This sounds grim. Speakers at the upcoming London Games Conference are forecasting that in three years' time, retail would have been outstripped by digital distribution. Not only that, but 40% of the companies in the games industry will be caught unprepared for this shift in consumer choice.

The London Games Festival is set to return for its fourth consecutive run this year beginning on October 24th, 2009. Lead organizer ELSPA has revealed the details of the event, promising "something for everyone." And by everyone, they do mean EVERYONE. Even your parents.

It's been another week, and it seems like life in the Nintendo blogs has picked up a little. Leading this week's charge is the Wii's share of the Resident Evil fever - The Darkside Chronicles, plus rumors of Code Veronica getting a Wii-make. The Conduit, that despite having no MotionPlus support is still holding up pretty well. Check out the details in this week's Nintendo Weekend Warrior.

Mario games have always been popular in the UK, and Super Mario Galaxy proves it by beating out the likes of Fallout 3, Fable II, and even GTA IV for BAFTA's Best Game Award. The GAME Award this year goes to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, as voted on by gamers.

Full list of winners after the link.

Voting for the 2008 BAFTA awards is underway! And which of the games released last year made it to their shortlist of candidates for the awards? LittleBigPlanet? Professor Layton? WoW Wrath? GoW2? GoW Chains? GoWdanggit! There's a lot! Check out the full article for a list of the nominees!

While it won't be another year before we see the judges of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) weigh in their votes for the best video games of 2009, the group has already confirmed a place and date for the upcoming event - the London Park Lane Hilton on March 10, 2009. More in the full article.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Video Games Awards has recently announced that it will hold off its annual awards ceremony and will continue in 2009 instead. The reason why the yearly prestigious event was called off wasn't on account of any bad weather though. You can find out the reason behind this in our full article after the jump.

The father of all things Simlish will now be "up there" among the likes of Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, and Charlie Chaplin. The Sims creator Will Wright is to be inducted into the BAFTA Fellowship - it's an award given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to certain icons in the industry for their creative work.

What's more is that Mr. Wright is the first ever in the video games industry to be given this accolade. With games likeSpore (which is going multiplatform, BTW) in his developer's resumé, we're not surprised. Will Wright getting the Fellowship establishes the fact that BAFTA now recognizes video games as a substantial part of popular culture.

And who begs to disagree? We're sure most of you believe that videos games really do have a lot of impact and contribute a lot to the greater concept of art and moving pictures. Academy Chariman Hilary Bevan Jones states:

Will's immense, creative body of work and his continued contribution to the industry make him a most worthy recipient of the Fellowship and being such a pioneer, we are thrilled that he will be the first person to receive this honour.

The awards ceremonies are to take place in London on the 23rd of October.

 

With 2007's London Games Festival arriving in two weeks' time, organizers have mapped out the game-centric celebration starting October 22 until November 2, 2007. Though the London Games Festival will also coincide with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), it will also return with a bigger collection of consumer-related events.

First up in the organizers' lists is the Video Games Live! concert which is set to take off at opening day. It will be followed by the British Academy Video Games Awards on October 23, coupled with a session presenting Guy Debord's Game of War as part of the London Games Fringe.
 
Dare to be Digital takes flight on October 24 - apparently also the first day of the GameCity Interactive Entertainment Festival to kick off in Nottingham. Dare to be Digital is the London Games Festival's bid to expose the next generation of game developers to PR and marketing, where budding game design students can showcase their projects for attendees to see.

The London Game Career Fair, the London Gamer Geeks Quiz Night, and the Computational Brain fill the rest of the day's events. Attendees can apply for a position in the industry, try their hand at game trivia, or take a peek into the future of game interactivity: controlling games through thought.

Modding get-together Dorkfest - Console Hacks follows on October 25 with technology demo Eyes on the Game close in tow. The two events continue to delve into technology in relation to gaming, with Dorkfest showcasing mod projects made by the craziest folks to even have held a solder gun, and Eyes on the Game presenting how games can be controlled with eye movement.

Zero Gamer and Sense of Play 07 top the closing day schedule for attendees, where participants can flex their neurons and partake in a healthy discussion of how game design is viewed - from both outside and inside the game industry. The refreshing eye-opener will also be coupled by a London Games Fringe spectacle: developer and publisher media showcase of their upcoming games.

Expect London Games Festival 2007 to sport more consumer-related events and business-to-business sessions when it starts on the 22nd.

So many gaming events, so little time: it's time once again for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) gaming awards, and the nominees for the awards up for grabs are revealed after a few months of deciding on which games should make it into the shortlist.

Not surprisingly, a Wii title managed to grab the most number of nominations, seven in all. Nintendo's Wii Sports was nominated for the awards for Best Game, Gameplay, and Innovation, just to name a few. Other games vying for the title of Best Game are Xbox 360's Bioshock, Gears of War, and Kane and Lynch: Dead Men, PC platform's Crysis, and a PlayStation 2 title Guitar Hero II.

43 game titles from different platforms will go neck to neck in grabbing all 13 titles. Wish your favorite games (which made it into the shortlist) best of luck!

Check the Read link for the complete list of nominations!