25 Years of Xbox - FanFest London
I’ve been an Xbox player since the Xbox 360 era, and over the years it’s been the console under or next to my TV through countless late nights, and living with friends at university to now living in my own place with my wife.
More recently that has looked like Game Pass binges and “just one more mission” moments - games like Halo, Gear of War, Cyberpunk 2077, the classic Tomb Raider remasters, working my way through the Telltale Walking Dead series.
As a dev I also have fond memories of developing on the system, using XNA at university and then working for Lift London years back.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the platform and the community around it.
So when Xbox announced a FanFest tour to celebrate 25 years of Xbox - with a London stop - I entered the sweepstakes not thinking much of it. Tickets weren’t on sale, you had to be picked at random. Then the email landed and and excitement started.
I’m a bit slow posting this, but last Saturday (26th September) was the day so I headed over to the East London, and it’s fair to say Xbox pulled out all the stops.
A Birthday Party, Basically
FanFest is Xbox’s 25th anniversary tour - a series of fan events around the world. After a big show in LA back in June (where, famously, every attendee walked out with a free Xbox console - organisers were very clear that wasn’t happening again), the tour hit Cologne during gamescom, Tokyo during Tokyo Game Show, and then on to London with Mexico City, Sydney, Toronto and Seattle still to come.
London was small by convention standards - a few hundred sweepstakes winners, each with a plus-one - which made it feel much more like a fan gathering than a trade show. The venue for the show was the Shoreditch Electric in East London and my wife came along as my plus one.
The one blemish was the queue. It was long, and it moved slowly enough that some people struggled to get in early on. Once inside, though, it was a different story.
Getting Hands-On
The headline for most people was getting to play games that aren’t out yet:
- Fable - Slots filled up fast, but as it got quieter towards the end of the event I was able to steal a few mintues, and this is shaping up to be a wonderful game.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 - This is the one we spent the longest on, and it was fun playing agaisnt my wife who is not a FPS shooter gamer
- Gears of War: E-Day - Same as before - slots filled up fast but we were able to steal a few moments with the game and take a slot for a no-show. Fun, slick and basically felt like the Aliens movie in a game.
- Minecraft Dungeons 2 - I didn’t get to play this, but we did hover and watch some other play and it looked as fun as ever
Top tip if you ever go to one of these: the Fable and Gears slots booked up fast. If there’s a specific game you want to play, head straight there when the doors open - you can wander around after.
Chickens, Corpses and a Pub Quiz
This is where FanFest really set itself apart from a normal demo event. There was far more to do than just play:
- The Chicken Kicker - a Fable-themed booth, and exactly as British and daft as it sounds. We didn’t play this, but it was fun watching others
- Gears laser quest - a Laser Quest-style arena with grenade-throwing targets, and the chance to take down an E-Day corpser. This was one of the highlights of the afternoon
- Controller customisation - I didn’t get mine done, but the artists were very talented. Slots for this filled up pretty quick too, so get in fast.
- Xbox tattoos - yes, actual tattoos and no, I did not.
- Poster signings - This was the main event for swag. As there was two of us we were able to get one of each of the exclusive posters and franchise posters for Skyrim and Starfield.
And then there was the Xbox pub quiz, hosted by Major Nelson and AceyBongos. We were only a team of 2 but managed to get around 8 out of the 10 questions right, which wasn’t bad going.
Having Major Nelson read out quiz questions felt like a very specific kind of full-circle moment for anyone who’s been following Xbox since the 360 days.
The Loot
I wasn’t expecting much, but everyone went home with:
- A FanFest London t-shirt and pint glass
- A Fresh Ego Kid Xbox25 hat
- An 8BitDo Xbox25 controller dock voucher.
- A sealed game which we were late to the party on, and got Kinect Sports - good as a coaster!
…all in a branded bag. On top of that there were three free drinks (including the rather excellent event exclusive “Beers of War”) and subsidised food.
Good Games, Better People
As always, the games were great, but the best bit was the people and the weather really lucked out for us.
There’s a special kind of energy in a room full of people who’ve grown up with the same consoles. Xbox fans are a friendly bunch, and it was easy to strike up conversations in the queue, at the bar or between rounds of the quiz. [TODO: anyone you met, I actually met Major Nelson before in Seattle about 18 years ago, and I mentioned that to him at the event - while he obviously didn’t remember me, it was fun to chat and feel “old”.
It also felt like Xbox was saying thank you. Twenty-five years is a long time, and the day felt less like a marketing exercise and more like a birthday party with the people who’ve stuck around.
If the FanFest tour (or anything like it) comes near you, enter the sweepstakes - it’s free, you just need a bit of luck. And if you win - get there early, make a beeline for the game you most want to play, and leave room in your bag.
Looking forward to Gears of War landing on Game Pass soon!
