Gamestart 2018: What to expect
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| Gamestart 2017 (File photo: Speedknight.com) |
[This is a developing Article do check back for more!]
GameStart 2018 (#GameStart2018), Southeast Asia’s Premier Game Convention, celebrates its 5th year on 13 & 14 October 2018 with the ultimate gaming content at Suntec Convention Centre. Organisers Eliphant announced a series of returning favourites as well as new and exciting content for everyone, including game showcases and previews, tabletop gaming, esports, indie games, retro gaming, and cosplay. Esports fans can gear up for exciting competition as SEA Major (SEAM) 2018 plays host to more international tournaments. Mobile esports also takes centerstage as SEA Mobile Major (SEAMM) plays host to the very first Shadowverse Contenders Cup for the Southeast Asia & Oceania region.
An exciting guest lineup awaits visitors at GameStart 2018. Organisers revealed a guest appearance by voice actress Elise Zhang, who is best known as the voice of Mei, a character from one of the world’s most popular games, Overwatch.
New additions to GameStart include the debut of GameStart Masterclasses, where well-known creatives and personalities from the international games industry are invited to run specialised masterclasses. GameStart Workshops, developed in collaboration with No Average Joe, is a series of workshops and talks that focus on a range of general gaming-related topics. GameStart MasterClasses will be held on 10 and 12 October while GameStart Workshops will be held during the convention.
- Crowd Favourites to Delight All
● Gather round and immerse yourselves in fantastic worlds of board games, old and new, as the GameStart Tabletop returns to bring gamers the discovery of new analog worlds.
● Doujin Market, Singapore's largest community curated youth arts and illustration fair, is back for the third year with 43 artist tables. It is curated in partnership with Neo Tokyo Project, Singapore's first dedicated pop-culture marketing collective
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| Secretlab Grand Prix 2016 (File Photo:speedknight .com) |
● Cosplayers can put their best game cosplay forward at the GameStart Cosplay Runway on 14 October. Pre-registration is now open at http://bit.ly/gscosplay18
● Unwind, chill out and grab a bite in the fantasy-themed Sanctuary - A selection of awesome vendors, with great food and tasty beverages including specially selected craft beers, welcomes all within the convention grounds.
- Celebrating Indie Talent
GameStart visitors will get to vote for their favourite indie game for the GameStart Indie Award, and play a part in helping the winners take their first steps to prominence. The winning game developer will win a sponsored trip to exhibit in Taipei Game Show 2019 in January 2019, as well as a high-end creative pen tablet sponsored by WACOM. Both 2017 GameStart Indie Award winners went on to clinch international awards in Taipei Game Show and beyond.
See what the future of gaming can offer at The Founders Base, GameStart’s special indie area, with subsidized booths to individuals, start-ups and small companies that create or work with games. Limited booths are still available on a first come first served basis, and interested applicants can find out more at https://gamestart.asia/landing/#exhibit.
- World Class Tournament Action at Our Doorstep
The inaugural Shadowverse SEAO Contenders Cup, where the top 4 players in the South East Asia Oceania (SEAO) Region fight for the right to represent the region at the Shadowverse World Grand Prix in Japan, for a top prize of USD 1,000,000, will also be held during GameStart 2018.
To join the tournaments, check out BeastAPAC.com.
SEA Major 2018 will play host to tournaments for 10 games with a prize pool of USD 50,000 up for grabs. Singapore’s longest-running esports tournament will see more than 200 international competitors in Singapore for the weekend, including top professional esports athletes from Japan, America and Europe.
Star players will also be in town during the GameStart weekend. Eagle-eyed fans are in for a treat to catch some of the world’s most famous professional esports players in Singapore. They include Japan’s legend Daigo Umehara: 梅原大吾 , who will be competing in Street Fighter V at Sea Major 2018, reigning Street Fighter V SEA Major Champion Tokido, top female Tekken 7 player and Red Bull sponsored Athlete Tanukana, homegrown esports hero Ho Kun Xian and America’s renowned competitive fighting game player and multi-game Champion Justin Wong.
