literally.

Yes, you read that correctly.

The first ‘wtf’ moment comes about 40 minutes into the film and leaves you wanting to know more when the film refuses to give it to you, putting you in the shoes of its attendees and trying to convince yourself its either ‘theatre’ or these people need to gap it as soon as possible.

Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult and Anya Taylor-Joy lead the cast of well known actors, with even supporting actors having familiar faces. Clearly the source material attracted the pool of actors, jumping on board the thrill of taking its audience down eccentric and unique storytelling.

Although, The Menu leaves you questioning it’s ‘big reveal’ for quite sometime, I do wonder if it relied too heavily on this in order to keep viewers on board throughout the film.

A part from questions you need to know the answer to, the film doesn’t have a lot of substance to fall back on, making you question whether or not it’s worth a higher rating or not.

The post The Menu (HBO) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

There’s something quite magical when finding a film that gives you the pure joy of filmmaking and storytelling, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio certainly did that for me.

Knowing the amount of time and energy that goes into stop motion can be mind boggling to say the least. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is no different, having taken over 1000 days to film.

I highly recommend checking out the behind the scenes of the filmmaking process to truly wrap your head around the process of the stop motion and commitment from the crew. It’ll blow your mind. 

Though it may be surprising to some, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio was my first foray into the Pinocchio story. Of course, everyone knows of the characters, perhaps only by name, or that the story is shaped around a wooden puppet that becomes a real boy. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio took the basic synopsis and multiplied it, creating a heartbreaking, raw, and yet somehow lighthearted take on the iconic story. 

With known names Ewan McGregor, Finn Wolfhard, David Bradley, Tilda Swinton and Cate Blanchett filling the cast, newcomer Gregory Mann (who takes on the titular role of Pinocchio), had a talented cast surrounding him. Mann perfectly portrayed the naive and warm child qualities that were needed for the role, alongside his sweet and melodious voice for the musical numbers. 

Perhaps unknown to some, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio features musical numbers. Nothing flamboyant or out of place, the songs incorporated beautifully with the emotional scenes being portrayed, rather than taking away the focus or ruining the less serious moments. 

Disney also released a live action version of Pinocchio a couple of months before Guillermo del Toro’s version, starring Tom Hanks. I personally haven’t seen it yet and don’t plan on it, as online critiques are not looking good for the classic character, ironically often associated with Disney itself. 

With a heart of gold, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio deserves a spot on your watch list, even if it is only to see how the acclaimed director interpreted such an iconic character.

If it were me, I’d watch it again simply to experience the pure joy and pain of David Bradley’s ‘My Son’ or Gregory Mann’s ‘Ciao Papa’. 

The post Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix – 2022) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The stage was set for Palmygeddon last weekend, Palmerston North’s yearly Armageddon Expo for all your entertainment, pop culture, and anime buzz.

Attending public events still seems like a taboo thing, despite the world going back to normal after a crazy couple of years. The struggle to find a car park, seeing the massive queues to get inside Fly Palmy Arena, and squishing your way through the crowds of people inside, showed how eager the entire region was to experience a sense of freedom in a community of welcoming nerds. 

All ages, both young and old, filled the arena, and you couldn’t help but feel a sense of happiness among chaos. Big events such as Palmygeddon are always going to create a huge buzz for the region and it’s nice to think that if you ever had any trouble or were in need of support, you wouldn’t be too far from a friendly face, willing to welcome you into their group of friends. 

‘Artist Alley’, as it’s become known across all of Armageddon Expo’s events, features stalls by budding artists and talented people oozing with creativity. Spending time in this area of the event was a must. Taking the time to cast your eye over the intricate details and have a chat with an artist is definitely worth your time, especially if you enjoy a slower pace and not being on a set timer. 

A prominent area in Palmygeddon now sits the e-sports section where men and women of all ages took part in competitions to win prizes, or in some cases, experiencing an exhilarating game with their peers they might otherwise have never tried. The small area dedicated to esports was bursting at the seams though and could easily justify expanding its area for next year. 

Technology and gaming is an area of Armageddon Expos that has dwindled a lot since Covid, and is something that I’m incredibly eager to find its way back to the surface. Although, asking for big brand video game companies to make their way to Palmygeddon may be a lot to ask for, I do hope the first step in making this happen, is to bring them back to Armageddon Expo’s Auckland event, Auckgeddon, this coming October. 

Unmistakably, anime continued to be the biggest focus at this year’s Palmygeddon and although one can still enjoy the event if you’re not a fan of anime, it did take over the stalls. One could easily find themselves searching for a favourite television, movie or video game fandom with no luck and a lack of representation.

The same could be said for in-person guests. Years ago, in-person guests were what attracted me to Armageddon Expo in the first place. My eyes would shine bright when I realized that I could meet television, movie and video game stars from around the world in little old New Zealand. There is a glimmer of hope though, having had up and coming Stranger Things actress Grace Van Dien attend the recent Bay of Plenty Armageddon Expo in person.

Merely scratching the surface, Palmygeddon is the prime example of an event eager to grow and develop as the years go on. With so much potential, the seed of Palmygeddon sprouted in a Covid stricken world. It’s time for it to bloom. 

The post Palmygeddon! appeared first on Shane the Gamer.