(press release)
MELBOURNE - Monday 29 October, 2007 - Visitors to the 2007 eGames & Entertainment Expo - Australia's largest video games expo - will be able to 'get active' and 'get gaming' by trying their hand at and competing on the biggest and many 'yet to be released' game titles when the expo opens at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre on Friday 16 November, 2007.
"This common misnomer that video games are solely for kids or couch potatoes will be really blown out of the water at this year's eGames & Entertainment Expo with a wide range of entertainment and interactive play for all to enjoy," said Exhibition Director, Noel Gray.
"Visitors to eGames will be able to try their hands at an incredibly diverse range of games for all ages as well as being able to get right into the action at the large number of game play competitions that will be running on the show floor. As with last year, the atmosphere at eGames will be one of fun and hands on, interactive and enthusiastic game play."
As they arrive at eGames'07, visitors will be able to enter in the door prize draw to win a fabulous Yamaha sound system valued at $3999 or a Scorptec Venom PC valued at $2500 as well as a host of other great prizes.
Visitors will certainly be able to 'get right into the action' at the Activision stand by trying their skills and endurance at warfare and skateboarding on 'Call of Duty 4®: Modern Warfare' and 'Tony Hawk's Proving Ground'. Aspiring guitarists will be able to 'show their moves' with the chance to win great spot prizes in the inaugural Guitar HeroTM III: Legends of Rock' idol contest.
Electronic Arts' 'Crysis' and Ubisoft's 'Assassins Creed' will hit the streets the day before eGames'07 opens in what will be one of the biggest weeks of the game calendar.
As such, Electronic Arts is using eGames'07 as the platform to launch 'Crysis' to the Australian market. Crysis - a first person shooter game showcasing the latest state of the art graphics - offers players a highly immersive FPS experience in which they have to adapt their tactics, weaponry, armour and game play style to survive and defeat an alien invasion will be played on spec'd up PCs that will give you the ultimate Crysis experience. Electronic Arts will also have the very special FIFA 08 with all the Australia A league teams on show for visitors to play, along with NFS ProStreet, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 and Skate.
Visitors to the Ubisoft stand will be able to play what is being billed as the most anticipated game of 2007, 'Assassins Creed'. Ubisoft is inviting people to take on the role of an assassin in this mind blowing, third person action adventure game where your character can literally go anywhere, climb anything, do anything!
It will be all about 'larger than life' game play at the Sony stand which will feature a full range of exclusive Playstation 3 titles, including the eagerly anticipated and soon to be released title 'Haze' which visitors will be able to play for the first time on mega Sony Bravia monitors. Sony will also host a multiplayer Playstation 3 'online' game tournament.
The Nintendo stand will provide the whole family with the chance to play their favourite Wii titles and test drive some newly released titles. DS Lite fans will be able to test their minds on Nintendo's range of 'brain training' games and the more serious gamers will be able to get 'hands on' with upcoming hard core titles for some good, solid game play.
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It'll be a 'boots and all' scene at the Atari stand where visitors will be able to take part in the eGames Pro Evo 8 Soccer championship….last gamer standing!
Visitors wanting to really test their minds can 'take the Tzuga challenge' at the Tzuga stand. Released to the world at eGames, 'Tzuga' is a unique game of strategy, played using triangles, that has an electronic and board game version. Test your mind!
The Animavericks stand will be a hub of activity and colour, with visitors able to 'get into the act' in the Cosplay competition, Tekken 5 competition and Haruhi Dance competition.
Visitors to the Xbox Zone - presented by Spectreworld - can transport themselves to another world by taking part in the extensive 'Halo 3' playoffs that will run across the three days of the expo or test any of the other great titles on show.
The Gamerz Bunker stand will be running a Nintendo Gamecube Mario Kart competition. Visitors can also sample a wide range of retro gaming consoles including mega drive, SNES, NSE and N64 gamecube or 'take a trip back in time' when they check out Gamerz Bunker's impressive 'history of gaming' display.
Auran Games will be giving visitors the opportunity to play the recently released, ground breaking, globally anticipated 'Fury'. 'Fury' is the largest ever independent Australian title and with its unique PVP play, is set to challenge the world.
Australia's best online counterstrike team, 'Team Immunity' is again hosting the eGames eSports Zone which will be supported by Intel Australia. Visitors to the eSports Zone will be able to see first hand just how the pros do it….and can then test their mettle by challenging members of Team Immunity head to head.
Created with a stadium style structure and atmosphere, the eGames eSports zone will run a wide range of competitions where 1v1, 2v2 and 5v5 matchups will be played by visitors against Team Immunity players over the three day expo, with all challenge matches 'called' by professional 'Shoutcasters'.
Mums, Dads, Aunties, Uncles and children can also pair up for the eSports' 'Family Challenge' round robin tournament where each team will be professionally coached by a Team Immunity member. Games featured in the eSport zone will include 'Counter-strike 1.6', 'Counter-strike Source', 'Fury' and another huge latest release, Epic's 'Unreal Tournament 3'… with more titles soon to be announced. In short, Team Immunity will bring professional eSports to the fore with lots of fun, excitement and prizes guaranteed.
Further opportunities to go 'hands on' will be available in the 'Anything Interactive PC Zone' where the latest titles will be loaded on a range of PCs so that visitors can jump on and compete for fun and prizes. The guys from AI will be offering visitors guidance on advanced game play and will film all the action under their SmashTVee banner. The 'Anything Interactive PC Zone' will be the place to see some of the hottest new games on the market, including 'Crysis', 'Tabula Rosa', 'Quake 4 Enemy Territories' and 'Fury'.
Visitors to eGames'07 can also watch live, on-stage demonstrations of a number of new, never-before-seen games; hear keynote presentations from the industry leaders; catch up on the latest games news & views proffered by the expo's industry panels and participate in a wide range of other exclusive 'at show' activities, all hosted by returning MCs Matt and Yug from AustralianGamer.com
The list of exhibitors for this year's eGames'07 reads like the 'who's who' of the games industry, with major companies including Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Auran Games, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Madman Entertainment, Yamaha, Scorptec, AFA, Gamerz Bunker, Atari and Activision attending.
The expo will also have a strong focus on careers in the new media and game development industry. Swinburne University, Monash University, Ballarat University, Deakin University , QANTM College, Box Hill Tafe and the Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) are all at the expo to provide visitors with insight and information on how to pursue a career in the game industry. This is a great opportunity for students and parents to meet both educators and developers from one of the fastest growing industries in Australia.
A series of seminars will be held on the Friday for school groups interested in learning more about how to get into the industry with sessions for students also being held over the weekend.
Expo opening hours are Friday 16 November, 12pm to 6pm, Saturday 17 November, 10am to 6pm and Sunday 18 November, 10am to 5pm.
This year, eGames'07 will be staged concurrently with the Game Developers' Association of Australia's annual conference - GameConnect Asia Pacific (GCAP). More details can be found on their website, www.gameconnectap.com.au
For more information on the eGames & Entertainment Expo, please visit the following link...