This past weekend, my brother and I had the chance to attend EGLX, Canada’s largest video game expo, in Toronto. Worth noting is that this is only the fourth time EGLX has been held, so the convention is still quite young. I left rather impressed with EGLX, and outside of a few minor criticisms, I think it has a lot of potential to be one of Canada’s premiere pop culture expos. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing that happen.
When I arrived at EGLX, the first thing I noticed was the stellar atmosphere. Walking into the main hall, I was greeted by a small amount of artificial fog, illuminated by somewhat dim lights that gave the hall a rather relaxing feeling. The hall was pretty packed, but there were quite a few ottomans for people to sit on in each row of booths. The main issue I had with EGLX was actually the crowds, or at least the expo’s layout for accommodating the crowds. While there were a fair amount of large open spaces, the rows throughout the center were narrow and difficult to navigate. Getting to places was more of a chore than it should have been because of how small the pathways throughout the expo were, so I hope future EGLX events are able to handle large groups of people a bit better.
Crowds aside, EGLX had a decent variety of booths and exhibitors. Everything from plushies to neon Overwatch signs were up for sale, alongside an impressive collection of artists from throughout Canada. Everything, from anime to games to cosplay, was represented through the merch at various stands, so there was definitely something for anyone and everyone. The only issue is that the artist alleys were pretty congested, making it difficult to browse one spot for long.
I think the most impressive thing about EGLX was its variety of guests. Alongside the wide number of known Canadian members of the FGC, quite a few notable YouTubers were at EGLX as guests. Almost the entirety of the Hidden Block team was present, accompanied by a few members of NormalBoots. For those who don’t know, NormalBoots and Hidden Block are two of the most well-known game review networks on YouTube, with members like Jimmy Whetzel, Caddicarus, and The Completionist. These personalities had their own panels and partook in a couple video game tournaments on center stage, which was great for people who may not have been able to make it to the panel.
The game tournaments were quite fun to watch as well, especially since there was quite a solid variety of games being played at one. Halo, Hearthstone, Super Smash Bros Melee, and Dragon Ball FighterZ are only a few of the games that were on the main stage’s enormous screens. Speedruns of Diddy Kong Racing and Cuphead were being done live by the folks at Games Done Adequately, which is essentially Toronto’s take on AGDQ.
Nintendo itself was present at the event, bringing with them a number of Switches for attendees to try out. DOOM, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and a few indie titles were all ready to for visitors to try out, though there didn’t seem to be any unreleased titles present. Indie companies like Studio Monolith and Reptoid Games were set up as well. I was glad to see both AAA and Indie games being represented, as this is an expo meant to celebrate gaming as a whole.
Overall, I really enjoyed my first time at EGLX. While there are a few kinks in its layout, the show itself was quite a lot of fun. I can see myself attending the expo next year, and I’m looking forward to seeing its growth moving forward.
