Being granted the opportunity to attend this year’s Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit was quite an experience for me. To start, I don’t do too well among large crowds. And to say that ESGS 2019 was packed to the brim would be an understatement. It takes a lot to quell the introvert inside me.
This year, we’ve been sponsored by PLDT and Smart to explore the premises to experience what it had to offer. They’d been rather generous hosts and I can’t say that they’ve been anything but courteous during my time there.
To start with, ESGS is basically one big gaming festival. They host tournaments for fighting games, MOBA titles, and shooter games all the same. And people from all around gather to see the best players compete against each other in their field of choice. On the other end, ESGS is also somewhat of an exhibition display for tech aficionados to admire all the latest hardware for all their gaming needs.
Like I mentioned above, I don’t do so well among a large crowd of people. ESGS has always been diverse and caters to everyone not just exclusively gamers. Anime merchandise was also on sale in their own section at the venue. However, one thing that many people can agree on, is that the merchandise being sold at this event costs about a small fortune.
Everything Is Expensive
If you want to go on a shopping spree for this limited-time event, then you’d better have deep pockets. Most merchandise being sold are at about four digits minimum and some even go as far as twenty thousand. And this is only for collectible items, I haven’t touched all that fancy hardware being sold at the venue.
Which does bring me to one of the practices I dislike about ESGS, I don’t like the “no outside food and drinks” policy. Even the prices for food and beverages inside have had their prices spiked up for the sake of profit. I was stopped by security for bringing a can of soda. Wanting to save money, I went outside the venue to buy a drink. To my surprise, it turns out that this wasn’t allowed.
I asked my friend about it who happened to be a game developer on the event. He told me that they said it was for the sake of keeping the venue clean. But both of us could clearly tell an excuse when we heard it. I myself did not become a journalist by being gullible.
That being said, ESGS was still a positive experience. The policy of not allowing outside meals is a small blemish that ultimately didn’t affect the fun I had in the event. The people were nice and accommodating and there were plenty of things to be enjoyed around the venue.
While I was in ESGS 2019, I also managed to score an interview with Myrtle Sarrosa thanks to the PLDT staff. I was taken to a room where they conducted interviews with the media. And I have to say I was rather nervous speaking to a winner of the Pinoy Big Brother contest, a University of the Philippines Cum Laude graduate, and a national celebrity. Interviews aren’t usually my thing, even more so since I was unprepared for it. But Myrtle was nice enough to go easy on me despite my lack of equipment and experience for the interview. And I can’t tell you enough how thankful I am for that.
Old Games, New Games
So I also took the liberty of checking out a few games. Sad to say that there weren’t any demos offered for upcoming new titles. Last year, I tried out the Resident Evil 2 Remake and Devil May Cry 5 demos and that was plentiful enough to write about, but Capcom this year was advertising the Iceborne expansion for Monster Hunter World. A content we at Sirus Gaming already have. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with the lack of anything new. Almost all games being showcased felt like a rerun of what was already shown before.
The pure exception was at the indie developers section where I was treated to titles that did feel fresh. One title, in particular, I was looking forward to was Love Esquire from YangYang Mobile, and it was pleasant to hear that the full game had already been launched. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing the Project Manager last year regarding this project of theirs and it was interesting to hear that they are planning to move Love Esquire to mobile much like they did with The Letter (2017).
It was during my time at the indie section that I met with one of my friends here in Sirus who is also a game reviewer for us, Erickson Melchor, who introduced me to the games his company, Team Theta Games, have been working on. I’ve been asked to preview their games and I do have a few things to say about it in a different article.
Overall, ESGS 2019 has been a jaw-dropping experience of how far technology has become. Gaming has been made more convenient than ever provided that you have the money to support your hobby. You’d constantly need to be ready to part with your cash to keep up with the latest tech.