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EU Game Trade Shows Biting the Dust

Posted by Zonk on from the there-are-developers-there-though dept.

Ant writes "Shacknews reports that ECTS has undergone a decline and was even considered surpassed by a new event last year, the European Games Network. Earlier last week, ECTS finally bit the dust, along with the European Game Developers Conference, as media firm CMP revealed they were leaving the market. Days before this news, the show Game Zone Live was announced as canceled, due to a lack of support from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo."

13 comments

  1. They later went on to say... by boisepunk · · Score: 1

    They later went on to say that Defcon is also cancelled.

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    main(0)
  2. A matter of markets by N5 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Let's face it, E3 is the 800 pound gorilla these days. I can remeber a time when the Tokyo Game Show was king, and even Space World was arguably larger than E3, but not any longer. In recent years the japanese market has eroded. In europe it's not so much market erosion as it is europe is the #3 market in the eyes of many. Combine that with the fact that many euro development studios are closing their doors and you have a recipe for disaster. Compaies now concentrate on their largest target market, the US. This is why you see Sega doing games for Xbox, and Metal Gear games being released here before they are in Japan. Companies want the most publicity for their marketing buck, and euro trade shows don't provide that. They figure with the internet and some targeted marketing dollars the message gets to europe anyway, and for the most part they are right. If you've seen CMP's game oriented trade rags, then you probably know they are not the ones you want in charge anyway...

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    John 3:16 - The easiest way to a BETTER YOU.
    1. Re:A matter of markets by superpulpsicle · · Score: 3, Insightful

      With the internet available, we no longer need 20 trade shows. All we need is 1 person reviewing for gamespot or tomshardware etc, and everybody else get the news.

      The US video game industry is practicing capitalism to the extreme. The Japanese video game industry was already a culture in itself. That's why Europe will always be #3.

      Anyhow, there is an invisible marketing wall still. They need to get rid of NTSC/PAL and all this zone bullshit and just make games for EVERYBODY, and market it to EVERYBODY.

    2. Re:A matter of markets by qurk · · Score: 1
      I'd mod you up if I had points. The thing is it takes time and money to translate these things. I don't know how important it is anymore, but with SNES games you only had a limited amount of room to work with, and could not fit more than one language in, especially when the languages use different alphabets. The situation may be different with games on DVD or Blu-Ray now, but voice takes up more room than text, and it still takes time and money to translate and get voice actors for all the different markets.

      I am completely with you. I have been studying Japanese for the express reason to play all those games that never come out over here or are changed a lot when they do. But there is more to consider than just the stupid assed zone/copy protection crap.

      I get mad a lot because my television works great. Hooked up to the satalite Dish network it works great. But put a DVD into my PS2 and it goes all weird colors and stuff, because I need to buy a new TV, because my TV isn't new enough to have copy protection stuff in it, so I must be stealing and "PIRATING" and stuff. Come on, I shell out the same cash as dickwads with newer equipment, but because they are assuming I am pirating their stuff, I get to enjoy their DVD's with fading in and out messed up colors.

      I completely agree, lets get rid of the regions, and the copy protection. I pay for it, I should be able to USE it. Come on. Q

    3. Re:A matter of markets by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not a matter of space on the disk. Most EU releases are Pal 5, with 5 the number of langauges included.

      The Pal format is not the real problem , at least in some cases. Any XBox can display both Pal and NTSC, unless the developer hard codes the output. Thats why pirtaed EU Xbox games still work in the US.

      The EU problem is that it is not one market, it's a bunch of smaller markets speaking different langauges. And a low birth rate doesn't help either.

    4. Re:A matter of markets by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hell yeah, Japanese have such an unbelievable niche library of games that US and EU will never see.

  3. Doesn't Europe get screwed anyway? by gameboyhippo · · Score: 1

    Europe is always getting screwed in the Gaming market. Thus, this makes sense. Ever notice how the games that are now in the $20 range here in the states are being released brand new there?

    1. Re:Doesn't Europe get screwed anyway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's because game companies hate PAL video. Translating to german, italian & spanish slows the process too. If a game does not do well in the US then it's not worth internationalization & marketing.

  4. Been dead long time by DrSkwid · · Score: 1


    and this was in 2001 ! :

    ECTS dies on its arse
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/09/04/ects _dies_ on_its_arse/

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  5. GC by Cyhwuhx · · Score: 2, Informative

    .::: Thank god for Leipzig then.

    http://www.gc-germany.de

  6. Perhaps the lack of comments by Aggamemnon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    speaks for itself. No one cares about ECTS, which is a shame as I used to go and it was a good day out.

  7. Nope, German Games Convention killed it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    German Games Convention is now the biggest games fair in Europe with over 100.000 visitors in 2004. That just killed ECTS.

  8. Old News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Old news is good news. This was on the cover of paper-based MCV last Friday, and was on the net a week earlier. Well done Slashdot.