During the All Saints’ Day vacations, Porte de Versailles (October 27-31, 2010) hosted Paris Games Week, billed by the industry as the « big » show dedicated to video games.
Paris Games Week, the first of its kind, is a daring gamble by the S.E.L.L., the professional association of software and leisure publishers, to compete with foreign trade shows such as E3 in Los Angeles, the Tokyo Games Show and, closer to home, GamesCom in Cologne.
Thus, the show dedicated to the discerning gamer as well as the casual gamer covered only 20,000 m2, which is small compared to the 65,000 m2 of E3 Los Angeles. No thunderous announcements like at neighboring shows. I was surprised to note the absence of the 3DS (the 3D version of the Nintendo DS).
From the moment you enter, you’re immersed in the world of video games, with all the major industry players present.
Review of the games presented :
MICROSOFT, who came mainly to present its « Kinect », with demonstrations surrounded by pretty ladies in sexy little outfits. Not forgetting Fable 3, which unfortunately wasn’t playable – just a presentation by the game’s developers. And last but not least, GearsofWar3 was the exclusive of the show.
To counter MICROSOFT, NINTENDO presented the classics DonkeyKongCountryReturn (all the fun of the old SNES opuses), the eagerly awaited The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Word and Kirby Epic Yard . NINTENDO also presented its new Wii Party. Part of the NINTENDO stand was reserved for a contest to celebrate Mario’s 25th birthday, featuring the Mario Wii Party game.
PLAYSTATION, which had a 1500m2 stand (the largest at the show), impressed us with its eagerly-awaited GrandTurismo 5, and of course its Playstation Move, which had its own area where we could try out Virtual Tennis 4, for example.
ELECTRONIC ARTS came to present SIMS3, Need for Speed Hot Poursuit, Crisis 2 and above all Dead Space 2!
Just a few meters away was the NAMCO BANDAI stand, where visitors could discover the world of japanimation through their games such as Naruto, Dragon Ball Z Raging Blast and Enslaved, thus delighting all GEEKS.
UBISOFT was not to be outdone with its eagerly awaited Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Michael Jackson Experience.
To conclude my experience of this first Paris Games Show, I’d say it was a real success, both in terms of atmosphere and the quality of hostess recruitment! People seemed to enjoy themselves. I’d just like to make one small remark about the lack of exclusive video game announcements.
Looking forward to next year, this show gave me the irresistible urge to look like a moustachioed plumber in a red jumpsuit…Can’t wait for the next edition!
Gregory Bitan