Game City a success as festival returns in '07

Nottingham's inaugural Game City has been hailed a success, with organiser Iain Simons revealing the event will return in 2007.

"We're totally delighted with the first Game City festival and have received some great feedback from both audiences and presenters," said Simons, speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz.

"There seems to be a real appetite for something different in videogame culture - and we hope we're offering something special. We've been really lucky to have had fantastic support and are looking to build on it in '07," he added.

The festival successfully mixed the cultural, technical, educational and entertaining to deliver an event praised by industry figures in attendance.

"I've been to GDC and E3 — and this is fun," said Lorne Lanning, president of Oddworld Inhabitants, who used his Vision Statement at the event to unveil his latest movie and videogame project.

"It seems like there's the possibility of it to become similar to something like the Sundance Film Festival, it's intimate and enlightening," he added.

Events included practical workshops, developer discussions, screenings, performances and debates.

"All credit to Iain, because he's taken an idea and simply decided to do it. And it's worked," said Dave Doak, boss of Free Radical Design.

Alex Evans, co-founder of Ragdoll Kung Fu developer Media Molecule added: "It's definitely got the feeling of an event where you can just turn up, rather than have to pay out a large amount. It's great that fresh-faced kids can just walk in for a small fee."

Game City has been confirmed to take place in Nottingham on 24th - 28th October 2007, with more details to be announced in the coming months.