The other week my Australian Correspondent buddy Nicholas and I teamed up to take on the EB expo in the tropical paradise of the Gold Coast, Queensland.

Being the games retail outlet/juggernaut that EB is within Australia, this expo was shaping up to be big, loud, exciting and maddeningly awesome. Well, they got the first two bits right...

We arrived at our hotel (which shall remain unnamed due to editorial professionalism) on Friday before the event, were promptly overcharged by more than double the cost that was advertised on their website when we made the reservation, and found out that our free wifi reached as far as two meters away from our door. Deciding against writing articles whilst hanging precariously out of the top floor window of our room's adjacent stairwell, we took it upon ourselves to instead prepare for the following day. We were eagerly anticipating what the weekend would bring, and what wonders would be displayed by Nintendo at this grand spectacle. Nothing on the website beforehand looked like anything we hadn't seen before, but hopes were high. The Nintendo Connection Tour had just showcased big hitters like Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Kid Icarus and, most importantly, Skyward Sword, and we were eager to get our hands on something new.

On Saturday morning we made our way to the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, where one thing was clear: the place was packed. The entire ticket alotment for the expo was sold out, and people had come in droves to get a glimpse of what was to come from the game industry. The lines were so long and so densely populated that they had in fact been routed directly in front of the press sign-in desk, making collecting our passes an unnecessarily difficult chore. Eventually we were able to squeeze through and gain entry to the show.

It was immediately noticeable how dark the interior of the expo was. Whether this was to make the game screens easier to see, or to compliment the various spotlights and laser effects being beamed around the walls and ceilings, or simply to put the sun-fearing gamer attendants at ease, is anyone's guess. The setups by the various developers were amazing, lights flashed and speakers pumped, people swarming to the booths to see what was on show. We passed a Sega display with Mario & Sonic at the London Olympic Games, some custom PC case manufacturers, and another Sega booth showing Sonic Generations on the 360, and there was Nintendo's setup. Very similar to the Connection Tour showcase from a few weeks ago, they were the same decorations and almost the exact same layout, and the same games...mostly.

New displays on show were Xenoblade, Kirby Mass Attack and Professor Layton, and a few TVs had been set up with Virtual Console games, classic Zelda titles, Super Mario Bros 3 and Mario Kart 64 among others.

Nothing particularly exciting, but no matter, it was a chance to get some extended play time of Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. The small partition which held the majority of the 3DS consoles unfortunately had all demos of Skyward Sword in the same area, making it extremely crowded and very difficult to secure a spot playing the game.

Sadly, this was about the extent of Nintendo's presence at the expo - one small booth and one Wii game at Sega's setup. From a Nintendo fan's perspective, the majority of the expo was very one-sided and it seems like their presence was more of an afterthought of EB's planners, as almost every other display was either focused on 360 or the latest Playstation Move gimmick.

Every few hours fans were invited to head to the "EB Arena" to view a demonstration of some upcoming new game, but again there wasn't anything newsworthy from a NWR point of view. A few times we asked the wandering EB expo staff for directions to a particular area, or the arena ushers what show was currently going on or coming up next, and there was a generally consistent response of confusion and uncertainty - the staff weren't all that organized about the expo they themselves were running, you'd think they'd have at least been primed on the basic schedule of events.

All that said though, the expo was a lot of fun. The Nintendo stuff on show, if hardly anything new, was of the best standard and I was able to form some solid opinions of the games on show - listen to Connectivity episode 5 to hear Nick and I discuss said impressions. 

I also had the chance to check out some of the other games I've been interested in, such as Arkham City and Assassin's Creed Revelations, but that's another story.

Overall the weekend was a great experience. Lots to see, cosplayers to meet, games to play and we even had an exciting tropical storm to cool down the air in that scorching Queensland climate.

There's not much else to say about the expo itself, but check the gallery below for pictures, and come back soon for my accumulated gallery of cosplay photos taken at this and Manifest 2011.