Nintendo has decided to opt out of the 2008 Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany; a show which attracts over 150,000 attendees. Website Nintendo Revolution translated the German press release which states the big N will instead focus on local events and a national promotional tour during the second half of 2008. Nintendo made sure to note the decision in not attending is not a criticism of the convention.

Nintendo has not made any comment on whether it will attend the 2009 Games Convention when it moves to Cologne, Germany, and turns into GAMESCom. We'll have to see if Nintendo's withdrawal will affect attendance numbers when the Games Convention is held for the last time in Leipzig this August.

In the wake of last year's severely scaled back E3, Leipzig's Games Convention emerged as a strong European alternative for game demos and announcements. That reputation might not lat long, though, as GamesIndustry.biz reports that a major German trade group is leaving Leipzig behind for a new show, Cologne's GamesCOM, in September 2009.

While the move has been rumored for a while, German industry association Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware announced only this morning that the new show would effectively replace the Leipzig event. Games Convention owner Messe Leipzig, for their part, released a statement expressing regret and saying that it would be a "harsh blow" for the region. No word yet on whether Games Convention would still try to put on a competing show, but consensus seems to be that effort would be difficult without BIU support.

A little more information is coming out about the rumor from early July that the Leipzig Games Convention may be moving in 2008. According to GI.biz, it couldn't even leave until 2009 anyway and would require the permission of the event's organizers -- the Leipziger Messe. The brand is owned by Leipziger Messe, so a change in location or design would require the permission of the organization.

According to a representative from Leipziger Messe, the rumor actually got started because their contract for the convention center expires in '08. They say that contracts are negotiated in terms of years, so they just have to renegotiate their contract for the grounds past '08. Unless there's something that the Leipziger Messe is hiding, it looks like they plan to stay in Leipzig with the Games Convention for years to come -- not like it hasn't been successful.

The Rabbid site brings us another gem of quick humor as the Rabbids attempt to get into the Leipzig Games Convention. Ubisoft already has the Rayman: Raving Rabbids sequel all locked and loaded for later this year. If the Rabbids continue to bring Ubisoft even more financial success, we hope that they spin-off into their own demonic-bunny platformer game and ditch Rayman -- or, at least, get top billing in the next title.

If you missed the Rabbids attempt to break into the conference last year, you can find that after the break. Be sure to check out the Rabbid website for more clips and pics of the crazy Rabbids as they fumble their way to world domination and attempt to assimilate into our planet.

[Via Game|Life]

Coming up on its eight birthday, the Sega Dreamcast continues to prove that it's worthy of attention, with two new independent titles announced for the aging system. Publisher RedSpotGames will be debuting these titles at this year's Leipzig Games Convention, starting this Wednesday.

The first game, Dalforce, is a vertical-scrolling "bullet hell" shooter title which allows for up to four players. The second, Wind and Water Puzzle Battles, is an action puzzle game being ported from the GP2X. According to Arcade Renaissance, both games are scheduled for first-quarter 2008 releases, although RedSpotGames' website is currently down for maintenance, and we can not confirm this. Both titles will, however, be shown off at Leipzig this week, so stay frosty as we bring you more details once the conference gets under way.

If you were among those who had an issue with the addition of a My Chemical Romance pack to Guitar Hero II yesterday, maybe your spirit will be lifted by this news: It was revealed at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival that the Stone Roses track "She Bangs the Drums" will be included on Guitar Hero III. If you're unfamiliar with the Roses, check out the entirety of their eponymous first album, considered by many to be one of the greatest pop records of all time.

What's more, this is apparently just the start of the European-based song reveals, with more tunes that hail from Our Fanciest Continent to be revealed at the Leipzig Games Convention. We've still got our fingers crossed for Falco.

The Xbox 360 may become home to another, less infuriating Mark of Chaos in the coming months if the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle website is to be believed. The German software ratings board -- think ESRB but far more interesting to pronounce -- has updated its database with an entry for "Warhammer: Mark of Chaos - Battle March (GC Demo)" for the Xbox 360.

The title would imply the existence of an Xbox 360 version of last year's PC real-time strategy game, due to be shown off at the Leipzig Games Convention taking place later this month. Developed by Black Hole Entertainment, the original game received some varied reviews and several complaints about its adherence to the tabletop game's rules. If indeed a real game, Battle March joins a steadily growing battalion of RTS games marching onto Microsoft's console.

[Via Eurogamer]

Though absent at this year's E3 media summit, Spore is still reportedly on track for a 2008 release. According to GameSpot, Will Wright's simulation of Life, the Universe and Everything will be shown behind closed doors at this years Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany.

How far along will the game be? Will we get to try all of it or just select portions? We'll find out soon enough; the Leipzig Games Convention takes place August 23 to 26.

[Via Evil Avatar; thanks, Sam]

When Double Fine's Tim Schafer isn't doing battle with birds or crafting incredible, overlooked games, he's got to fill the hours somehow. Later this month, he'll be idling away the days in Leipzig, keynoting the GC Developers Conference. Even if you don't recognize Schafer from Psychonauts (and the sales figures would suggest that you don't), you may be familiar with his work on Monkey Island 1 and 2, Grim Fandango and Full Throttle.

