1UP 2020
The second edition of the gaming convention 1UP was this weekend and we had a chance to go and check it out. This convention is held in Kortrijk Xpo and is one of the only conventions in Kortrijk. Besides the convention, there is also a conference you could attend where many people from the gaming world come to talk. We, however, only attended the convention this time.
When you enter the hall where 1UP is held you immediately notice the decorations. In this edition, they decided to go for a save the princess game theme. Except for this time, the princess is done waiting and will just save herself instead. This epic turn of events can be seen in 1UP’s trailer that they made announcing their second edition. Many attributes from this trailer where used in the decorations. You can see the princess and demon in the tower that is built in the main hall. They appear through a screen that allows them to be animated and pop up at random times. From the entrance to the tower, there is a little “maze” that is decorated with little plates of characters that you could also see in the trailer such as the sun, hearts, a bird, etc. Even though it looks like a maze, it’s more like a passageway since there are multiple entrances and exits and you wouldn’t really get lost. However, if you were let’s say a kid, then you couldn’t look over the “hedges” and it would be a little more confusing like a maze.
On the other side of the tower is the catwalk where the cosplay competition was held. Speaking of cosplay, there weren’t a lot of cosplayers present at the event. This might have to do with Comic Con Brussels falling on the same date. This is a little bit sad, because there for sure was enough space provided for cosplayers with the cosplay village. In the cosplay village, you could take a picture on the Game of Thrones throne. You could even let a video be taken in front of a green screen and be edited into a different environment.
The hall in which the convention was held did fit the castle game theme of the convention nicely with the wooden pillars that were located at certain spots. It might have been a total coincidence that this hall was assigned to 1UP but if it was picked, it was a great choice. For food options, you had the greenhouse where you could buy food and drinks. As the name already betrays, the restaurant was decorated like a greenhouse, which was pretty but it didn’t totally fit the theme of the convention. However, since it was in the hallway between halls, it didn’t interfere with the other decorations. There were no other stalls that sold food besides one that sold some snacks. There was, however, a bubble tea stand, 8tea5, where you could get different flavors of bubble tea.
1UP is not a typical convention like F.A.C.T.S or Comic Con, it’s based more on discovering and trying out games. If you went to the convention just to look around, you’d be done pretty quickly. If you tried out some games as intended, you could fill up an entire day. A little bit of merch was available with some Funko pops, board games, and posters but this only made up very little of the convention. There was a whole row of VR games that could be tried, and you could even watch along as other people played the game. There were only PC VR games so not really any to try for PS VR. There were a ton of popular PlayStation games present though, as there were a lot of PS4 play stands, even outside the PlayStation area. In the second hall, there was an Esports stage surrounded by a lot of computers and PS4s where many different games could be played, ranging from Fortnite to the latest FIFA. There was also a cool looking truck from Cooler Master in which the PCs were arranged in a cool way and you could watch people play matches against each other.
In the main hall, there was also a kids’ corner with a bouncy castle, a blow-up axe throw game. Next to this kids’ corner was also a knight fight where you put on suits like the sumo fighter game but you get a giant knight head on top of your head and have to knock off your opponent’s head to win the game. The kids’ corner wasn’t really used that much, as the kids that came, obviously wanted to try out the games. There were quite a lot of children with their parent(s) attending the convention, which might have to do with children under 12 being able to enter for free. Creating enthusiasm for gaming is for sure also part of this convention. If you are enthusiastic about games and would want to go work in the industry later on, maybe you’ll even end up in DAE. Digital Arts & Entertainment is a course in Howest in Kortrijk, and they were also present at the convention. They are also one of the organizers and are hoping to bring more gamers to Kortrijk and with it, to their course.
Conclusion
1UP is a fun convention where you can try out many different games. Ranging from already popular games to more unknown indie games. Since the unfortunate case of two conventions at the same time, there weren’t that many people present. The latter was also an advantage as there weren’t any long queues to be able to test a game. The convention wasn’t super big, but you could for sure spend an entire day trying out games, and maybe even competing in some contests. It certainly is also a kid-friendly convention where you could make the newest generation enthusiastic about the magical world of games.
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