Go to Play Expo in Manchester on October 11th/12th!

Hi guys, I wanted to do a quick public service announcement for those of you who (like me) find yourselves stuck in the North of England, far away from the seemingly constant festivities that are exclusive to those pesky Londoners!

Play Expo is taking place at the Trafford Centre's Event City in Manchester next month, and it's as close as we're gonna get to a major conference. I attended last year and had an absolute BLAST! The entire aircraft hangar-sized hall was a sea of retro consoles, pinball machines, specialist merchandise and cosplayers, and it was wonderful. It's not all retro games though, last year there was:

• An official Nintendo booth complete with playable Mario Kart 8 and loads of other games

• Oculus had a big booth where loads of people could try the headset out for themselves

• From Software had a playable demo of Dark Souls 2 and official merchandise;

• Ubisoft had Assassin's Creed: Black Flag playable on PS4s (yes, in October of last year, MONTHS before the console's release!)

• ...and lots of Indie studios had smaller set ups showing off their smaller budget offerings.

It was as close to E3 as you'll ever see outside of London, and this year's Expo promises to be even bigger!

This year's major companies attending have yet to be announced, but there will be the regular assortment of retro consoles (including every console ever made with all their biggest games); pinball machines and arcade cabinets will be present in force; a HUGE indie offering; actors from Red Dwarf and Star Wars will be in attendance and you'll have the opportunity to take pictures with the Iron throne from Game of Thrones and Bumblebee from the Transformers movies. As if all that weren't enough there;s even the chance to compete against other gamers in prize tournaments in competitive games like Mario Kart, Halo and FIFA.

There's still lots more (a ridiculous amount actually) in addition to what I've already listed, so check out the official Play Expo website for a more complete line-up. If you live anywhere even remotely close to Manchester you owe it to yourself to make the trip, and experience this kind of huge event for yourself. The link to buy tickets is here, and rest assured, I will be available on the Saturday to whoop your ass at Super Smash Bros Melee! You've been warned!

Below are some pictures I took from last year's event.

Win A 'Transistor' CD Key With Our Giveaway! - Closed :(

Win A Transistor CD Key With Our Giveaway! | Allkeyshop.com and GameBanter.co.uk

Allkeyshop.com the top Digital Download Store and Gamebanter.co.uk an informative blog that gives you the best news, reviews and articles about games, brings you a big giveaway this month, Win a free Transistor CD Key!

GameBanter.co.uk teams up with Allkeyshop.com

GameBanter.co.uk partners with Allkeyshop.com. Allkeyshop, with its exceptional service, provides the most competitive prices in the market. They have tested, and frequently continue to anonymously check CD key vendors that they present, to offer you a great quality of service and allow you to buy your PC games, Gamecard and Xbox products (Xbox points, Xbox live and Xbox games) with extreme confidence.

What’s CD key?

It's a multi-digit code that the store will send you via e-mail after your purchase. You will then use this code for official download platforms such as (Steam, Origin, Uplay or Battle.net) to activate and download your game for free.

Why buy a CD key?

It's really low-priced, fast and convenient and you can get your games from your home in just a matter of minutes.

Why is it cheap?

The price of purchasing a CD key is low because the stores are online and has less tax to pay. They don’t have stocks to manage and they don’t have a box or package to send you.

Why choose Allkeyshop?

On the CD KEY market there are a lot of online stores today, and to level the competition you must be on top of your game. Most of them claim that they are the best but when it comes to customer support and satisfaction they really don’t live up to the hype. Some never send the CD keys, and doesn’t provide good customer assistance when problem’s and questions occur.

At Allkeyshop we offer you the best CD key and we guarantee you that you are getting one from an original retail box when you purchase it with us. Together with our most trusted Partner Sites we give you the latest, Genuine and 100% working CD keys. So don’t take risks and use Allkeyshop. The best way to buy your PC games that provides best prices and accompanied with the best service, that allows you to buy your games with self confidence.

How to Enter:

- Log in with your email or Facebook account to participate.

- Follow and complete the steps on the widget below to earn entries.

- You can also use the Daily Bonuses to earn extra entries.

- Read the Terms and Conditions to get the full rules.

Winner will be Chosen on August 20, 2014.

This will be available for 7 days! We are excited to be picking a winner from this giveaway! Join now and you might be the lucky winner, earn all entries that you can and share this to all your friends.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 GOOD LUCK, EVERYONE!

 

E3 Press Conferences - Live Podcast Commentaries

It's E3! It's time for press conferences! It's time for games! It's time for podcasts! I'm recording a podcast for every press conference and I'll be linking them in this very post so they're easy to find. I'll be updating this post all day with new podcats, so stay tuned!