He'll be speaking on the "challenges and methods of interjecting creativity into modern game design," and we can't think of a better candidate for the job ... well, there might be one or two, but none with his button-selling skills. On a more personal note, Tim, could you please use the opportunity to tell us what you're working on next? Pretty please?

The Leipzig Games Convention is expected to have over 200,000 attendees this year. Just to give a little perspective, the madness of E3 2006 in Los Angeles only came in around 60,000 people. The convention takes place at the 115,000 sq. meter Leipzig Exhibition Centre and may be its last time there; given the convention's 40% growth this year, organizers are allegedly looking for a larger location. Leipzig and the Tokyo Games Show both have higher attendance than E3 because they're open to the public.

Leipzig will have 410 exhibitors this year from 26 countries. The sprawling complex will apparently be completely packed with exhibitors, there will even be a "family entertainment area" for parents and children to test educational software. The Games Convention is not the only thing going on at the time, there will also be the Games Convention open-air summer festival, which will have "live concerts, a range of sports, an outdoor pool and camping facilities." Wow, there's going to be a lot of people there. With an expanded crowd, they better not be charging €15 for a bratwurst or we fear it will devolve into the Leipzig's equivalent of Woodstock '99. Actually, with gamers at the helm ... that might actually be worth making popcorn for.

We're still patting down the dirt on E3 and here comes the European trade publications telling us to pay attention to the expanded Leipzig conference. MCV, in a move of pure speculation, believes Sony Europe is ready to announce at the conference a price-cut, video-on-demand and Freeview TV features. MCV bases their predictions on -- wait for it -- statements made by David Reeves that there would be "fireworks" in Leipzig. In case you're wondering, Sony Europe has no comment on these "rumours" and speculation.

The Leipzig conference should be interesting this year, considering there really wasn't too much breaking news at E3. Much of the information we got was just digging deeper into stuff we already knew. Also, with the death of X07, Microsoft may save a couple things for the European event. This year is very different from July through the holiday season having a clusterfrack of various conventions where anything can happen or be announced. In the US alone there's still E for All and PAX -- don't forget the Tokyo Games Show in Japan either.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

E3 died and every other convention seemed to benefit. The Game Developers Conference got more exposure this year than ever before and now the 2007 Leipzig Games Convention is filling in their lederhosen and reports a 40% growth. The growth is apparently due to international exhibitors from outside of Germany. It sounds like the Kentia Hall crowd found a new local.

Every major gaming company will be in attendance. Despite what Guillemot wants to believe about his Ubiday, Leipzig is the European E3. A bunch of companies are putting more effort into the show, Activision says, "We expect crowds of national and internationa trade visitors ... to be prepared for that, we are expanding our presentation at this year's fair." Fill in that vacuum everyone, there's still plenty of space to fill up in E3's absence.

Are you thinking about selling little Francois Quatorze (that's "fourteen" in French) that copy of Dead Rising he keeps eyeballing? Think again. European Union Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini is seeking to harmonize the rules concerning the sale of video games to minors.

The Reuters article specifically cites 16 as the age in question, as Europe ratings board PEGI uses a 16+ rating for games typically rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB. Frattini opines that under current EU-wide rules, retailers still do not consistently check the consumer's age when selling 16-rated video games.

Said Frattini, "I do want to harmonise rules ... punishing people illegally selling products, people not controlling and checking identity."

The key element here is that Frattini does not want to universal agreement as to which games receive what age restrictions, as the tolerance of certain content factors differ amongst the EU's 27 nations. Germany, for example, recently banned (by means of ratings refusal) a handful of high-profile titles such as Gears of War, Dead Rising, and Crackdown.

The 2007 Leipzig Games Convention will take place at the Leipzig Messe (same venue as this year) from August 22 to 26, according to GamesIndustry.biz. Additionally, a Games Convention Asia has been unveiled for September 7 through 9 at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Games Convention Asia is said to cover 25,000 square meters of floor space, or the entirety of Suntec's facilities. In contrast, the Makuhari Messe (where the 2006 Tokyo Game Show took place) claims 210,000 square meters of space. GC Asia organizers expect 200 exhibitors and 105,000 visitors, which is about 60 percent of this year's GDC (183,000) and 54 percent of this year's TGS.

GC Asia 2007 will likely be just a few weeks prior to the Tokyo Games Show, but will its scale prove complementary or competitive to Japan's ten-year-old convention?

NCsoft and ArenaNet have announced that both the standard and collector's editions of Guild Wars Nightfall will be available Oct. 27. If you can't wait that long to begin exploring the new continent of Elona, the pre-release bonus pack ships in three weeks.

Achtung! For those of you attending the Games Convention in Leipzig this weekend, be sure to check out the final rounds of the Guild Wars Factions Championships.

See also: New Guild Wars Nightfall trailer