Renowned tournament commentators include BlessRNG, well-known Australian streamer and personality who has his own emoticon on streaming platform Twitch; and “Tasty Steve” Steve Scott, “Markman” Mark Julio and “Sajam” Stephen Lyon from America.
SEA Major & SEA Mobile Major Tournaments include:
● Capcom Pro Tour Asia Last Chance Qualifier & Regional Finals - The region’s top 8 players come to compete for USD 30,000 and qualifying points to the Capcom Cup in December 2018.
● ArcRevo World Tour - The only Asian stop of Arc System Works’ new global league, outside of Japan. Winners get a slot and paid trip to compete in the World Finals.
● Tekken World Tour Master Event - A key stop in Bandai Namco Entertainment’s global esports league.
● Dragonball FighterZ SAGA - One of just 7 SAGA events in the world, the winner gets a paid trip to compete in the global finals.
● Shadowverse SEAO Contenders Cup - The inaugural regional finals of Japan’s #1 digital card game for the Southeast Asia & Oceania (SEAO) region. The winner will get a paid trip to compete for a USD 1 million cash prize in the World Grand Prix in December 2018.
“Since our first edition in 2014, we have seen great momentum and shifts in the gaming landscape. The explosion of live streaming has changed the way people consume entertainment, and helped to make gaming content a lot more accessible. Esports is no longer limited to a niche audience and we see both tournaments and gaming events being supported by more mainstream brands, and watched by mass audiences. Mobile gaming is now a dominant force, especially in our region, as smartphones makes it easy for both core and casual gamers to access games and content easily. In tandem, GameStart’s content has evolved from only hardcore games to the diverse content offerings that we now have. Our visitor demographic has also expanded to include even families with young children. We see an opportunity to provide and facilitate opportunities for our industry, especially the next generation of up-and-coming developers and gamers ” said Elicia Lee, Founder of GameStart Asia.
GameStart 2018 will also play host to some special announcements from exhibitors and partners during the event, details of which will be shared in the coming days.
In celebration of its 5th anniversary, GameStart has teamed up with fellow Singaporean gaming gear brand Armaggeddon, to design and create a Limited Edition GameStart X Armaggeddon Gaming Mouse. The mouse features high performance tracking speed of up to 160 inches per second, 5 button + 2-way click scroll, 6,000 frame rate and 7-colour lighting with pulsating effects. The mouse will be available for sale exclusively at GameStart events for S$29.90, and included in all GameStart 2018 VIP goodie bags.
- Once-in-a-lifetime Opportunity to Learn from Legendary Game Artist
Take your Game Art to a whole new level with the GameStart Masterclasses on 10 and 12 October. For the first time, two acclaimed international game artists, will be in town to conduct exclusive intensive sessions for budding and professional game artists in Singapore.
Jacqueline A.X Jocson, Art Director, Concept Artist & Instructor at the Academy of Art University, San Francisco will share insights on visual storytelling and the concept behind creating iconic and memorable characters on 10 October. Carlo Arellano, Art Director at Super Evil Megacorp, will focus on Advanced Character Design on 12 October.
The Masterclasses are organized by GameStart Asia and held at *SCAPE, the venue sponsor. Seats are priced at SGD120. Registration will open on the official GameStart site closer to date.
GameStart Workshops, powered by No Average Joe, will be held on 13 and 14 October within the GameStart halls. Sessions range from a hands-on workshop by Retrocade for those who are interested in building their very own mini arcade machine, as well as learning basic game animation. The full schedule will be available from 24 September onwards when pre-registration opens.
