European Computer Trade Show

Last updated
European Computer Trade Show
StatusInactive
FrequencyAnnually
Location(s) London
InauguratedApril 16, 1988;36 years ago (1988-04-16)
Most recentSeptember 1, 2004 (2004-09-01)

The European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) was an annual trade show for the European video game industry which first ran in 1988, the last event being held in 2004.

Contents

The exposition was only open to industry professionals and journalists, [1] although it was frequently attended by members of the public who had faked credentials. Due to the wide-scale nature of this problem, many exhibitors planned stalls which appealed to both trade and public, except when alternative public shows were planned such as the Future Entertainment Show and Game Stars Live. [2]

ECTS was always held at a London venue, usually between the end of August and the beginning of September. Its original home was the Business Design Centre in Islington. In 1995 it was relocated to the Grand Hall at Olympia in Kensington. The 2001 event took place at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in Newham and the last three, to 2004, were at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre. [3]

From 2001 until 2004, the Game Developers Conference Europe was held alongside ECTS. Unlike the primarily press-oriented ECTS, GDCE focused on talks and discussions about the development of games, and was aimed at the developers themselves. In 2004, however, GDCE moved locations and ran alongside the Game Stars Live event. In April 2005, organiser CMP announced that they were withdrawing from the British trade show market, marking the end of 17 years of shows. [4]

Venues

YearDatesVenue
198916–18 April Business Design Centre
19901–3 AprilBusiness Design Centre
199114–16 AprilBusiness Design Centre
199212–14 AprilBusiness Design Centre
6–8 SeptemberBusiness Design Centre
19934–6 AprilBusiness Design Centre
5–7 SeptemberBusiness Design Centre
199410–12 AprilBusiness Design Centre
4–6 SeptemberBusiness Design Centre
199526–28 March Olympia [5]
10–12 SeptemberOlympia [6]
199614–16 AprilOlympia
8–10 SeptemberOlympia [1]
19977–9 SeptemberOlympia
19986–8 SeptemberOlympia
19995–7 SeptemberOlympia
20003–5 SeptemberOlympia
20012–4 SeptemberExCeL
200229–31 AugustEarls Court Exhibition Centre
200327–29 AugustEarls Court Exhibition Centre
20041–3 SeptemberEarls Court Exhibition Centre

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PlayStation (console)</span> Home video game console by Sony

The PlayStation is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released in Japan on 3 December 1994, in North America on 9 September 1995, in Europe on 29 September 1995, and in Australia on 15 November 1995. As a fifth-generation console, the PlayStation primarily competed with the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E3</span> American video game industry event (1995–2021)

E3 was an annual trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, with its final iteration held virtually in 2021. The event hosted developers, publishers, hardware manufacturers, and other industry professionals who used the occasion to introduce and advertise upcoming games, hardware, and merchandise to the press. During its existence, E3 was the world's largest and most prestigious annual gaming expo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COMDEX</span> Computer trade show, 1979 to 2003

COMDEX was a computer expo trade show held in the Las Vegas Valley of Nevada, United States, each November from 1979 to 2003. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, usually second only to the German CeBIT, and one of the largest trade shows in any industry sector. COMDEX exhibitions were held in many other countries from 1982 to 2005, with 185 shows altogether. The first COMDEX was held in 1979 at the MGM Grand, with 167 exhibitors and 3904 attendees. In 1981, the first COMDEX/Spring was held in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game Developers Conference</span> Annual video game developer conference

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutorials, lectures, and roundtables by industry professionals on game-related topics covering programming, design, audio, production, business and management, and visual arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olympia London</span> Exhibition centre and conference centre in West Kensington, London

Olympia Events, formerly known as Olympia London and sometimes referred to as the Olympia Exhibition Centre, is an exhibition centre, event space and conference centre in West Kensington, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London, England. A range of international trade and consumer exhibitions, conferences and sporting events are staged at the venue.

Nintendo Space World, formerly named Shoshinkai and Famicom Space World, was an annual video game trade show hosted by Nintendo from 1989 to 2001. Its three days of high-energy party atmosphere was the primary venue for Nintendo and its licensees to announce and demonstrate new consoles, accessories, and games. Anticipated and dissected each year with hype and exclusivity, it was a destination for the international video game press, with detailed developer interviews and technology demos.

<i>Heart of Darkness</i> (video game) 1998 video game

Heart of Darkness is a cinematic platform video game developed by French developer Amazing Studio for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earls Court Exhibition Centre</span> Venue in London, England

Earls Court Exhibition Centre was a major international exhibition and events venue in London, England. At its peak it is said to have generated a £2 billion turnover for the economy. It replaced exhibition and entertainment grounds, originally opened in 1887, with an art moderne structure built between 1935 and 1937 by specialist American architect C. Howard Crane. With the active support of London mayor Boris Johnson, in an attempt to create Europe's "largest regeneration scheme", its proposed heritage listing was refused after it was acquired by developers, who promptly in 2008 applied for and were granted a Certificate of Immunity from Listing by English Heritage, and its demolition was completed in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Business Design Centre</span>

