EG just announced that its 2010 Expo will take place in London’s Earl’s Court.

This is the Expo’s third year, with the 2010 event running from October 1-3.

Last year’s event was a two-venue affair, with one held in Leeds and one in London. Looks as though that’s been knocked on the head: Earl’s Court’s a major venue, and the company said this morning capacity’s been up to 20,000.

Last year Heavy Rain, Brink and more got big preview sessions, and thousands got to play 2009′s Christmas games early.

There’s more on Eurogamer.

Valve’s finally confirmed proper details on Left 4 Dead 2′s Realism mode, saying it’ll be playable at all difficulty settings, will remove character glows to force teams to greatly increase communication, and give the Witch super-kill powers.

“Realism mode isn’t just making Expert harder,” Valve boss Chet Faliszek said at the London leg of the EG expo last week.

“We have our four skill levels again, and you can play Realism mode with any of them.

“We find that people play with the same people a lot… And those teams don’t necessarily want to play Expert or Hard, they want to be challenged as a team.”

Faliszek outlined an intrigued proposition at the Expo, one designed to take closely knit player-groups to the limit.

“It’s real easy to say, ‘Let’s make the creatures harder for you to kill and you easier to kill.’ It’s less interesting,” he added.

“With this, we remove the glows, we make events like the Witch more important now, because if the Witch hits you once, she kills you. And you die. You don’t come back.

“There’s no safe closets. You can use the defib to get back, but your team has to do that for you.”

No glows? No glows.

“Way back in development of Left 4 dead 1 we didn’t have glows for a while, and it was really frustrating and hard,” Faliszek said.

“The first time you turn around, and you run off by yourself and you’re going to get something out of this building, and you turn and go, ‘I’ve got the pipe bomb! Oh, man, where is everybody?’ And you have no idea. It’s a really different experience.

“Realism mode is really about pushing the skill of the team.”

Left 4 Dead 2 hits on November 17. The 360 demo’s out now for all Gold subs.

Didn’t attend the Eurogamer Expo? Didn’t catch the Q&A that Tom Bramwell and Ellie Gibson did in London? Dont worry, the site has you covered by giving you all 40 minutes of it.

Oh, and there is the stark realisation that no one has a PSPgo. Oh dear.

Find it through here.

Quantic Dream’s David Cage has revealed that the PlayStation 3 is “the best platform” available for Heavy Rain.

He was speaking at his Q&A session during the Eurogamer Expo in London on Saturday, where he said the choice to make the game for the PS3 was down to two reasons: the hardware and the architecture

“Whatever I answer, my answer will be suspicious… I think it had to be on PlayStation 3 for two main reasons: the hardware, the architecture of the PS3 is extremely powerful in the way it is structured. If you make a real PS3 engine, then you can have really fantastic performances. If you try to port from another platform, then it becomes difficult,” said Cage.

“This is a console we all love at the studio. I play PSOne, PS2, it’s really a part of my culture. The controller is part of my home… and it’s a really, really powerful console.

“I’m not so much into graphics, to be honest with you, I don’t believe you need ultra realistic graphics to get emotion, you can get that with very low graphics. But we wanted to create emotion from believable characters, that was the idea. With this approach PS3 was by far the best platform.”

Find more over at PushSquare. Catch some video we captured of the demo that was on the show floor at the Expo last week in Leeds here.

It’s out next year.

Didn’t get on the MAG beta? Want to know what the Zipper shooter actually looks like in action?

Hit the link. We shot this off-screen at the EG Expo in Leeds earlier this week.

PS3-only, out next year. For the record, someone else was playing the game.

Update – Stewart told us this morning the game’s actually out in December.

Just Add Water boss Stewart Gilray said at the EG Expo yesterday that PSN-only vector-graphics shooter Gravity Crash is to release in November.

That’s the European date, apparently, with a Japanese release happening soon after.

Thanks, PS3Center.

Splash Damage boss Paul Wedgwood has said that PC-only projects simply cannot attract enough money from publishers to create triple-A results.