- Masterclass by Jax Jocson -Character Design: Introduction to Visual Storytelling
- Date: 10th October 2018
- Time: 10.00am – 5.00pm
- Location:The Treetop, *SCAPE Level 5
- Price: 120SGD
Jacqueline Jocson is an Art Director & Concept Artist specializing in design and storytelling. Over the past decade, Jacqueline has worked in film, game, VR/AR, television, advertising, and IP creation for the past decade with clients such as Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment, SyFy Channel, Digital Domain, Super Evil Megacorp, and Psyop. Learn how to create iconic and memorable characters through effective visual communication from Jacqueline. More info - https://gamestart.asia/events/masterclass-by-jax-jocson/ - Masterclass by Carlo Arellano-Archetypes in Advanced Character Design
- Date: 12th October 2018
- Time: 10.00am – 5.00pm
- Location:The Treetop, *SCAPE Level 5
- Price: 120SGD
- Workshop by No Average Joe (NAJ) -RetroCade
- SGD 400.00 per machine (max two pax per machine)
- Price includes one single-day entry to GameStart (second pax to pay for own entry)
- Each session will last 4 hours max
- All materials & tools will be provided
Carlo has provided concepts, textures and models for many Video Game projects including:
World of Warcraft, Ratchet and Clank, Resistance, and God of War. Pick up essential skills on how to create powerful and provocative characters for film and games from the Art Director of Super Evil Megacorp. By using proportion, form, storytelling, color and focused design creation rather than sprawling ideation, the student is shown the how to create strong archetypes which resonate with the viewer. The student is given tools to communicate important storytelling ideas and skills to create production ready concepts which take into account not only artistic concerns but pipeline, animation and gameplay needs. More info - https://gamestart.asia/events/
- Workshop by No Average Joe (NAJ) -Nanimonda x Naoki – Creating fun animations on the go
- SGD $25 per person
- Price excludes entry to GameStart
- Each session will last 2 hours max
- Participants advised to bring own tablets (but smartphones will suffice)
Targeted at general consumers, the GameStart Workshops is a collaboration with long time content partner, video production company No Average Joe (NAJ). The series, which aims to bring fun and educational sessions to GameStart, will provide visitors with more hands-on activities and learning experiences. 2018’s workshops includes RetroCade, a workshop whereby visitors get to build their own mini arcade machine as well as a fun animation workshop by local artists Nanimonda and Naoki.
For further enquiries and sign ups, email : [email protected]
- A Weekend of Fun, Games and More
GameStart 2018 will see its most diverse offerings to date, with mobile and PC games having a bigger presence at the convention. The first batch of exhibitors and sponsors announced for GameStart 2018 include The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia, who will be exhibiting at GameStart for the first time, Japanese mobile giant Cygames; Mihoyo, publisher of popular mobile game Honkai Impact 3; WB Games, Taipei Game Show, Battlebrew Productions, 3DSense and gaming apparel brand Xmashed Gear. HyperX leads this year’s sponsor list as Official Gaming Headset, Armaggeddon as Official Quest Sponsor, Wacom will sponsor the GameStart Indie Awards, and MyRepublic returns as Fibre Broadband Sponsor. Sponsors also include Monster (Official Energy Drink), Central City Brewers & Distillers (Official Alcohol Beverage Sponsor), Razer, Twitch and Xsplit, the official streaming software of the event. Tickets and official merchandise are available for sale at gamestart.asia/ticketing
“Esports has been garnering huge interest and publicity in recent years. Coupled with the popularity of mobile gaming and as celebrities openly play games such as Fortnite, gaming is now more mainstream than ever. In GameStart, we have seen a gradual shift in the demographics of GameStart attendees - from hardcore gamers when we first started to a wider variety of visitors, from esports fans, competitive gamers, to families with young children. Our content has also evolved to be more inclusive of different interest groups, such as our partnership with Doujin Market and the introduction of our Tabletop area, which was very well received last year,” said Elicia Lee, Founder of GameStart Asia
- Floor Plan & Schedule
- Gamestart 2018
Venue: Suntec Convention Centre Halls 401 – 403 Singapore
Event Dates: 13 & 14 October 2018
Opening Hours:
● VIP Ticket Holders: 10am – 9pm
● General Public: 11am – 9pm
- GameStart 2018 Master Classes
Dates: 10 & 12 October 2018
Venue: *SCAPE
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