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GameCity Squared

Feargal Sharkey, Philip Oliver and Cliff Harris to discuss the evils of filesharing next week in Nottingham.

20th October 2009. Nottingham, UK. GameCity – www.gamecity.org - is proud to announce the headline event in the popular Curry Sessions: Phillip Oliver, CEO of Blitz Games, Cliff Harris, CEO of Positech Games are joined by Feargal Sharkey, CEO of UK Music to explore the challenges facing creative artists in a networked age – and, more importantly, the potential opportunities.

In the midst of discussions around Digital Britain, and with a Digital Economy Bill expected this November, the filesharing debate has never been so high profile.

Equally, questions as to how creative businesses can flourish and survive in a ubiquitous era of “free” have become increasingly widescreen.

What was once perceived as the music business’ “problem” is now a universal conundrum for gaming, newspapers, film, TV, software, publishers and all other copyright-based businesses.

But this panel is about more than just legislation - it's about the culture of consumption. It's not just about how people steal, but why...

"Clearly, we are entering a new era in terms of how creative content is made, distributed and consumed," said Feargal Sharkey. “For all who make and invest in games and music, this presents significant challenges. However, increasingly, it is also a challenge for telcos, device manufacturers and any number of technology companies. In truth, all our futures are intertwined, and it is vital that we can work together and deliver the high quality content fans want and love, on whatever platform they choose to consume it.”

Exploring both the Music and Videogame industries, this panel session also invites consumers' perspectives on possible solutions to the apparent crisis in the creative economy.

"One of the things we've always tried to do at GameCity is not to look at games in isolation, but as part of a rich ecosystem of other cultural works. Having UK Music along to GameCity Squared is a great opportunity to look at videogames in the context of the rest of contemporary culture", commented GameCity director Iain Simons.

This is a must-attend event for anyone who cares about the future of videogames.

The Curry Sessions take place each lunchtime at GameCity in the Mogal-e-Azam Indian restaurant – the official supplier of curry to GameCity and spirtual home of the festival. http://gamecity.org/venues/fh20d

GameCity runs from 27 - 31 October, 2009. www.gamecity.org

Media enquiries to: Alison Beasley,Lincoln Beasley PR.

E: alison@lincolnbeasley.co.uk M: +44 (0)7966 449130

About GameCity

GameCity is the UK's best-loved gaming event, attracting international speakers like Alexei Pajitnov, creator of Tetris and Keita Takahashi, the man behind the Katamari Damacy phenomenon, as well as exclusive game premieres, debates in Indian restaurants and amazing music events. A five-day festival which takes gaming out into the streets, shops and cinemas of Nottingham, it's about finding out what a videogame festival could be.

About Nottingham Trent University

Nottingham Trent University is lead partner and supporter of Nottingham's annual GameCity festival. Its Centre for Contemporary Play brings together inter-disciplinary projects and expertise from across the university, encouraging knowledge transfer and partnerships with the gaming industry. http://www.ntu.ac.uk/

www.ukmusic.org UK Music - promoting the interests of Britain's artists, composers, songwriters, musicians, record labels, music managers, music publishers, collecting societies and studio producers

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