The Stinger Reporting does not normally cover the day to day developments in our sister industry of consumer video gaming, however this month a close 'watching brief' has been adopted due to the number of cross-fertilizations and cross-over products that arise from the show calendar. So the European equivalent of E3 saw the Stinger team take the London Underground to the Earls Court exhibition hall.
The European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) was the centrepiece of a week long London Games Week event to publicise gaming in the United Kingdom. The ECTS event competed for space along side the publicly attended 'Playstation Experience' (PSE), and on a lesser scale the influential 'Game Developers Conference Europe' (GDCE). The latter saw the building blocks of current and future consumer game development discussed in conference, and included an informative new addition to the conference circuit regarding the emergence of 'mobile' gaming.
The explosion of mobile phone and personal data assistant units used to play (host) game content has seen a strong rise in interest. The major European phone manufacturer Nokia has gone as far as to launch their own specially developed 'gamepad' (as was coined to describe a game prominent mobile device).
Nokia used ECTS to announce the October launch of the N-Gage system and the intensive £220 price for the system, with games wading in at £40 per title. To deflect raised eyebrows over the steep price the company also announced a slew of software developers including the new signing of Electronic Arts. A demonstration was also given of the Bluetooth network capabilities of the hardware building on the Nokia Game Arena concept that hopes to build on the obvious connectivity that a game machine in a phone offers.
Nokia having acquired the assets of the SEGA.com are keen to establish networking gaming and a community environment for their future players. The giant European corporation spent considerably on marketing and hospitality during the days of the event to underline their commitment to the gamepad and software, a full-scale European road show in place, and the spectre of a simultaneous International launch to focus the mind. The thunder was capped however by the systems announced high price, resurrecting bad memories of the 3DO console, and its ignominious rise and fall crippled by a similar marketing strategy.
Nokia also had the wind knocked from their sails as news was leaked by Sony Computer Entertainment that their proposed new Play Station Portable (PSP), a competitor to the million selling Nintendo GameBoy Advance, would now incorporate a phone capability and so sit in direct competition to Nokia's aspirations as well.
The phone provider Vodafone also went to some unusual steps to promote their phone game aspirations the company inflated an unusual booth at the show. Demonstrating their investment in retro game content with a highly compacted mobile phone version of the 1979 arcade classic 'Galaxian'. The booth also included a solitary Pac-Man cabinet alluding to additional titles in the future - building on a agreement with Namco and their aspirations for retro mobile game content (mirroring amusement investment).
Away from the trade development, publishing and distribution scope of ECTS, the event contained some interesting diversions for those that had an amusement interest.
Sammy Europe attended the show, hungry to acquire third party software agreements to establish their growing software publishing in Europe. The company populated their booth with a number of ATOMISWAVE cabinets to underpin the company's credentials to gaming. Even with the US software studio presence it is essential that Sammy hits the road running regards being seen as a publisher. On the companies booth in the cabinets was 'Sports Shooting USA' and 'Maximum Speed' along with the first public appearance of 'Demolition Fist' and the platform shooter 'Dolphin Blue'. The booth was well attended showing a resilience that exists with the hardcore gamers and the arcade sector.
One of the only other new arcade units on show, at what was supposed to be a wholly consumer show was from the Korean developer D-Gate. Part of the Korean Ministry of business and export (Game Infinity) contingent, the company was one of six participants that made the trip to Europe and ECTS. D-Gate chose the show as the second appearance of their new title - following on from the success of 'Live Action Ping Pong' - called 'Gravity Zone' the second title in their virtual sports series. A cross between ‘REZ' and ‘Arkonoid' the player uses a sci-fi controller than a conventional ping-pong bat to blast back the serve of his AI or human opponent in the virtual world. The ingenious motion-capture hardware leapfrogging amusement with the launch of a consumer variant at the show.
After a slow start ECTS gather attendance and dominated all things video game based. As a hotbed for the signing and previewing of next years content, eagerly awaited titles for PC and console were on show in early alpha renditions.
Following on from a recent piece in The Stinger Report regarding the ‘Stolen Amusement', Konami showed their latest version of the BeMania music and dance based gaming series, with the ‘Konami Karaoke'. A game initially considered for amusement application the karaoke experience builds on that seen with the home adaptation of the ‘Dance Dance Revolution' stage, in this case players sing along to the onscreen CGI character, musical ability rewarded with points.
Another concept borrowed from amusement for consumer was the EyeToy from SCE; basking in the success of their original motion capture camera toy, SCE demonstrated the sequel release ‘EyeToy: Groove', one of the many new releases in the adjacent PSE exhibition.
SCE used the PSE to launch all their work in progress, as with previous years this event gathered loyal gaming fans of all ages, paying an entrance fee to be admitted to the largest gathering of video game content for one particular platform gathered in one place. A highly stylised presentation of the new releases on display - clearly influenced by the sleek cabinets of video amusement.
In particular SCE shipped a six DOF motion capsule for riders to experience the latest driving extravaganza ‘Gran Turismo 4'. The three-screen experience was developed in partnership with the development team and car manufacture Subaru. The game, in the last few months of development, nothing short of spectacular, the superior to any of the recent amusement equivalent.
Network gaming the new high alter of the console manufacturers, SCE demonstrating a number of game licenses that supported multiple player experiences that offer a broadband conduit. The competitive systems have also banked on gaming over large area networks or dedicated arenas. The Microsoft Xbox Live network environment having achieved a lions-share of the sector. Microsoft did not attend this years ECTS, sources leaking that in 2004 they would be running their own competitive show to PSE called X'03.
A strong selection of releases predominately for the PS2 and PC at this year's event. Games such as ‘XII: Thirteen' from UbiSoft and the trailer for ‘Half-Life 2', and ‘Metal Gear Sold: The Twin Snakes', taking centre stage. First Person Shooters (FPS) seemed to be the prominent genre to find publisher funding. The games publishers now dependent on brand and retained game studios, rather than the previous original independent development structure.
Highwaygames would like to thank Kevin Williams, the publisher of The Stinger Report, who gave Highwaygames this exclusive on the ECTS trade show. TSR specialises in behind-the-scenes information on the trends and breaking news in the amusement sector.
The Stinger Report is provided to Highwaygames by Kevin Williams, the publisher of "The Stinger Report". To read the full articles and information, please visit
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