PALGN: What was the motivation behind establishing the GO3 Electronic Entertainment Expo?
David: After visiting E3 in Los Angeles I was inspired to create a platform for a sizeable event in Australia. Research into the industry revealed a growing base of really talented developers here and we wanted to develop a trade scenario into Asia.
PALGN: Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you came to become involved in the expo?
David: I have been involved in event management for a number of years and recently became the event co-ordinator for the IGDA branch in Western Australia. I have taken it upon myself to personally back and launch the GO3 Electronic Entertainment Expo and Conference.
PALGN: Recently there’s been a surge of video game related exhibitions and events around Australia. Will GO3 be different from what we’ve seen before?
David:As outlined the focus on GO3 is not just the expo but the international conference. We have secured some of the leading industry players from around the world to present and have had significant interest from businesses in Asia to attend. All of which will help foster a positive trade environment which is one of our key objectives to develop for the Australasian region.
PALGN: Has the large number of events made things easier or more difficult for your preparations?
David: Our sole focus has been GO3 so it is difficult to assess if the increase in events has made it easier or harder as we are in start-up mode for our event.
PALGN: What role will GO3 play for video game development in Australia?
David: We are attracting some really big international names to present at the conference. This can only help develop the education base for our development industry. Additionally our aim to open up opportunities into Asia can only benefit the industry from a contact and networking perspective.
David with the GO3 promo girls.
PALGN: What’s the response been like from the game development industry? Has there been a lot of support?
David: We have had tremendous support from the industry. Through the IGDA members and key companies on the east coast we have had excellent feedback and are expecting the conference and exhibition support to be substantial in our first year.
PALGN: What about public attendance at the expo? Will there also be a strong focus on that side of the exhibition?
David: Closer to the event we will be driving a substantial marketing campaign to drive attendance to the consumer side of the expo. We expect attenedances to be very strong as the leading game companies in the industry show off their latest products to a captive market. Our expectation is that the family market will make up the majority of attendees along with the usual hard-core gamers.
PALGN: While the expo is still several months away, but there’s already a rather impressive list of speakers lined up from Rod Fergusson (Gears of War) to Goichi Suda (Killer7). Are there any big names you’d like to see at GO3, but haven’t yet confirmed?
David: We have a number of other key international industry people we are in discussions with to attend our conference. Due to the delicate nature of such discussions we cannot reveal these names but needless to say they are at a similar level to the key speakers already named. On top of that we have a couple of “out there” ideas to bring a key person to Perth for our inaugural event. This person is a massive figurehead and it is a bit pie-in-the-sky but if we pull it off the gaming industry will be doing cartwheels!!!
PALGN: You must have met many important people while gathering support for GO3. What’s been the best experience so far?
David: Attending the Tokyo Game Show this year was an important step for GO3. Whilst there we reached an agreement with the organisers to collaborate together with GStar to work together to cross-promote each event. While in Tokyo we had a number of meetings with some of the key players out of Asia who are very excited about what we are doing – that obviously was a great experience!!!
PALGN: The full name of the event is the GO3 Electronic Entertainment Expo and International Conference. The Electronic Entertainment Expo was the full name for E3. Is this similarly deliberate?
David: This is coincidental. Our marketing consultant developed the name without any intended reference or alignment to E3. It was well after our name was developed that E3 announced they would be scaling down their event.
PALGN: What role do you expect GO3, the Tokyo Game Show and GSTAR will play in wake of the old E3? Has E3’s move away from the exhibition format affected your plans for GO3?
David: The changes to E3 really open up opportunities for other shows around the world to fill the void to some degree. What degree that is will always be determined in the long run by the industry itself.
David with Goichi Suda (Killer7)
PALGN: GO3 recently announced that it would be collaborating with the Tokyo Game Show and GSTAR. What opportunities are there for you to work together with these events?
David: We see GO3 as being a great platform to drive international business opportunities for the industry in Australia. As such, we are working with the government on the structure of our event to maximise such opportunities – in particular throughout the Asian markets. The collaboration with TGS and GStar can only help raise the profile of our event and work to foster links with key Asian markets and companies.
PALGN: Why was Perth chosen as the location for the expo?
David: The city of Perth offers attendees of GO3 from Australia, Asia and all over the world neutral ground on which to do business. On top of this Western Australia has a natural association with the South-East region due to proximity and the local government has worked hard to foster trade relations with this region – plus it does not hurt that it is one of the most beautiful places in the world!!!
PALGN: Do you play many games yourself? If so, what is your favourite game?
David: Haha, now you will laugh..
I have to confess, I’m a retro gamer, give me pac man, galaxy any day.
In fact, when I was at E3, I stumbled across an old arcade game set up Galaxy, I sat there 2 hours, I hold the official High score on that machine at E3 for 2006 .
PALGN: Which next generation system are you most looking forward to?
David: I think the industry is really keen to see what Sony is doing with PS3. Given the timing of our event I am in constant contact with them and certainly interested in what they have to show.
PALGN: If all goes well, would you like to see GO3 become an annual event?
David: Naturally we are planning for GO3 to become an annual event on the international gaming calendar. We will sit down after the first event and evaluate that then. We have already booked venues for 2008 & 2009.
GO3 will be held in Perth from Friday 30th March to Sunday 1st April. For more details visit http://www.go3.com.au
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PALGN would like to extend its thanks to David Kazim for taking the time to answer our questions.
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