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Nottingham's National Videogame Arcade could be the best museum ever
Nottingham's probably best known for its infamous sheriff, but next year it'll have another claim to fame when a museum dedicated to gaming opens in the city. The National Videogame Arcade, said to be "the world's first cultural centre for gaming," will become the new permanent home to over 12,000 pieces from the National Videogame Archive -- a collection of hardware, software and all manner of other gaming paraphernalia established by the Science Museum and Nottingham Trent University in 2007. Spread over five floors, the museum is being set up to "promote the cultural, economic, educational and social benefits of gaming" by GameCity, an organisation that runs an annual festival and other events that celebrate video games.
Goldeneye director will Aim For Love with experimental matchmaking system at GameCity
Goldeneye 007 for N64 has quite a legacy regarding its multiplayer, but game director Martin Hollis has a different kind of multiplayer game he wants to try: in Aim For Love, players will take on the role of matchmaker (see what we did with the title now?) and try to set up real-life couples. The game will be part of the GameCity festival in Nottingham, England, which runs October 19-26. Two giant screens erected in a public plaza will provide the play area. Aim For Love will task players with picking out individuals from the plaza crowd and pairing them with a match that's good for them. Individuals being picked will see themselves being selected via the screens at the plaza. Matches can be platonic or romantic in nature, and the newly-formed pair work together to pick the next couple. "A massive challenge in the design of this thing is forecasting people's behavior," Hollis told Gamasutra. "You'll see, if you take the role of being a matchmaker seriously, how the two people react to each other, and how the crowd reacts ... the whole game is an experiment." Hopefully bad matches won't go all "slappers only" on each other.
Hyrule's Market Village getting brought to life in the UK
The Legend of Zelda's iconic Market Village is being brought to life for an upcoming Nottingham, UK game festival, GameCity6. But don't worry about ReDeads, as the real-life recreation won't represent the village from Ocarina of Time's adult Link world, but rather a pastiche of several games. Attendees can get their fetch questing on with a Triforce piece collection game, they can create swords and shields (we're guessing of the wooden or cardboard variety), and they can even go lips-on with an ocarina. If that weren't enough, you could always hang with the Hyrulian droogs in the LonLon Milk Bar. The entire day is actually dedicated to Zelda-themed activities, so perhaps this is finally a chance to bake those Navi-shaped sugar cookies. After waiting for what seemed like forever, too!
Masaya Matsuura marches to GameCity Squared
Parappa the Rapper, Vib-Ribbon, and Major Minor's Majestic March creator Masaya Matsuura will deliver the "BAFTA Vision Statement" at GameCity Squared, the fourth annual "videogame culture festival" held in Nottingham. The Vision Statement, presented last year by Media Molecule, is "a unique platform for the most interesting, provocative developers in the World to deliver their thoughts and manifestos independent of any PR constraint," according to GameCity director Iain Simons. We look forward to hearing about the unique, anthropomorphic animal mentors against whom Matsuura faced off in rap battles during his journey to Nottingham -- said rap battles also instilling Matsuura with the confidence to write and deliver his keynote on October 31.
Tetris architect Alexey Pajitnov confirmed for UK's GameCity
Tetris mastermind Alexey Pajitnov will speak during next month's GameCity industry festival in Nottingham, England. The man whose classic puzzler turned us all into 'Game Boys' will join other presenters, including the previously announced Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, who will deliver the event's keynote address and show off his upcoming title Nobi Nobi Boy. According to IGN, Pajitnov will host a series of Tetris-themed events during the 4-day celebration, including an attempt by Tetris guru James Clewitt at besting the Tetris scoring record, as well as a screening of the documentary Tetris: From Russian with Love. This year's GameCity will take place at multiple venues in Nottingham from October 24-28.
Katamari creator to keynote UK's GameCity
Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi will give a keynote address at this year's GameCity festival in Nottingham, England. According to GI.biz, Takahashi will also be showing off his upcoming title Nobi Nobi Boy. Takahashi's keynote will take place Saturday, October 27. Festival participants include Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Freestyle Games, Travellers Tales, Free Radical Design, Mode 7 and Frontier; more details are expected shortly. The second annual GameCity festival will be held October 24 through 28 at Nottingham Trent University.
GameCity returns to Nottingham in October
In 2006, Nottingham Trent University held a gaming festival, apparently it was enough of a success to warrant a sequel this fall. The GameCity 2007 festival will be held at the university October 24-28. Yes, that's awfully far away, but it gives those Brit cos-players enough of a head start on putting together their outfits.There is very little information about the festival, but we're guessing it'll be like last year's -- except bigger. According to the website, "among the excellent treats coming very soon is a fantastic competition from PlayStation." We're guessing they mean Sony, which has a strong presence on the island. Most of the festival is free and some of the events are reasonably priced. It's nice to see regional gaming conventions doing well, we're sure to learn more as the fall approaches.[Thanks Jules]
GameCity - not your typical games conference
In late October, Nottingham will play host to a unique interactive entertainment festival, as the English city is transformed into "GameCity" for five days. Based on three themes - "play", "talk", and "touch" - GameCity will unite game enthusiasts and industry professionals through a series of workshops and cultural events that showcase the power of gaming. According to event director Iain Simons, "GameCity will entertain, inform and educate individuals, industry and the public sector on the value and the potential of interactive entertainment for everyone." Visit the official site for more details.It would be really cool if they used the famous caves beneath the city for some RPG-style activities. I hear there's some good leather armor and ale down there.
