With last night’s launch event at Antenna in Nottingham, we officially began the countdown to GameCity6, due to begin bright and early at 10am on October 26th 2011 (with an exclusive launch party on the evening of the 25th).

So, for those who sadly couldn’t make it to last night’s shindig of cupcakes, videogames and amazing announcements, we thought you might appreciate a quick run down of the announcements so far. We’re launching a full schedule and dedicated festival website very soon!

Eric Chahi’s BootCycle!

Yes, one of the most influential game designers of all time, Mr Chahi (or Eric, as he said we can call him) will begin the festivities with BootCycle*. We’ll be handing over the keys to the festival for the entire first day, resulting in a wonderful medley of Chahi-focused events; there’ll be a Director’s Commentary of Another World, a behind the scenes look at From Dust, a rotoscope workshop and a presentation on the volcanology studies that helped shape From Dust. Note to Trekkies, Leonard Nemoy will NOT be in attendance. Sorry!

*BootCycle is a computer reference. Something about beginning, or starting, or initialising, or something. It’s all very technical. Basically, he’s curating the first day and it’s going to be brilliant.

Richard Lemarchand

Naughty Dog top dog, Richard will also present several events throughout his WEEK LONG visit to our sunny shores. The man behind the most cinematic game trilogy to date, and one of the best reasons to own a Playstation 3, Lemarchand will take fans through the entire Uncharted series with a one off Creator’s Commentary, set to bring Nathan Drake to life in a hail of bullets, explosions and quips galore.

thatgamecompany

We always try and make every event special; to create an aesthetic that makes it truly memorable. So far, no event has come close to the emotional outpouring resulting from GameCitySquared’s performative playthrough of Flower. Creating a large scale projection beneath the dome of Nottingham’s Council House, audience members were showered with real petals as the mesmerising visuals and hypnotic soundscape left everyone in a state of pure bliss.

This year, Producer Robin Hunicke will present a late night, large scale projection of Journey, thatgamecompany’s follow up to flow and Flower. This looks set to be our most visually stunning event ever. Do not miss it.

Amanita Design & Kooky UK Premiere

Amanita Design founder Jakub Dvorský will be on hand to unveil the upcoming and highly anticipated Botanicula and Samorost 3 which we were very privileged to get the World’s first look at during a previous GameCityNights event. We are really excited to be hosting the UK premiere of Two-time Academy Award Winner Jan Svěrák’s enchanting new film, Kooky, on which Jakub was lead designer. Using puppetry and live action, Kooky is both an inventive, thrilling family adventure and a celebration of the childhood imagination. Watch the trailer here.

Ian Livingstone

Co founder of Games Workshop and Eidos Life President, Ian Livingstone, will write an entirely new piece of fantasy fiction to adorn the pages of our magazine. What magazine? We’re busy scribbling away to create our own one off publication about the festival. It’ll have some very special guests in it and other currently secret stuff.

GameCity5 smashed our previous attendance records with 45,000 visiting last year’s events and venues. We’re hoping to go bigger and better in an effort to surpass that at GameCity6.

We’ll soon be reopening the OpenGameCity platform, giving everyone the opportunity to hold their own interesting/fun/playful events. We also welcome your ideas and suggestions covering all aspects of the festival.

We’re always looking for volunteers to help during the festival and we’ll be announcing more details about stewarding and working opportunities very soon.

To get involved with GameCity6 as an exhibitor, festival partner or in any other capacity, please contact us at info@gamecity.org.

All we have left to say now is……keep checking in for more festival news and see you in October!