Topic: Games Convention Planning Event in North America

[Nick DiMola]

Leipziger Messe is planning to expand the Games Convention with a North American event.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=16606

 Leipziger Messe, the company that organizes the (Leipzig) Games Convention, is planning to expand their efforts to a new event in North America. Messe has already brought the convention to Asia last year under the title Games Convention Asia. This year, the Asian expo will return to Singapore on the dates of September 18 through September 20.    

According Leipziger Messe CEO Wolfgang Marzin, "the concept is flexible and the network of the global games industry permits us to be active at different locations." With the Asian event already in its second year, Marzin is setting his sights on a new market. "After the Southeast Asian Games Convention, " he continued, "we are now focusing on the North American market."    

Traditionally the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) has been the largest North American games event, but E3 was been scaled back drastically in 2007 and there has also been a rise of alternative events. If the Games Convention does come to North America, it will join events like the Game Developers Conference or the Entertainment For All Expo, as well as the Penny Arcade Expo that starts this Friday.    

Carmine Red contributed to this article

[Nick DiMola]

Cool to see them doing something that will likely replace E3. E3 in its current state is terrible.

[Enner]

German convention domination! Hurrah!

Maybe they should consider somewhere on the east coast as a venue? Seeing as how most major North American game conventions are on the west coast.

[AV]

kewl. i would LOVE to go. I would actually hope they move it around america.

europe is very different and they have trains and bus systems, which sadly not in place in america so traveling game show is better in america.

[Bill Aurion]

Maybe they should consider somewhere on the east coast as a venue? Seeing as how most major North American game conventions are on the west coast.

Yes, please!  I would like to go to one of these things for once... =(

[KDR_11k]

Doesn't the US already have enough competing shows that this wouldn't do anything?

[Bill Aurion]

There is?  I can only think of GDC (which isn't even a trade show...), E for All (which was a bust), and E3 (which also needs serious work)...I don't think you can even count PAX...

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

USA is full of Non-competitors.

[KDR_11k]

Maybe the climate in the US is no longer suitable for big game tradeshows? Why would a US GC succeed where all the others have failed?

[Nick DiMola]

Maybe the climate in the US is no longer suitable for big game tradeshows? Why would a US GC succeed where all the others have failed?

Well E3 never failed when it was truly E3. E3 failed when it started being regulated. At this point companies are happy not to put all their eggs in one basket like they did with E3, but if this takes off, over time it can become exactly what E3 was.

[Kairon]

There is?  I can only think of GDC (which isn't even a trade show...), E for All (which was a bust), and E3 (which also needs serious work)...I don't think you can even count PAX...

There's GDC Austin too, and then there's a whole range of smaller summits, PAX is bigger than E3 in terms of attendence, etc. etc.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Funny how E3 "died" because it tried to be exclusive to the "established press" and shut out the common & curious.

[NWR_Lindy]

Totally, who thought it was a good idea to turn people away from E3?  I never understood it.  "60,000 people want to come here, that'll never do...let's arbitrarily trim it down to 5,000!"

They should have it in Utah like the Sundance Film Festival.

[Crimm]

I've maintained E3 should be a public event and the ESA should sell admission.  All they'd have to do is set aside time for the press to get their crap done in the morning. Extend E3 into the weekend, when the press should be done with their job, and make tickets available all day.  I'd have paid 20 bucks to get in back in the day.

If this planned convention is on the west coast then there is no reason for it to exist.  We now have three to four (if you count GDC) on the west coast.  We don't need another event to further segment the event budgets of publishers if it's going to serve the same damn people.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Funny how no one picked up on my thin implication that E3 was acting like the hardcore next-gen publisher/dev population that only aimed to serve those important "real gamers" (upmarket) and not the entire market (to include the neglected downmarket).

[Kairon]

Funny how no one picked up on my thin implication that E3 was acting like the hardcore next-gen publisher/dev population that only aimed to serve those important "real gamers" (upmarket) and not the entire market (to include the neglected downmarket).

Don't worry Pro. I actually picked up on it immediately and thought it very apt.