“About two or three years ago we realised that we really wouldn’t survive if we only made PC games, since purely making PC games was incompatible with our goal of making triple-A games,” said the developer, demoing current project Brink yesterday at the EG Expo in Leeds.

“You just can’t get the publisher budget to ever [use] an orchestra in London, and then go and record at Abbey Road and get the best voice actors if you’re only going to release on the PC, where there isn’t the sales to justify that kind of work.”

Wedgwood added: “Because we needed to make that transition, I started playing console games,” and that he now plays “a lot more time playing console stuff” than PC games.

Wedgwood’s background is from the PC mod scene. He told the Expo audience that he originally resisted console gaming because he considered himself to be “hardcore PC guy,” but “loved it” and got “more and more into it”.

For the record, Brink looks properly, properly awesome. Hopefully we’ll be able to show it to you soon. It’s out for PC, 360 and PS3 next spring.

Immediate joy. Hit the link to see video of two laps from Black Rock crash-racer Split/Second, filmed off-screen at today’s EG Expo in Leeds.

Surprise of the show. It’s the most instant fun we’ve had with a car and a games console for a long time.

The game’s out for PC, PS3 and 360 early next year.

Hit the link for eight minutes of God of War III gameplay, shot off-screen today at the EG Expo in Leeds.

It’s a bit bonkers, to be honest. This is filmed from the E3 code.

Off you go. It’s out next year.

Splash Damage boss Paul ‘Locki’ Wedgwood just confirmed in a Brink EG Expo session that the game will have dedicated servers for multiplay. He made a proper point of it, in fact.

He said the aim is to have free, dedicated servers for the title available on day one. As you’d hope.

We’ll go back through the recording and dig out the quotes in a bit.

We weren’t allowed to film in the session – which featured a long gameplay demo – or take any photos, unfortunately. It looked pretty damn swish.

It’s out for PC, PS3 and 360 next spring.

The Leeds leg of EG Expo 2009 is now open, with over 1,000 gamers having queued through the morning outside the Armouries in the city’s centre.

It’s completely sold out for both today and tomorrow, so don’t turn up if you don’t have a ticket: you won’t get it.

Hit the link for pics from the queue and showfloor. It’s proper bonkers in here. For the rest of our EG Expo coverage, hit this.

Hit the link for a five-minute movie of the Hassan’s Shop section of Heavy Rain. This is shot off-screen from the GamesCom build at today’s Eurogamer Expo in Leeds.

The section sees an investigator, Shelby, going into a shop, talking to the shopkeeper and… well, take a look.

The PS3 exclusive’s out early next year. For all the rest of the news from the EG Expo today, hit this.

Hit the link for a video of Eurogamer’s Craig Munro killing the shit out of the Dante’s Inferno Limbo boss. This is shot off-screen from the E3 build set up at today’s Eurogamer Expo in Leeds.

The game’s out early next year. To be honest, it really does look fucking hot in the flesh.

Check it out.

Eurogamer Expo’s on in Leeds today, and we’re here in the drizzle. We’ll be updating all day with videos, images and news, and all articles will be linked here.

The show’s a sell-out. It’s on at the Royal Armouries in Leeds and is home to playable versions of God of War III, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age and loads more. Check the movies of the showfloor to see what people are playing today.

For everything we’ve written on the Expo in the run-up to today, hit this.

• Brink boss – PC-only sales cannot “justify” triple-A budgets
• EG Expo – Split/Second video does the proper awesome
• EG Expo – God of War III, eight minutes of gameplay video
• Brink single-player to “compete” with “Halo, Call of Duty, Gears”
• Brink to have dedicated servers
• Pics – EG Expo kicks off, over 1,000 through doors in an hour
• EG Expo – Full Dante’s Inferno boss battle video, Limbo level
• EG Expo – Pre-opening movies from the showfloor
• EG Expo set-up in photos

Hit the link for videos of EG Expo Leeds’ two halls. See the play stations for God of War III, Mass Effect 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and more.

