Big news coming in for Europe, as we announce that preparations are underway for this year's London Games Festival. Wondering exactly when 2008's celebrations begin? Visit the full article for the rest of the details!

 

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.

If you're somewhere near London on October 23 or 24 this year, you'll probably want to check out the London Game Career Fair which happens as part of the London Games Festival. The career fair will have a variety of activities in store for those interested in breaking into the industry. Exhibits and panel discussions with the bigwigs are all in the programme.

Industry heavyweights Electronic Arts, LucasArts, THQ, Rare, Evolution Studios, and Team 17 have all promised to support this event and share what they have to enlighten the visitors.

The London Game Career Fair, organized by Gamasutra.com and GamesIndustry.biz, attracted over a thousand visitors last year and more are expected to come in this year's gathering.

If you're interested in this free event, you can follow the Read link and visit the official site to learn more. Here's hoping that all those who attend will have a fun and productive time out there.

The London Games Festival is on its way back after a year and organizers are touting it to be the biggest series of gaming events the city has ever seen as it spans four days and more than 40 activities spread across different locations.

The expansion from last year's game extravaganza is geared towards catering to all possible audiences from the casual crowd to hardcore game enthusiasts. It's backed by industry heavyweights like Activision, Atari, Eidos, Electronic Arts, Konami, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sega and Ubisoft, all strutting their wares to make the experience one to remember.

The London Game Festival starts on the 22nd of October and comes to a climax on the 26th. Headlining the festival are the British Video Game Academy Awards which honors the elite in the industry, Videogames Live which is a concert for 2,000 people and The Virtual Worlds forum that gives a lecture hosted by the industry's masters.

Exhibits will also be on hand to provide gamers stuff to drool over. The Science Museum: Quantifying Immersion in Games is one such exhibit and it features pieces of gaming history so that today's gamers can learn more about the roots of their beloved games. The European Careers Fair will have a leg in the event to orient and try to find people with the drive and the skills to break into the business.

"We are delighted by the response to this year’s festival," says Keith Ramsdale, Chairman of the event. "This event is a celebration of one of the world’s most exciting industries, designed to facilitate artistic and cultural recognition, as well as raise awareness of the games industry as a whole."

If you're interested to participate, Simon Watts on 020 7307 3100 or Duncan Best on 020 7534 0584 will be more than happy to help you. You can also check out www.londongamesfestival.com for more details.

 

The London Games Festival, a significant success last year, will be returning for a repeat performance with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) as its primary focus this year. The event will begin October 22, 2007, reports Games Industry, and will continue for four more days to October 26, with an invite to all gamers from MMOs and PCs to consoles and handhelds.

Aside from several game-related forums which tackle legal issues and corporate opportunities, a Video Games Live concert will also be held at the Royal Albert Hall, while the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) plans to discuss the perception of gaming. The Science Museum will also host a study of immersion in video games, and the London Game Career Fair will be offering aspiring game developers a chance to enter the UK game development scene.

It appears that the Europe will be celebrating more than just an Oktoberfest come late fall (or early winter) as the GameCity Interactive Entertainment Festival, or simply the GameCity Festival, will also be partially coinciding with the London Games Festival, on October 24-28, 2007, in Nottingham, England. More details on these two events, including participating companies and studios, as they come in.

UK's first major trade show event since 2004, the London Games Festival, started the week-long celebration of interactive entertainment. It includes a variety of events that will surely delight gamers.

First is GDC London, an annual gathering of video game developers which comprise an expo and a variety of tutorials, lectures and roundtables by industry professionals on game-related topics covering programming, design, audio, production, business, legal issues, and art. Next is the London Games Summit which provides the most hard-hitting business content specifically developed for the industry. This is where top industry executives and key government ministers provide honest insights on the gaming business today.

Gamers will be in paradise as London Games Festival features other events which may interest them like the HMV's Games Showcases which feature a handful of playable games like Pro Stroke Golf, PDC World Championship Darts, Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 and Rockstar Games' Table Tennis, to name a few. It'll also feature The Game/Play and the Artful Gaming Exhibition.

The festival does not only cater to the gamers audience as it also provides diverse events that cater to parents who need advice on games or people who want to learn more about games and where the future of entertainment is currently heading. So its a festival that caters to almost everyone, not only to the gamers. And this also reflects that gaming is serious business. The festival aims to add learning to fun. Families can attend this celebration and take part in the activities. Check out the schedule of events here.

London Games Festival! Festival London Games! Games Festival London! Games London Festival! Festival Games London!

It doesn't matter how you place the words, because it's still going to rock.

That's the hope of its many organizers and sponsors as the First London Games Festival opens its doors for consumers and trade from the 2nd to the 7th of October. They hope to show that London is a place where you can buy Fish and Chips AND Frag people in a deathmatch, showcasing the talent and ability of both game makers and the businesses that get these games out for the public.

Not only that, but they want to cater to the tastes of everyone, a far cry from the now-dissolved Electronic Entertainment Expo's penchant for attracting only the big fans of gaming in all its forms. As they mention on their website,

The London Games Festival is designed to engage and immerse everyone wanting to be a part of this modern cultural and entertainment experience. Events will be tailored to appeal to different audiences, from families and children to the hard-core gaming communities.

In addition to the usual game previews and show-stopping events planned, the LGF 2006 site also mentions a London Game Career Fair, which will probably something that every gamer aspiring to work in the very field he loves will be waiting for. There will also be a Video Games Awards hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, or BAFTA, and what will probably be film showings of game videos or games adapted into movies, if the title Playing Films, Watching Games is any indication.

All in all, it's looking to be a jolly good show.

You can check out their website for more information, as well as the locations of specific events.