17:30pm

E3 2014 - Microsoft Press Conference

20:00pm

E3 2014 - EA Press Conference

23:00pm

E3 2014 - Ubisoft Press Conference

02:00am

E3 2014 - Sony Press Conference

IT'S E-FUCKING-3!!!

Win A Copy Of 'Watch_Dogs' For Xbox One

One of the year's most anticipated games Watch_Dogs launched last week, and even if you've looked at reviews for the game and don't want to shell out your cash to get it, chances are you're still chomping at the bit to play it for yourself. That's where we come in!

If you'd like to win a copy of Watch_Dogs for Xbox One (and let's be honest, you do) then it couldn't be simpler to enter. All you need is a Twitter account. That's it! To have your name thrown into the hat, all you have to do is retweet the tweet below:

Want to win a copy of Watch_Dogs for Xbox One? Just RT this tweet! Listen to our podcast next week to see if you won! http://t.co/XevcwS0gar

— GameBanter.co.uk (@GameBanter) June 5, 2014

Retweet it before next Tuesday (the day we record the podcast) to be entered. That's all you have to do! Just hit the retweet button and then sit back and relax. We'll be announcing the winner on the next episode of the podcast (episode 22, for those keeping score) so have a listen and if your name is the one that gets chosen at random, then hey guess what? You just won yourself a free copy of the hottest game you can buy right now!

As it's an Xbox One disc copy, we'll need to post it to you, so be prepared to maybe, possibly give us a postal address, and there's no cash alternative prize (so come on, don't be that guy). The only way to know if you've won will be to either listen to the podcast, or have a friend/little brother/sister/butler listen to it for you and tell you if you won or not. Yes, we're forcing you to listen to the podcast, but we're giving shit away for free here, so it's the least you can do!

I think that's everything, except to say that to everyone that enters: Good luck!

I've got my fingers crossed for you. Just you, nobody else. Promise.

Check Out This Trailer For Bethesda's New Free-To-Play Game, 'Battlecry'

You know what, I'm feeling very lazy today (sorry) so I'll just paste the press release for you.

Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, today announced BATTLECRY™, an all-new multiplayer action combat game featuring fast-paced and frenetic 32-player battles under development at BattleCry Studios.

BATTLECRY is the first project for the studio since it was formed in 2012 with one goal: to create fun, high-quality online experiences for a connected world. Led by long-time industry veteran Rich Vogel, the team at BattleCry Studios is comprised of seasoned developers with decades of experience working on critically-acclaimed action and competitive multiplayer franchises. Together they have created BATTLECRY – a fun and accessible free-to-play game that amplifies team-based combat by combining visceral brutality, striking art direction and competitive multiplayer action to create a refreshingly new gameplay experience.

Step into a bold, expressive world envisioned by Viktor Antonov (Half-Life 2, Dishonored) where gun powder has been banned following a cataclysmic world war at the dawn of the 20^th century. Traditional warfare is now a relic of the past and all conflicts are settled head-on by elite teams of chosen warriors in sanctioned WarZones. Trained and bred for battle they face off for the glory of their nations.

Choose your faction and progress your warrior through the ranks. Each rank unlocks new abilities and effects allowing deep strategic builds for your warrior on every level. Risk life and limb as the powerful Royal Marines or the fearless Cossacks in imaginative WarZones each designed to combine positioning, spacing and verticality to redefine your core combat experience. Fight with transformative melee and ranged weapons that harness iron and energy and eviscerate your opponents with swords that transform into shields, bows that can punch an arrow straight through an armored skull or electrocute your foes with high powered blades crackling with electro-static energy.

"The BattleCry team is happy to unveil the game that bears our studio’s name," said Rich Vogel, president and executive producer at BattleCry Studios. "We have been hard at work to create a fresh experience for gamers that brings together multiplayer action with visually stunning combat and are excited to share details about the game and have people play BATTLECRY in Bethesda’s booth at E3.” 

The official announcement trailer can be seen today on BATTLECRY’s official site: www.battlecrythegame.com.

The beta for BATTLECRY is set to begin in 2015 for PC.

Incredibly Easy Giveaway To Win 9 PC Games [closed]

Update: Giveaway is now over! Good luck to everyone who got their entry in. Stay tuned to Twitter tomorrow to see if you've won!

Yep, I'm doing a giveaway! It's an easy one too, all you have to do to enter is retweet the tweet below before Midnight(GMT) on Monday.

Listen to The Gamecentral Podcast every Thursday on http://t.co/qnMmLo7JQB, and now also available on iTunes! https://t.co/KclsCwi1W5
— GameBanter.co.uk (@GameBanter) May 23, 2014

"But Gareth!" I hear you cry, "Why would I bother entering your incredibly difficult giveaway if you won't even tell me what the prizes are?!"