The show’s on today. It’s a sell-out. Here are some shots we took of the set-up last night. We’ll show you what it looks like covered in “kids” later on.

If you’re wondering why the site hasn’t been updated much since the early evening yesterday, it’s because I was travelling up to the Eurogamer Expo in Leeds, which opens today. Get some pics of the unopened show and the Eurogamer crew setting it up after the break.

As you can see, some of the industry’s biggest upcoming games are going to be playable at the event today, including Heavy Rain, Mass Effect 2 and God of War III.

We’ll be there all day, covering panels on games like Brink, and hopefully grabbing some videos of the bigger stuff for you as we go along.

And remember – the show’s completely sold out, as is its London leg later this week. There are no tickets on the door, either, so if you didn’t buy one you’ll have to wait until next year.

If you were thinking of going to the Eurogamer Expo in either Leeds or London next week, you’d better get on it for tickets. EG sent out a press release this afternoon saying tickets are about to dry up.

Tickets are still available for Wednesday 28th October in Leeds, but the other three days of the event – including two in London on 30th and 31st October – are now fully booked.

Tickets are expected to sell out completely tomorrow. More than 11,000 have been sold in total.

No tickets are available on the door. If you’re part of the trade, can still get tickets by contacting expo@eurogamer.net in advance.

Hit this for more info, and get the PR after the break.

Tickets running out for next week’s Eurogamer Expo Press Release Brighton, England, 21st October 2009: Next week’s Eurogamer Expo has almost sold out, organiser Eurogamer and partner HMV are pleased to announce, with over 11,000 tickets purchased so far. Tickets are still available for Wednesday 28th October in Leeds, but the other three days of the event – including two in London on 30th and 31st October – are now fully booked. Tickets are expected to sell out completely tomorrow. This year’s event promises to be the most successful ever, with 16 publishers showing 46 different playable titles across all platforms. Show highlights include:
 The Show Floor: the first UK showings of Aliens vs. Predator, Assassin’s Creed II, God of War III, Heavy Rain, Left 4 Dead 2′s Scavenge Mode, Mass Effect 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Red Steel 2, Split/Second and more – all playable.
 Indie Arcade: 14 fantastic independent games will also be playable on the show floor.
 PSP Go/Go Chill Out Cafe: Gamers will be able to get hands-on with a variety of titles on the PSP Go in its own dedicated area.
 HMV: The show’s headline sponsor and retail partner will be selling games on-site.
 The Developer Sessions: Top international game developers including David Cage (Quantic Dream/Heavy Rain), Chet Faliszek (Valve/Left 4 Dead 2), Paul Wedgwood (Splash Damage/Brink), Guillaume Voghel and Alex Hutchinson (EA Montreal/Army of Two: the 40th Day) will be presenting their games in the theatre area.
 GamesIndustry.biz Career Fair: Recruiters, including Crytek, Rare, Relentless Software, Starbreeze, Ubisoft and Team 17, will be on-site talking about career opportunities at their companies.
 BAFTA Surgeries: BAFTA returns to provide students and graduates the chance to discuss their career options directly with experienced games industry professionals.
 Social events: A variety of social events have popped up around the event including the Eurogamer forum meets, Show & Yell and the LittleBigPlanet Mini Fan Meet.
 Competitions and giveaways: SteelSeries and others will be giving gamers the opportunity to grab some free gear in various competitions.
“It’s been nine months in planning but we’re now only a few days from opening the doors to Eurogamer Expo 2009,” said Rupert Loman, managing director of Eurogamer. “Judging by the number of emails and calls we’re getting since London sold out, we could have sold twice as many tickets as we made available. This bodes very well for our plans for next year.” In other recent developments, NVIDIA and Acer have been unveiled as the official PC partner for the event, and over 500 journalists have signed up to attend – including broadcast television and radio channels, magazines and websites.
For a full list of what’s on, visit: http://expo.eurogamer.net/whats-on.php
NO TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE DOOR. Members of the games industry can still get tickets by contacting expo@eurogamer.net in advance.
More information on the Eurogamer Expo can be found at http://expo.eurogamer.net

The split-stage Eurogamer Expo’s confirmed a string of top-flight developer sessions, GI reports.

