London Games Festival

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Welcome to the first ever London Games Festival, a celebration of interactive entertainment.


www.londongamesfestival.co.uk/

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The London Games Festival is a new major international event to celebrate the diverse creativity and cultures of interactive entertainment. The festival is the first of its kind in a country that is both one of the leading sources of creativity and innovation in video games and other interactive media as well as an international centre of business excellence in a rapidly growing industry.

The LGF programme will include a series of diverse events for consumers as well as industry. Participants will include publishers, developers, creative professionals, artists, students, trade organisations, academia, arts and media organisations as well as anyone who just likes to play.

The LGF is unique in the UK in being backed by every sector of the games industry: developers, publishers, platform owners and trade associations. The mainstream of the festival will include a range of consumer-facing events in major venues alongside B2B events organised by the industry’s trade bodies and other organisations. It includes BAFTA’s relaunched Games Awards.

The Festival’s ambition is to become the most significant event in the world celebrating the culture and creativity of video games and interactive entertainment.


pixellove.blogspot.com/2006/08/london-games-festival.html

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Many computer games and most digitally mediated play falls beyond the scope of the recognised games industry. From the start, LGF will include a Festival Fringe to explore aspects of interactive entertainment as culture, creative form and a market that fall outside the mainstream.

The Fringe will reflect a spectrum of activity: independent development and distribution, participatory community play, artists’ games, live action role-play, augmented reality games, interactive storytelling and more. The Fringe will involve performance, exhibitions, masterclasses and seminars, participatory workshops and, of course, opportunities to play.

The Fringe will be a source of inspiration, innovation and opportunities. It will include a series of events aimed at new entrants and people who would like to develop careers in the industry – especially those currently under-represented.

Pixel-Lab is organising the Fringe programme;


pixellove.blogspot.com/2006/08/london-games-festival-fringe.html

[leunas]

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.



www.qj.net/Introducing-the-London-Games-Festival-2006/pg/49/aid/62463

[leunas]

Artful Gaming



As part of the London Games Festival Fringe, Cybersalon is putting on a couple of events under the banner of Artful Gaming, comprising a one-day forum and a week-long exhibition:

Artful Gaming aims to foster this tradition [of sharing of expertise] by bringing the underground art games community into contact and dialogue with small, independent commercial gaming agencies and make them more visible to the commercial gaming sector and to game enthusiasts, London's digital art community and the general public.

The description is fairly academic, but it sounds like it could be an interesting forum for anyone interested in the alternative and the experimental - plus it's only 5 quid to get in:

The programme showcases artists and developer groups and small pioneering agencies developing alternative gaming experiences – be it devising new interactive interfaces; exploring non-traditional gaming environments; modifying existing game engines; using innovative R&D and production methods; or distributing their work via new networks.

The forum is next week, on Thursday 5th October, at the Dana Centre in London. From the Cybersalon website:

Cost & Booking: £5. Places must be reserved in advance by emailing <[e-mail]>.


www.wonderlandblog.com/wonderland/2006/09/artful_gaming.html