Whoah! Calm down there! I was getting to that! Obviously I'm aware that "9 PC Games" just isn't a big enough prize for you to even consider jumping through the complex hoop of clicking "Retweet" on a single tweet, your time is worth more than going through all of that for just "9 PC Games" that could be literally ANY shitty old collection of games! I hear you, you want to know what you're risking your oh-so-important Twitter-cred for... So here are your prizes:

• Risen


• Risen 2: Dark Waters


• Sacred 2: Gold Edition


• Sacred Citadel


• Metro 2033


• Saints Row 2


• Saints Row: The Third + Full DLC Pack


• Dead Island: GOTY Edition


• Dead Island Riptide - The Complete Edition

There! You happy now?! So there are your prizes, yours for the low, low price of 1 retweet. Like I said, all you have to do is hit retweet on the tweet above BEFORE Midnight(GMT) on Monday and you're automatically entered to win. The winner will be picked at random, and at the time of writing this post there's only been 7 entries, so you probably have pretty damn good odds, compared to most giveaways out there!

Good luck, guys!

See that?! You could be playing that, if you enter the giveaway!

8 Video Game Soundtracks Make It Into The 'Classic FM Hall Of Fame 2014'

Woo! We did it guys, for the third straight year in a row, we came out in force and made sure video game music was represented in the world's largest list of the best classical music. In 2012 we got Elder Scrolls and Aerith's Theme high up into the top 300, last year we got 3 soundtracks into the  top 300: Viva Piñata, Elder Scrolls and Final Fantasy and this year, well, see for yourself below:

Journey, Austin Wintory (289th) – http://halloffame.classicfm.com/2014/chart/position/289/
Kingdom Hearts, Yoko Shimomura/Hikaru Utada (177th) – http://halloffame.classicfm.com/2014/chart/position/177/
Kingdoms of Amalur, Grant Kirkhope (75th) – http://halloffame.classicfm.com/2014/chart/position/75/
Viva Piñata, Grant Kirkhope (54th) – http://halloffame.classicfm.com/2014/chart/position/54/
World of Warcraft, Russell Brower (52nd) – http://halloffame.classicfm.com/2014/chart/position/52/
Banjo Kazooie, Grant Kirkhope (50th) – http://halloffame.classicfm.com/2014/chart/position/50/
The Elder Scrolls, Jeremy Soule (17th) – http://halloffame.classicfm.com/2014/chart/position/17
Final Fantasy, Nobuo Uematsu (7th) – http://halloffame.classicfm.com/2014/chart/position/7

What strikes me most is the variety that gamers voted for. Compared to last year where Aerith's Theme came 3rd but only 2 other soundtracks throughout the entire rest of the countdown, I much prefer having a video game soundtrack be further down but have more soundtracks in the top 300 overall. Having such a good spread, with video game soundtracks dotted throughout the top 300, shows the creative breadth that the medium has, and ultimately I think that's far more valuable in the long run. Eventually we want gaming to be taken as seriously as other legitimate artforms, and representing ourselves well in charts like this is an important step.

I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't get more obvious soundtracks onto the list (no Zelda? No Mario?!) but hey, there's always next year! For now just enjoy seeing Banjo Kazooie make the list of the top 50 classical soundtracks of all time. Amazing.

Congrats to Grant Kirkhope, 3 entries in the top 300, with his score to Banjo Kazooie in the top 50. Incredible!

Video Games Finally Represented on a 'Classic FM Hall of Fame' Album

Well it's about time! After 2 years of video game music making the classic FM Hall of Fame (and this year's HoF only a week away) the radio station have finally included 2 tracks on their yearly album. The 2 tracks in question are from Final Fantasy and Skyrim and both made it into the top 5 of last year's vote, so they're certainly worthy entries to this year's album.

My hope is that next year's album will feature more tracks from video games, but that all depends on how we do next weekend. I'll be listening and lending my support to the cause, and I hope you will too, but for now just enjoy the 2 tracks that will feature on this year's Hall of Fame album, which I've embedded below.

Nobuo Uematsu - Main Theme from Final Fantasy - London Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Skeet

Jeremy Soule - Dragonborn from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

There's no activity that isn't made better by listening to 'Dragonborn' whilst doing it. None!

Here's Your Dark Souls II Launch Trailer

Not long to go now! Enjoy.

ACTUAL 'Watch Dogs' Release Date Announced In New Trailer - May 27th

A few days ago, you may recall, a story hit the internet about an alleged June 30th release date for Watch Dogs. I think it's fair to say, that release date is wrong. May 27th is your confirmed release date, and here's a shiny new trailer for you to enjoy.

As a side note, I think this is a bad trailer, and makes the game look unoriginal as fuck... If you were wondering.