Team 17 be talking Alien Breed in Leeds on October 27-28. Paul Wedgwood will also be doing a Brink presentation at the event.

Introversion’s Mark Morris will demo Darwinia+ in Leeds, as will Stewart Gilray from Just Add Water with the PSN-exclusive Gravity Crash.

London sessions for October 30-31 include Nick Baynes demoing Black Rock racer Split/Second, and Quantic Dream showing off Heavy Rain.

There’s more through there.

Sony’s confirmed MAG, God of War 3, Heavy Rain, Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for this year’s EG Expo.

The Eurogamer Expo 2009 is being held in Leeds and London, starting up north on October 27-28, before heading to London on October 30-31.

Buy tickets and get more info here.

Eurogamer Expo 2009 just announced its full publisher line-up, and it’s pretty much “complete,” from the look of it.

Sony, Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, Eidos, Sega, Capcom, Konami, 2K, Bethesda, Namco and Deep Silver will all have playable games on hand.

This year’s show is split over two UK locations. The Leeds event is being held at The Royal Armouries on October 27-28, followed by a London leg at Old Billingsgate October 30-31.

Games confirmed so far include Assassin’s Creed II, Halo 3: ODST, Borderlands, Tekken 6, Left 4 Dead 2, Dante’s Inferno and Aliens vs. Predator. Expect an awful lot more to be announced as we get closer to the show.

Buy tickets here. PR after the break.

Games industry shows widespread support for Eurogamer Expo 2009

Press Release

Brighton, England, 12th August 2009: Eurogamer is pleased to announce that 12 of the games industry’s biggest publishers have signed up for this year’s Eurogamer Expo.

Sony, Microsoft, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft will all bring playable games to the event, along with Eidos, SEGA, Capcom, Konami, 2K Games, Bethesda, Namco Bandai and Deep Silver.

The Eurogamer Expo will take place in two cities this year to give even more gamers the opportunity to attend. The Leeds event is being held at The Royal Armouries on 27th and 28th October. The London event will be hosted at Old Billingsgate on 30th and 31st October, as part of the London Games Festival. The Expo is in partnership with hmv.

Games playable at the event will include Christmas blockbusters Assassin’s Creed 2, Halo 3: ODST, Borderlands, Tekken 6 and Left 4 Dead 2. Expo visitors will also get to go hands-on with games slated for release in 2010 such as Dante’s Inferno and Aliens vs. Predator. More games will be announced during the build-up to the event.

“This year’s event is coming together really well,” said Rupert Loman, managing director of Eurogamer. “We’ve got some fantastic games on show and ticket sales are miles ahead of last year. With such great support from the industry we’re on course to making the Eurogamer Expo the UK’s best gaming event.”

The Indie Games Arcade will also make a return to the Eurogamer Expo in 2009. A raft of well-known and not so well-known indie titles will be on show, including games from Tunatech, Introversion, Robert Fearon, Hayden Scott-Baron, Rudolf Kremers and Alex May.

Visitors to the Expo will also gain entry to the GamesIndustry.biz Career Fair. Some of the world’s leading games studios will attend including Crytek, Starbreeze and Team17. In addition the BAFTA surgeries will return, giving students and graduates the chance to discuss their career options directly with experienced games industry professionals.

Tickets for the Eurogamer Expo are priced at £6 per day. They are available now via http://expo.eurogamer.net.

Exhibitor space at the event is now limited. All last minute enquiries should be directed to David Lilley: david@eurogamer.net / +44 (0)7779 224 138

EA’s confirmed its Eurogamer Expo line-up. And here it is:

• Need for Speed: Shift
• Need for Speeed: Nitro
• The Saboteur
• FIFA 10
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Dante’s Inferno
• Brutal Legend
• The Beatles: Rock Band
• Left 4 Dead 2

The event takes place on October 27-28 in Leeds, then on October 30-31 in London. Buy a ticket here.

