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| 505 Companies from 33 Countries to Participate in gamescom From 18 – 22 August 2010, gamescom will be taking place in Cologne for the second time. At the largest trade fair and event highlight for interactive games and entertainment, the site of the Koelnmesse will be transformed into the world's most exciting playground for interactive games. And in 2010 more companies from Germany and abroad will be displaying their products than at the premiere in 2009. Currently 505 exhibitors from 33 countries have already confirmed their participation. Around 230 of those companies are from abroad – an increase of 15 percent compared to the premiere. Overall the share of foreign companies is 45.7 percent (2009: 43.8 percent) On 120,000 square metres of space in Halls 4 to 9, the international games industry – including numerous new exhibitors – will be presenting its world, European and German premieres, accompanied by events and entertainment on the trade fair site and in the city. Koelnmesse and the ideal sponsor of gamescom, the German Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software (BIU), anticipate more than 200 world, European and German premieres – nearly double that of last year. Among other things, the reason for this is the introduction of several hardware innovations for which corresponding games have been developed or further developed. The major themes include new concepts in motion control and game entertainment in 3D. For the first time, the organisers Koelnmesse and the German Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software (BIU) will be presenting an official partner country: Canada. By presenting Canada, one of the world's leading creative centres of the games industry, gamescom is building a bridge from Europe to the North American market. gamescom 2010 will be building on its successful cornerstones of last year's debut. After the games days are kicked off by GDC Europe, media and industry professionals will have access to gamescom starting on Wednesday, 18 August 2010. On Thursday, 10 August 2010, the gates of the trade fair will then open to private visitors. After Friday night, the heart of the city will be dominated by gamescom and the gamescom city festival with games and entertainment galore. New exhibitors and partner country premiere This year gamescom was not only able to increase the number of exhibitors to currently more than 505 companies from 33 countries. Its thematic and international scope is also opening up additional opportunities for trade visitors and trading partners. There are numerous new exhibitors among the nearly 230 foreign companies, including renowned companies such as THQ Entertainment, Nvidia, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra), Roccat, Burda:ic, Parrot S.A., Perfect World Entertainment, Valve Corporation, Trion Worlds, IGG Inc, Riot Games Ltd., InstantAction and the Russian Association of Developers. For the first time, the industry's leading trade fair will be presenting Canada as an official partner country, thus building a bridge between Europe and North America in the business area. Canada is the third-largest manufacturer of video games worldwide and is considered a creative hot spot. Through targeted business development and the establishment of training opportunities in the games industry, Canada now has over 260 companies and 9,000 experts as well as 60 universities with special courses of study in the games industry. The GDC Europe will be celebrating its debut in the business area in the form of a stand as a central meeting point for game developers and creative minds from around the world. The business area is the exclusive trading and business platform at gamescom. This is where European retailers place their orders, especially for the upcoming Christmas trade. In addition, gamescom will feature the participation of numerous other countries with companies from the United States, France and the UK. More than 200 world, European and German premieres In the entertainment area visitors will experience the next level of interactive entertainment up close. More than 200 world, European and German debuts have been announced, including hardware innovations and enhancements as well as blockbuster games that fans are anxiously awaiting. In the entertainment area it will even be possible to test the products that will be available in stores for Christmas. In Hall 8, game fans will find companies such as Nintendo, Namco Bandai, Warner Brothers, Microsoft and THQ, to name but a few. Konami, Sony, Ubisoft, Bigben Interactive, Koch Media, Hama, NVidea and Asus – among others – will be presenting their innovations in Hall 7. In addition to other renowned exhibitors, Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, Square Enix, Bethesda and Take Two Interactive will be presenting their products in Hall 6 Beyond this, the team of leading online and browser game suppliers such as NCsoft, Bigpoint, Trion Worlds, Perfect World, gamigo and Frogster Entertainment will be united in the new "Online World" in Hall 9. The dynamic segment of online and browser games has thus been established as a fixed component of gamescom. ESL, together with Intel, Razer, Roccat and many other suppliers from the hardware and accessories segment, will also be presenting in Hall 9. The gamescom exhibition portfolio thus once again consists of the entire thematic range of the games industry, spanning hardware to PC and video games, to online and browser games. The best games and products being presented for the first time at gamescom will be evaluated by an independent jury of experts and subsequently presented with the gamescom Award 2010. This year the "Best Hardware Accessory" award will be given for the first time. More services, scope and presentations, as well as a new "Meet & Eat Area" in Hall 10 complete the event concept of gamescom 2010. From retro to a European e-sports championship – the supporting programme at gamescom 2010 Beyond the latest developments and premieres, the entertainment area at gamescom in Halls 6-9 is one big interactive playground with a great deal of entertainment and a huge supporting programme. One of the numerous top events is the ASUS European Nations Championship, the European championship for professional e-sports. This event will be held by the Electronic Sports League (ESL). With a march-in by the national teams with flags and national anthems, the authentic atmosphere of a large sporting event is guaranteed. At the 9th International Case Modding Championships, computer cases will be transformed into veritable works of art. The audience can be right at the heart of the action during live modding and follow the metamorphosis from grey cases to true masterpieces. The Retro Gaming exhibition by Rene Meyer showcases the history of video games from their beginnings 35 years ago until today. For those looking to enter the games industry or move within it, the Jobs & Career Centre in Hall 8 features companies and contacts from the entire games industry in addition to 250 vacancies. Here companies will present themselves and interact with potential applicants. Right next door, the programme on the events stage in Hall 8 promises exciting variety, ranging from artists and music to issues on media competence and youth protection. For those in need of rest and relaxation, the gamescom beach, which features music in a lounge atmosphere, invites you to take a short break outside before heading to the next point on the gamescom agenda. gamesCompetence How to deal with interactive entertainment correctly is an important issue for children and young people, parents and teachers as well as representatives from the political sphere. That is why gamescom is once again devoting an entire section in Hall 8 and in the Congress Centre to the aspects of youth protection, media competence and media education with the gamesCompetence exhibition area. This year gamesCompetence consists of the pillars: · NRW Youth Forum – Offers by young people for young people · Presentations and information on initiatives and institutions · Media education-related content on the stage in Hall 8 · gamescom conference held by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia · Networked communication between the individual sub-areas More than 40 companies will be exhibiting in the gamesCompetence area alone. In addition, the ideal sponsor of gamescom, the German Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software (BIU) is carrying out special educational work in the area of computer games with the industry initiative "Games connect", the aim of which is to promote public discourse about computer and video games. The advice and information platform www.spielen-verbindet.de provides parents and guardians, game fans and educators with comprehensive informational material on the topics of youth protection, media competence and gaming culture. As part of gamescom, "Games connect" will have its own counter in the gamesCompetence information area in Hall 8. This year the highlight of the gamesCompetence programme will again be the gamescomCongress conference, which is organised by the state government of NRW together with the city of Cologne and the BIU. It will take place on 19 August in the Grosser Rheinsaal at Koelnmesse's Congress Centre North and will address current debates in computer gaming culture. In addition to numerous keynote speeches, panels and presentations, high-ranking politicians and leading industry experts will discuss the current perspectives of the games industry in a top-level talk. The conference is primarily geared towards stakeholders from the games industry, representatives from politics, culture and the press as well as multipliers in the areas of education and parenting. gamescom festival also transforms the city centre into an interactive playground write your comments about the article :: © 2010 Game News :: home page |