Digital Nationz 2014: An event for tech heads

Digital Nationz 2014 is back after making a strong debut in 2013. The 2014 event has a lot of new games, as well as more events for people to participate in. There is also a lot of speakers attending too.

From a gaming standpoint, Digital Nationz 2014 concentrated mostly on upcoming games for the Holiday season. If you are a fan of video games, attending Digital Nationz is a good way to see which games might be your cup of tea to buy for anyone this Christmas.

It's worth noting that this year, there was no presence from PlayStation as they did not have their own booth. The only PlayStation related event is developer Simon Barlow speaking about Driveclub. Sadly, the game was not playable at the event and no other PS4 exclusive was there.

For Xbox One fans, there was an impressive display as all of the exclusives were there. The big Killer Instinct screen is back and better than ever since the game has had many updates since last year. This time, you could play on the cool arcade joysticks.

Many other Xbox One exclusives games were there and all of them were playable. This included Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Forza Horizon 2, Sunset Overdrive as well as a host of indie titles. The Halo: Master Chief Collection is multiplayer only, but fun as always. If you loved Halo 2, you will love this remake for sure.

Disney had a huge display for Disney Infinity 2.0 while Sega brought out Alien: Isolation. Alien: Isolation is a scary experience that all horror fans should try out. Speaking of horror, Dying Light was playable in the next booth and scared me as well. Both games are not for kids, but they're great experiences for those that want to feel fear.

Ubisoft arguably had the biggest presence at Digital Nationz 2014 as they showed all of their big guns. The Crew was playable and you were able to pretty much drive anywhere in this game. The game has shaped up nicely since it only had a small showing at last year's event. Assassin's Creed Rogue was also there and showed that last-gen console owners still have a great game to play coming out these Holidays.

Far Cry 4 on PS4 looked and played great. It could have been the best new game of the entire show, but obviously everyone will have differing opinions. There was a cool statue to promote Assassin's Creed Unity. Sadly, the game was not playable but a comprehensive video demo was shown. It's safe to say Ubisoft has another winner on their hands.

Outside of the main show floor of Digital Nationz was a wide variety of other technology products attendees could both try or just look at. One of the best devices I got to experience this year was try the Oculus Rift VR headsets for the first time. I missed out last year, but got to try them on this time around. Oculus Rift is really something you need to experience yourself as words fail to describe how it truly feels.

LG also had a huge presence showcasing a ton of new products. There was an awesome looking 3D 4K television showing Toy Story 3 at the time I was there. It was one of the biggest TV's I had ever seen and the picture quality was excellent. If you are rich and live in a mansion, this TV will be nice to be added to your collection.

Arguably the best thing you will see at Digital Nationz is the Video Game Museum which pretty much has every console ever made on display. If you missed out last year, it's worth taking a look at the museum if you are a huge fan of video game history.

You can also try out some of the old video game consoles too. I got to play Street Fighter II for the Super Nintendo and even Soul Calibur for the Sega Dreamcast. If you are young, you can take a trip to see what games older folks got to play when they were younger. Street Fighter II brought back memories of my own as that is the first game I ever played.

There were a lot of other stuff at the Digital Nationz expo I missed out on trying, although I still had fun at the event a second time around. If you are a technology buff, you'd be mad to miss out going as it's unlike any other event held in New Zealand.

Last but not least, TechDay is at Digital Nationz this year too. We are located on the second floor. Come say hello to us when you have the chance. We would like to meet you all.