The Business Design Centre is a Grade II listed building located between Upper Street and Liverpool Road in the district of Islington in London, England. It was opened in 1862, originally named the Agricultural Hall and from 1884 the Royal Agricultural Hall, for holding agricultural shows. It was the home of the Royal Smithfield Club's Smithfield Show from 1862 to 1938. It hosted the Royal Tournament from its inauguration in 1880 until the event became too large for the venue and moved to Olympia in the early years of the 20th century. It hosted the first Crufts dog show in 1891.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Book Fair</span> Publishing trade fair

The London Book Fair (LBF) is a large book-publishing trade fair held annually, usually in April, in London, England. LBF is a global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Boat Show</span> 1955–2018 event in England

The London Boat Show was an event held in London from 1955 to 2018, organised by British Marine. First held at Olympia, it was later moved to the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, and finally the ExCeL Exhibition Centre. The show's cancellation was announced in May 2018, with organisers citing the show as commercially unviable for the industry in its current format.

MacExpo London was a trade show dedicated to the Apple Macintosh and iPod which was held annually in London, United Kingdom at the Olympia Exhibition Centre from 2002 to 2007. It was a major part of Apple's calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PLASA Show</span>

The PLASA Show is an annual trade show hosted at Olympia and organised by the Professional Lighting and Sound Association. The show was formerly held at Earls Court Exhibition Centre and between 2013 and 2015 at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre. The show draws an international attendance of exhibitors and visitors in the lighting, audio and related technologies sector of the entertainments industry.

The Big Red Software Company Limited, doing business as Big Red Software, was a British video game developer based in Leamington Spa, England, that was founded by Paul Ranson in October 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Film and Comic Con</span> Movie and comic convention held in London

London Film and Comic Con is a fan convention held annually in London that focuses on films, cult television, gaming, anime, cosplay and comics. It is organised by Showmasters Ltd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gamescom</span> Trade fair for video games

Gamescom is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Gamescom is the world's largest gaming event, with 370,000 visitors and 1037 exhibitors from 56 countries attending the event in 2018. The event is used by many video game developers to exhibit upcoming games and game-related hardware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BETT</span> Educational technology trade exhibition

Bett or The Bett Show is a global series of education shows organised by Hyve Group marketing information technology in education. The flagship show is located in the UK, with satellite events in Asia & Brasil. Bett is also the global community for education technology, which hosts webinars, CPD sessions and publish articles from the leaders in education.

Argus Press was a British publishing company. It was acquired by British Electric Traction (BET) in 1966, and became the publishing arm of that company. It was the subject of one of the most hotly contested management buyouts of the 1980s when a management team led by Kimble Earl, George Fowkes, and Scott Smith secured financing of £207m from forty national and international banks to acquire the UK and US businesses from BET. The acquisition was of particular note as the publisher Robert Maxwell was among the rival bidders, and widely considered as capable of out-witting the management team. Only an eleventh-hour intervention by Earl – exposing members of Maxwell's secret consortium as rival newspaper publishers which meant Maxwell would fall foul of the Monopolies Commission – brought success for the management team. The new company traded under the name of Team Argus. Its portfolio of businesses included the largest group of paid-for and free weekly newspapers in the UK, an extensive range of business titles in the UK and the USA, and a group of specialist hobby-interest magazines in the UK. Team Argus businesses were sold off to various buyers during the early 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London International Horse Show</span>

The London International Horse Show, formerly the Olympia London International Horse Show, is one of the UK's biggest equestrian competitions. It is best known as the host of the UK legs of the FEI World Cup series in dressage, show jumping and driving, however it also has multiple other showjumping classes, as well as fun competitions such as a Shetland pony race and a dog agility competition. Many competitions are broadcast live by the BBC, and all are streamed. The show is held over six days during the week preceding Christmas, and typically involves over 400 horses and ponies.

British Marine is the trade association for the UK leisure, superyacht and small commercial marine industry, currently representing 12 regional associations, 16 Group Associations and 1600+ members across the UK marine supply chain. These include the Superyacht sector, chandlers, boatbuilders, brokers, suppliers of equipment for yachts and motorboats, to flag makers, Sailing Training and operators of marinas both coastal and inland. British Marine also promotes career opportunities in the marine industry and advice and assistance through their Environment and Boating Facilities, and Training and Technical teams.

References

  1. 1 2 Rider, David; Semrad, Ed (November 1996). "ECTS: The European Game Show Sets London on Fire!". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 88. Ziff Davis. pp. 160–161.
  2. London Metropolitan Archives. "Fixture Lists" (PDF).
  3. London Metropolitan Archives. "EARLS COURT AND OLYMPIA".
  4. "Special Events: 1999 - European-Computer-Trade-Show".
  5. "PlayStation Dominates European Show". Next Generation (6). Imagine Media: 14. June 1995. The venue was at Olympia - instead of the regular site, the Business Design Center in London - and was attended by 8,500 people during the three-day event.
  6. "ECTS: Sony and Sega Battle in Europe". Next Generation (11). Imagine Media: 17. November 1995. The European game industry's bi-annual trade bash took place in mid-September at Olympia in London ...

Further reading