Sega's got a huge offering of games lined up for Games Convention 2008, and it's positively exciting to note how many games will show up on the Business and Consumer sides of the exhibition floor. Interested in knowing what they'll be showcasing? Then head on over to the full article for details!

It seems that dropping out of trade shows is in vogue right now with many gaming publishers dropping out of the ESA. Nintendo is also following suit, but instead of ditching ESA and E3, Nintendo decided to withdraw from this year's Leipzig Games Convention. It's not because of criticism, however. More details in the full article.

Gamers who are looking to attend the upcoming Games Convention 2008 can expect a treat as the Video Games Live Symphony Orchestra will be performing a concert to kick off the start of the event. Featured during the concert is American star pianist Martin Leung, along with conductor Jack Wall. For more details on this night of sight and sound, check out the full article.

Looks like the most popular gadget in Europe this Christmas is the Wii if online searches are anything to judge by. According to the figures released by comScore Inc., the gadgets most frequently searched for in online engines in Europe during the first three weeks of November is the Nintendo Wii followed by the iPod. Next comes the DS lite, the PSP and the iPhone. More in the full article.

If you're short on ideas on what to give that gamer friend or relative, then you may want to consider this option: advance tickets to the Games Convention 2008 in Leipzig! It's never too soon to grab your tickets for one of next year's biggest gaming events, after all.

Check out the GC Christmas campaign freebies and other information in the full article!

 

Adding to a starry lineup of game publishers and developers planning to arrive at the big Leipzig bash, Atari and Ubisoft will be tagging along with a good share of games to present at Games Convention (GC) 2007 exhibition. 360-Gamer reports that Paris-based Ubisoft will feature a line of promising games, while Atari will sport a few contenders of its own.

Ubisoft's list includes heavy-hitters Far Cry 2, Haze, and Assassin's Creed, while Atari queues Alone in the Dark 5, The Witcher, Eternal Sonata, and Ace Combat 6 for guests visiting the stand. Also, Atari Germany will have Race 07, a well-known WWTC race PC simulator that may be compared to other racers in various platforms. The lists for both companies are as follows:

Atari

• Alone In The Dark (Eden Studios) - PC, PS3, 360, Wii, PSP, DS, PS2
• The Witcher (CD Projekt) - PC, also on mobile
• Eternal Sonata (tri-Crescendo) - 360
• Ace Combat 6 (Project Aces) - 360
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (unknown) - Wii, PS2
• Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 (CyberConnect2) - PS2
• Asterix at the Olympic Games (Atari) - PC, Wii, PS2, DS
• My Horse & Me (W!Games) - PC, Wii
• Race 07 (Atari Germany) - PC

Ubisoft

• Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft Montreal) - PC
• EndWar (Ubisoft Shanghai) - PS3, 360
• Haze (Free Radical Design) - PC, PS3, 360
• Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (Ubisoft Paris) - Wii, DS
• The Settlers Rise of an Empire (Blue Byte Studios) - PC
• Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway (Gearbox Software) - PC, PS3, 360
• Splinter Cell Conviction (Ubisoft Montreal) - PC, 360
• Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft Montreal) - PC, PS3, 360

Nintendo confirmed today that it will not be holding any press conference during this year's Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany but this doesn't mean that it will not be attending the event all together. Nintendo will be there, with video game journalists, happily giving "media tours".

According to one spokesperson from Nintendo UK, this is a better way for the people to get a better and more intimate understanding of their company's strategy and products. The representative added,

There is no press conference at Leipzig this year. What's going to happen instead is there will be media tours - groups of people that Nintendo Germany will take around the stands explaining the games to, and giving more detailed hands-ons to.

The real reason why we're doing it is because you only fully understand a lot of our products when you play them. We felt focus and attention was better spent on more intimate briefings rather than just one big press conference.

Yet again, Nintendo seems to be trying a non-conventional strategy with this one and it seems that the company has already perfected its touch on matters of this nature. The Leipzig Games Convention will happen between August 22 and 28.

Organizers of this year's Games Convention are optimistic that the event will be bigger than the recently-concluded E3 Media and Business Summit.

They have revealed that they expect the event to attract over 200,000 people to the Leipzig Exhibition Center in Germany. This year's invitation-only E3 pulled in an estimated 60,000 people over a span of three days.

"The GC is experiencing another growth spurt this year," said Leipzig Fair managing director Josef Rahmen. "Both the number of exhibiting companies and the individual presentation areas have clearly expanded over the last year." A total of 410 exhibitors from 26 countries have signed up for GC.

GC 2007 runs from August 23 until August 26. GC will also open exclusively for the press on August 22. The GC Freestyle open-air summer festival featuring with live concerts, a range of sports, an outdoor pool and camping facilities willalso run alongside the event.

Hamburg-based publisher dtp entertainment (Yes, it's all in small caps. Don't us ask why.) will be handling the distribution of Spanish video game publisher Virgin Play's current game portfolio in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This was announced by both companies earlier today.

The distribution deal covers the following games:

• Torrente 3: El Protector (PC, PS2)
• Final Armada (PSP, PS2)
• Dead'n'Furious (Nintendo DS).

"We are glad to co-operate with a new and strong partner who will add innovative games addressing mainstream gamers to the German market. We are continuing to expand our 3rd party distribution services in Germany, Austria and Switzerland," said Steffen Hippe, Sales Director, dtp entertainment.

Virgin's Managing Director Francisco Encinas echoed Hippe's statement. "This is an important step in Virgin´s international expansion," said Encinas. "We are extremely pleased to be working with dtp and are confident that our products will achieve nothing but success in their hands."

Since the Spectrobes' release last March 13, it has been conquering the DS charts all over. The title will surpass 700,000 units shipped worldwide by the end of this month, according to reports.

Spectrobes, Disney Interactive Studios' first original IP, is an anime-ish sci-fi RPG that takes us to the adventures of Rallen and Jeena against the evil Krawl. They wake up the narcoleptic Spectrobes on their journey to save the universe.

The title's target is naturally kids and oh boy, it did hit that mark quite well. The title hit Europe by storm, getting top spot on sales charts for Germany and Holland. The UK and France also got hit by the Spectrobes bug - it ranked first among third party DS titles. Disney Interactive Studios' Craig Relyea, vice president of marketing had this to say:

Spectrobes has quickly become a global phenomenon and has consistently been among the top-selling Nintendo DS titles since launch. We look forward to growing Spectrobes as a Disney franchise and providing more content for the increasing number of Spectrobes fans worldwide.

Well, the kids are surely having fun. Spectrobes is now on the shelves, retailing at US$ 29.99 (SRP)