Activate participating in the world's
largest games trade show, the Electronic Entertainment
Expo during May 06
Monday March 06, 2006
Activate participating in the world's
largest games trade show, the Electronic Entertainment
Expo during May 06
SINGAPORE 'S games
industry will take the field with the big boys in May,
when it sets up its first national pavilion at the
world's largest games trade show, the Electronic
Entertainment Expo.
An Infocomm
Development Authority of Singapore initiative, the
pavilion will see 12 local companies showcasing their
games and games-related services to an international
audience of more than 70,000 trade visitors, such as
games publishers, financiers and venture capitalists,
researchers and international media from 79 countries.
Popularly known as E3, the event is where major
announcements are made and industry trends are set for
the year. More than 400 companies will be at the Los
Angeles Convention Centre from May 10 to 12, led by big
players such as Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, to showcase
around 5,000 upcoming games titles and new hardware.
Competition for attention this year will be especially
intense. Industry leaders Sony and Nintendo are expected
to unveil their next-generation consoles, the PlayStation
3 and the Revolution respectively, along with software,
in direct contention with Microsoft's Xbox 360 console.
The 12 Singaporean companies making an appearance among
these industry giants include Internet service provider
StarHub, local games developer 10tacle Studios, online
and mobile games company Seasky Netjoy, online games
distributor Teck Wah Online and mobile games developer
Activate Interactive.
Some, such as Activate Interactive, have published online
games such as Hinter Wars on the N-Gage handheld console
and have operations in other countries in the region.
Others, such as Playware Studios, are small businesses
that have yet to publish their first game.
Each company hopes to secure deals to publish games,
provide games services such as online games distribution,
as well as showcase local games technology. It is hoped
that exposure at the show will help commercialise around
eight titles and services within the next 12 months.
Singapore's presence at the show marks a coming of age
for the local digital media industry, said IDA's director
of games and entertainment, Mr Thomas Lim.
Said Mr Lim: 'The purpose of taking the companies to E3
is to demonstrate Singapore's capabilities in the games
cluster beyond the regional online games deployment hub.
E3 will also be an attractive platform to brand
Singapore's games industry.'
Singaporean developers see this as an opportunity to
reach a global audience.
Mr Leslie Wou, chief executive officer of Activate
Interactive, said: 'There is not much exposure for
Singapore games developers, even around Asia. So it's
very important for us to have a booth at E3 to show
people that we have a games industry booming here.'
