San Diego Comic-Con Approaches, Here’s What We’re Looking Forward To

One of the biggest events of the year in nerd culture is coming: San Diego Comic-Con kicks off on Wednesday, and Thumb Throne will be in the house.

While it is important to mention that SDCC is quite unlike trade shows like E3 or the more gaming-centric affairs like PAX, there is still a healthy gaming presence at the show—one we’ll try our best to check out (lines and waiting permitting).

While some of it is stuff we’ve seen before, like the Nintendo Lounge which will be featuring heavy doses of Super Smash Bros. Wii U, including a tournament being hosted on the 3DS version of the game. Bayonetta 2 will also be there, as will the newer Sonic Boom (which we never got our hands on at E3), and games like Hyrule Warriors. There will be an entire booth solely for Smash Bros. on the floor, so you’ll need a badge for that. If you don’t have a badge, though, you can check out Nintendo’s offerings over in the Mariott end of the convention center, which is public. You can also indulge your competitive spirit in a variety of Mario Kart 8 events and there’s even a show that will livestream a number of Nintendo-based challenges.

Microsoft is showing up in force, as well. The public is getting its first shot at games like Sunset Overdrive, Evolve, The Evil Within, and many others. Like Nintendo, Microsoft is going to have a dedicated gaming area located in the Hyatt nearby. The list of games there is pretty impressive, actually:

• Forza Horizon 2
• Fable Legends
• Ori and the Blind Forest
• Kinect Sports Rivals
• Forza 5
• Disney Infinity 2.0
• The Crew
• Lego Batman 3
• Dance Central Spotlight

And that’s not even half of the list. Microsoft is also hosting a number of tournaments and events in their lounge, with Titanfall and Forza tournaments on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in addition to a Killer Instinct tournament on Sunday (the most violent game here on Kids’ Day? Hmm).

Nerd HQ is back outside the convention center for the general public to get into, and they’re partnering directly with SEGA to show off Sonic Boom, and should the desire to be absolutely terrified strike you, Alien Isolation will also be available for play there.

If you feel like getting a little more physical with your games, Ubisoft is sneaking their stuff into both the Nintendo and Xbox lounges, but also has a huge presence outside the con in the form of the Assassin’s Creed Experience: a huge obstacle course that will task people who brave it with a series of freerunning-type moves and challenges, including a 25 foot “Leap of Faith”, to win prizes. The single player demo for Assassin’s Creed Unity will be on display there, though it doesn’t appear to be playable quite yet.

Square Enix is of course in the game, as well, hosting an entire arcade in conjunction with the fine folks over at Deep Silver. Some of the stuff we’ve seen, Theatrhythm: Curtain Call and the Kingdom Hearts 2.5 games, for instance, but we’ll also be able to check out Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Nosgoth, the mobile Hitman: Sniper and Hitman GO, as well as the Metro Redux games and Sacred 3.