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NYTimes: Where Video Game Conventions Draw 300,000: Not in the U.S.

T

Tripon

Member
Next week, 300,000 video game fans, developers and publishers like Sony, Ubisoft, Activision and Microsoft plan to congregate so they can showcase their wares and participate in a cosplay zone, an e-sports tournament and a 48-hour jam.

Their destination: São Paulo, Brazil.

The gathering is the Brasil Game Show, Latin America’s largest gaming convention, which has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2009. The event is one of several international video game shows that have swelled in size recently. Gamescom, held in Cologne, Germany, and generally hailed as the world’s biggest gaming convention, welcomed about 350,000 attendees this year, up from 275,000 five years ago. The Tokyo Game Show, which has been held annually since 1996, broke its attendance record last year with over 271,000 visitors, up from 224,000 five years ago.
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“Games are now being designed, marketed and sold in ways that are customized for a particular country or region,” said Mat Piscatella, a games industry analyst at NPD Group. “Gaming conventions are more common around the world, and at the same time the advent of game streaming tools like YouTube and Twitch are allowing anyone with a web browser to see these games for themselves in whatever language they choose.”


E3, Fading Catnip for Video Gamers, Tries a New Approach JUNE 8, 2016
The forces driving growth of video games in international markets are different from those in the United States. In Europe, developers are making games that focus on their national identities. One example is the independent video game Regional Nightclub Bouncer, which is made by a small British studio, PanicBarn, and homes in on two very British things: queuing at a nightclub, and Brexit.
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The show’s popularity has helped to show the opportunity in the Brazilian market. In August, a Japanese video game designer, Hideo Kojima, creator of the highly successful Metal Gear Solid franchise, published by Konami, said he would attend the Brasil Game Show for the first time to receive a lifetime achievement award, as well as to participate in a panel about his professional career and meet fans.

The Brasil Game Show also plans to have a special area for international guests, which it had not done before. Apart from Mr. Kojima, V.I.P.s coming from overseas include Ed Boon, a co-creator of the Mortal Kombat fighting game series, and Nolan Bushnell, the Atari founder and one of the so-called founding fathers of the industry.

Mr. Tavares said the number of Brazilian video game studios had grown by 600 percent in the last eight years and stood at about 500. More American video game companies have also established a presence in Latin America.

“The Brazilian market has enormous potential,” said Bertrand Chaverot.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/04/technology/personaltech/video-brasil-game-show.html
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Always love to see how gaming is received around the world so thanks for sharing this. Seems like Brazil has a far larger amount of fairly hardcore gamers than I ever expected. Very cool to see and that Kojima will be there.
 
S

SgtCobra

Member
The Tokyo Game Show, which has been held annually since 1996, broke its attendance record last year with over 271,000 visitors, up from 224,000 five years ago.
Click to expand...
For a convention that doesn't have many big announcements or conferences that's a very big number, I'm surprised. I guess there's a lot of attention for mobile titles/services and stuff like Pachinko over there?
 
E

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
I guess that kind of makes sense why Capcom has been going so hard in Brazil for the past few years.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
How is the PS4 doing in Brazil? Considering Kojima's next game will most likely be coming out for it
or the PS5
 
D

Dremorak

Banned
Thats crazy considering how their tax system makes it stupid expensive to buy games and especially game systems. Good for them :)
 
old

old

Member
I didn’t think the US would be the biggest anyway. I thought gamescom is bigger than E3.
 
S

Sethista

Member
I was selected to participate in a meet and greet with kojima this thursday at the Brasil game show, its like 180 people and the event will be 2 hours long. Very excited.

Still have not figured out what to ask him...
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
Brazil? At 300k? That can't be right. E3 is the biggest video game convention in the world and the highest its ever been was 70k in like 2006 when Wii and PS3 were playable.
 
A

AKC12

Member
Oblivion said:
Brazil? At 300k? That can't be right. E3 is the biggest video game convention in the world and the highest its ever been was 70k in like 2006 when Wii and PS3 were playable.
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Brazils population is over 200 million. Sao Paolo's population is over 12 million. Not too hard to believe based on that. It's just a matter of convention space after that
 
N

NSESN

Member
Oblivion said:
Brazil? At 300k? That can't be right. E3 is the biggest video game convention in the world and the highest its ever been was 70k in like 2006 when Wii and PS3 were playable.
Click to expand...
São Paulo is one of the biggest cities in the world.
 
C

Chaos2Frozen

Member
Sethista said:
I was selected to participate in a meet and greet with kojima this thursday at the Brasil game show, its like 180 people and the event will be 2 hours long. Very excited.

Still have not figured out what to ask him...
Click to expand...

"What video games is he playing now?" or "What does he think of the new Pacific Rim?"
 
E

Elfforkusu

Member
airplane-departing.jpeg
 
E

excaliburps

Press - MP1st.com
I'm definitely OK with companies doing this. I see more and more gaming shows happening worldwide, and Sony, etc. have taken notice.

Spread the love, the announcements! Are these things making E3 less relevant? I mean, we have what? 4-5 gaming conventions each year? E3, TGS, gamescom, PGW, PSX, PAX, etc.
 
S

StopMakingSense

Member
Oblivion said:
Brazil? At 300k? That can't be right. E3 is the biggest video game convention in the world and the highest its ever been was 70k in like 2006 when Wii and PS3 were playable.
Click to expand...

Not even close. Gamescom is like 300k as well.

And Sao Paulo is the most populous city in the world.
 
ranmafan

ranmafan

Member
SgtCobra said:
For a convention that doesn't have many big announcements or conferences that's a very big number, I'm surprised. I guess there's a lot of attention for mobile titles/services and stuff like Pachinko over there?
Click to expand...

No they don’t have any pachinko stuff there as that’s not a place for that industry, but they do have the mobile stuff of course. But it shouldn’t be really that surprising why it’s a high number. Japanese gamers want to play the hot new games ahead of their releases just like those in the rest of the world. There may not be as many huge announcements for people in the West at the show but for many Japanese gamers, just getting a sneak peak at the future of games, newly announced or announced months before, is still the big draw. Just look at this year. No one cared if monster hunter world was announced at the show or not, all they cared about was wanting to play it before anyone else. Not to mention in the past. there was always great little talk shows, free goodies and other fun stuff. I’ll Never will forget my first show in 2001 when I saw Yu Suzuki, Hideo Kohima, Yuji Naka, and the cast of Sakura Taisen on multiple stages within like a just a few hours. It’s usually a great show and it should be no surprise why it gets lots of visitors.
 
S

SephLuis

Member
Sethista said:
Good suggestions!

Yeah I think it will be just picture, hello/bye and thats it...
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As far as I know, on wednesday at least, there's a greeting, a picture and a sign.
Won't have time to ask him anything, though I hope just to say a few things quickly.
 
T

Tacitus_

Member
Mass Effect said:
Right. It is the most prominent though. As in it gets the most media attention. Unless Gamescom surpassed it?

Also, didn't E3 only just open up to the public this year?
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IGN seems to say that they got 350k visitors this year and have been above 300k since 2013.
 
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