IGN Convention attracts thousands
Manama : Thousands of fans attended Bahrain’s largest gaming and pop culture event IGN Convention as it opened yesterday at Bahrain International Circuit. The two-day event was attended by gamers, anime fans, cosplayers, regional and international celebrities as well as pop culture enthusiasts.
This year’s edition featured three main celebrity attractions whom the fans got a chance to interact with. These include actor-director Giancarlo Esposito, best known for the role of Gustavo in “Breaking Bad” TV series; professional wrestler and US Olympic champion ‘Kurt Angle’, who won many championships during his professional career; and world renowned cosplayer Alodia Gosiengfiao.
Video game tournaments for FIFA, Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Overwatch, Counter Strike, League of Legends were also organised. The event also hosted a ‘cosplay competition’ in which participants wore costumes inspired by anime and video games.
“Last year, we have had around 10,000 attendees and the event was a major success. This time, it looks like there is even more interest though we don’t have the actual numbers yet. But at the end of the two days, we are expecting a higher number than last year’s,” an organiser told DT News.
“This is one of the main gaming events in Bahrain so I come here every year. There are not that many gaming tournaments in the Kingdom, and most of the tourneys organised here are small. So it is great to come to IGN and take part in huge gaming tournaments,” said Salah, a avid gamer.
Adel Janahi, who cosplayed as the character Link from the game Legend of Zelda, said that he paid BD50 for his costume.
“I come to IGN every year, but this was the first time that I am coming as a cosplayer. Cosplaying is very interesting, it is really fun. You use your creativity to make the costume perfect and when you see the final result, its really amazing,” Janahi added.
Another cosplayer, Adees, said he managed to pay just BD40 for his costume by doing most of the work.
“Majority of the costume was done by myself, even the make-up was done by me,” he added.
Adees said he coloured himself blue to resemble the character of ‘Nightcrawler’ from X-Men.
“I bought blue paint and put it on myself. I don’t know if I used the correct paint for this, but in the end I got the right result,” he said.
The event, which will conclude today, is being organised by Tarteeb Events Production and Services in partnership with IGN Middle East.
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