LONDON’S CALLING

London Games Week – 25-31 August 2003.

You really ought to take it easy this August bank holiday because the week that follows is shaping up to be seven days of heavenly chaos for computer games fans throughout Europe. Why? Three little words: London Games Week.

London Games Week, which runs from 25 – 31 August, will see consumers, the media and the industry enjoying a stack of interactive entertainment events taking place across the capital. There'll be enough games to make your thumbs bleed; everyone who's anyone in games to interview and do business with; and more parties than even you can drink your way through.

At the very heart of the week-long festivities are ECTS, Game Developers Conference Europe and PlayStation Experience – all located at Earls Court in central London. These three essential events will be complemented by an abundance of press launches, parties and awards ceremonies, including the Entertainment Software Charity ball on 28 August and the all-new Develop Awards on 27 August in Kensington.

Now in its 14th year, ECTS 2003 takes place at Earls Court from 27-29 August 2003.

The only place in Europe where the entire interactive entertainment industry comes together for three days to do business, the show already has a stack of publishers signed up in support of the event, including Activision, Atari, ATI, BigBen, Codemasters, Eidos, Intel, Konami, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Nokia, Sammy, Sony, THQ, Ubi Soft and Vivendi.

Game Developers Conference Europe (GDCE) runs from 26-29 August. The conference is in its third year and has proved incredibly popular. The sessions address the serious issues facing game developers today and tomorrow. There are four days of thought-provoking keynotes, lectures, tutorials, panels and roundtables provide relevant and essential information and inspiration across the technical, artistic, and business aspects of game development.

This year's keynote speaker is Naughty Dog's Jason Rubin who will make the argument that gamers don't really care about graphics any more. Industry veterans Peter Molyneux and Gary Penn will go ahead in a fast and furious Developer Deathmatch. Tuesday will see the premiere of GDC Europe Mobile Day. And there will be in-depth tutorial days from Direct X, Intel, Nvidia and Xbox. For a full speaker and seminar line-up, please visit www.gdc-europe.com.