Aliens Vs Predator and Bayonetta will both be playable at this year’s Eurogamer Expo, it’s just been confirmed.

The event takes place on October 27-28 in Leeds, followed by October 30-31 dates in London.

More details here.

There will be two Eurogamer Expos this year, it was confirmed this morning, another in London and, for the first time, an event in Leeds.

The Leeds show will take place first, running October 27-28. The Expo hits London on October 30-31.

HMV’s sponsoring, and Eurogamer’s expecting 14,000 gamers to turn up.

Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are all involved, EG said this morning, and further publishers are to be announced in the “coming months”.

Tickets are on sale at the official site now, priced £6 per day.

Press release after the break.

Press Release

Brighton, England, 7th May 2009: Following on from a hugely successful inaugural event, Eurogamer is pleased to announce that the Eurogamer Expo is set to return later this year.

Partnered with hmv, this year’s event will be taking place in two cities – London and Leeds. The London event will take place on October 30th and 31st at Old Billingsgate – over 80,000 square feet of top grade exhibition space. The Leeds event – in association with Game Republic and Screen Yorkshire – will debut at The Royal Armouries on October 27th and 28th.

This year’s Eurogamer Expo is sponsored by hmv, who are also the show’s official retail partner, meaning that gamers will be able to buy games at the event as well as play them. In total, the two events will cater for up to 14,000 gamers – a huge increase from the first event, which was a sell-out.

The Eurogamer Expo is about putting the best games in the hands of gamers. Many publishers have already signed up to exhibit their biggest titles of this Christmas and beyond, and these will be announced over the coming months.

The website for the 2009 event is live now at http://expo.eurogamer.net, where tickets are already on sale, priced at £6 per day.

Eurogamer managing director Rupert Loman said: “I think we struck a chord with gamers and the games industry last year. The formula was simple and we’re sticking to it – great games to play, a great price for consumers and excellent value for exhibitors. We’re delighted to have the support of hmv this year along with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo again”.

Taking place alongside the Expo is the GamesIndustry.biz Career Fair, the UK’s premier recruitment event for the games industry. More activities taking place at the event will be announced soon.

VG247 is an official media partner of Eurogamer Expo 2009, it’s been confirmed.

Eurogamer Network said this morning that this year’s event will take place in London and Leeds at the end of October. Get all details here.

Our involvement in the show means you’ll be getting all the action from both events right here this autumn.

Hit up the Expo’s site to see our lovely logo in the sidebar and buy tickets at £6 per day.

Eurogamer Network MD Rupert Loman said today that the now-announced Eurogamer Expo would be a “great place” for publisher announcements, saying the event is unique in terms of getting pre-release games in the hands of British fans.

“It’s going to be a similar format to last year – lots and lots of playable games,” he said. “I’m not sure publishers have many announcements to make at that time of year, generally – but if they did, it’d be a great place for them to do it.

“More important for us is to get some games that are playable at the show that have never been played by the public before.”

The expo will take place on two sites this October, firstly in Leeds and then in London. Last year’s show was a South-only affair.

“When we asked people how far they traveled to come to last year’s event the vast majority said less than 100 miles,” Loman added. “It’s a bit of a stretch to travel for more than two hours each way to come to an event for one day.

“As a result there’s millions of gamers in the north of England that don’t have any kind of event like this, so instead of getting them to come to us, we’re going to them.”

The Expo, as it stands, remains unchallenged in the UK, a fact that hasn’t been lost on the exec.

“The reason we started the Expo is because there was nothing like it in the UK – and that’s still the case,” he said. “So in terms of actually playing the biggest games this Christmas, I’m not sure if there’s anywhere else to go.”

VG247 is an EG Expo media partner. Full details here. Buy tickets from the official official site.

Eurogamer Expo 2009′s shown its face today, promising to announce details of venue, and so on, on May 8.

The event will take place from October 27-31 this year.

The show now has a Facebook page and a Twitter account.

Go be its “friend”.