2004 TGS show to kick off early next February

Taipei, Dec. 31, 2003 (CENS)--The 2004 Taipei Multimedia and International Game Show (2004 TGS) is scheduled to run February 6-9 at the Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC) Exhibition Hall 1 with a record number of 1,400 booths, according to show organizer Taipei Computer Association (TCA).

The TGS has been an important exhibition for local software companies to demonstrate their latest products and for hardware makers to push sales with new software. The show has been growing steadily to rival the Tokyo Game Show in terms of scale.

According to TCA, the 2004 TGS will witness 180 exhibitors, compared with last year's 150, using 1,400 booths (1,100 last year) to demonstrate their latest products.

Gamania Digital Entertainment Co., a leading game software developer in Taiwan, and its subsidiary NC Taiwan Co., a joint venture with Gamania and NC Soft of South Korea, are scheduled to use a total of 180 booths, making them the largest exhibitor at the show this year. At the 2003 TGS, NC Soft chief operation officer (CEO) Tack Jin Kim visited Taiwan to promote his company's new Lineage II online game and the establishment of the NC Taiwan on the island.

As the Lineage II has been winning hot response during its test period in Taiwan, NC Taiwan will rent 150 booths to demonstrate the new game, and its parent company Gamania 30.

According to Gamania, the TGS is a very important show for game software companies so it always skips the ITMonth computer show, the largest computer and consumer electronic fair for retail sales in Taiwan, and concentrate its resources on the annual game event.

Industry sources said that Gamania and NC Taiwan are expected to pour over NT$10 million (US$293,255 at US$1: NT$34.1) into the four-day show for only booth and booth-decoration spending.

Other major game software companies in Taiwan also rent large spaces to show their latest products, including Digicell Entertainment Co., Ltd. (over 50 booths), Microsoft Taiwan (over 30), Soft-World International Corp., Softstar Entertainment Inc., InterServ International Inc., and WAEI International Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. Etc.