Let down by ChinaJoy? This Beijing convention could be the one you’re looking for

Every year, people roll their collective eyes at ChinaJoy, with its focus on booth babes, adverts, and little else. Meanwhile, the US has multiple events that celebrate gamer and geek culture, rather than merely hiring models in costume. But after two successful years as a strictly tabletop affair, one Beijing convention seeks to provide that experience to gamers sick of ChinaJoy’s eye-candy parade. It hopes to fill a gap in the market by being China’s first convention run by gamers, for gamers.

(See: Why do Chinese gamers wish ChinaJoy was more like Comic-Con?)

Now in its third year, Khan Kon had humbler origins. Co-founder Dan Bass recalls that the original purpose of the event was just “to do a gaming retreat thing”, and invite a few friends for gaming. However the event morphed into Khan Kon even before it could be held. “We had over 30 people at our first year’s “retreat”!” Bass said.

The following year, the event was held outside the city in a larger space, and attendance doubled. But being outside the city meant attendees had to take a long bus to reach the convention space—this year, the event will be held inside the city, “to be more accessible,” Bass explains.

Bass is a well-known figure among Beijing’s tabletop gamers. Through Reddit, he organises regular board game sessions, and is starting to help organise Magic: The Gathering and roleplaying games also. His plans for Khan Kon are on grander scale than these weekly meetups, however—”expand, expand, expand” is his mantra for this year’s convention. In addition to adding Magic: The Gathering to the board game and roleplaying sections of the con, he’s also overseeing the inclusion of video games in the event for the first time. Which is where the newest member of the team comes in.

Sam Rosenblum is the driving force behind getting video games into Khan Kon. He’s an old hand at organizing game events on an amateur and student level. While he has worked on smaller, typically student events before, his role as organizer for Khan Kon will be a step forward.

On the table so far are Ultra Street Fighter IV (USF4) and Hearthstone, both of which have strong followings amongst expats and local Beijingers alike. There’s also talk of hosting a tournament for the latest Super Smash Bros, which will release just weeks before the event.

(See: The China vs. Korea Masters: who are the best Hearthstone players in Asia?)

One pressing question is how far locals factor into their plans. It’s a show run by expats, and so far, seems aimed pretty squarely at other expats. According to Bass, however, this is not the case. When asked what success he’s had in past in attracting local attendees, he replied: “tremendous success, actually.”

However, attendees being able to communicate still provides “the biggest barrier,” he claimed. “It is tough sometimes to have them game together”. Attendance by Chinese players doubled between the first and second years, to 20 percent. That number is expected to increase this year.

Rosenblum accepted that on the video games side of things, there were challenges. Chinese gamers are accustomed to internet cafes, arcades, and mobile gaming. Consoles meanwhile aren’t really as much of a part of gaming culture. But he still remained optimistic: “It’s true that consoles aren’t as prevalent in China, and we don’t currently plan on hosting a LoL (League of Legends) tournament, but luckily the games that we’ve chosen to represent our “official” digital offerings are also popular in arcades (USF4) and on PC and tablets (Hearthstone).”

He also went on to talk about introducing unfamiliar titles to Chinese gamers who’ve lived under the infamous console ban for over a decade: “our free play area will have variety of fun, accessible multiplayer games (like Nintendoland) and volunteers to help guide newer players who want to give them a try. I think this will be a great way to bring together existing Chinese fans of digital gaming and make new fans as well.”

(See: Cultural differences: how China’s console ban has affected its gaming culture)

Although not everything is set in stone, Khan Kon is planned to host a variety of events. Firstly, its organizers are making efforts to reach out to game developers. If all goes as planned, it will host discussion panels, and feature these developers’ new games at the show. But the main priority is still offering gamers “the ability to play a ton of games and meet more gaming friends”. The show will feature tournaments in addition to a ‘free play’ area for the less competitive folk. Panels on game design and play strategy, like “How to not get your ass kicked at Street Fighter 101″” are also said to be a possibility.

And as if the fan-focus wasn’t enough to make the con resemble a small-scale PAX, Rosenblum remarked ”we’re going to rip a page out of the excellent Penny Arcade Expo playbook and throw our own Omegathon.” PAX’s ‘Omegathon’ being a yearly event where attendees compete through a kind of gaming decathalon, with games from different genres, before a final face-off in an unannounced (and frequently comedic) mystery game.

Khan Kon’s website has details of the venue, timing, its location. The convention is to be held on the weekend of October 25-26, though tickets are not yet available. Since the video game side of the event is still unconfirmed, no details of it have gone up on the website. When more details are announced, you’ll be able to find them here at Games in Asia.

Read more about Chinese games conventions:

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The post Let down by ChinaJoy? This Beijing convention could be the one you’re looking for appeared first on Games in Asia.

The post Let down by ChinaJoy? This Beijing convention could be the one you’re looking for appeared first on Games in Asia.