Sony, the manufacturer of the gaming platform PlayStation, and DWTC have announced a partnership to bring the “Middle East PlayStation experience” to Dubai.
The event will be launched at the Gitex Computer Shopper - the largest IT retail event in the region taking place between 18 and 24 October 2003 at the Airport Expo Dubai. This will be the first-ever gaming exposition in the region.
DWTC director general Mubarak bin Fahad and Sony Gulf FZE’s managing director Yasuhide Yokota signed the deal at the beginning of July.
“With the addition of the ‘Middle East PlayStation experience’ to the event, Gitex Computer Shopper will evolve further and offer something to satisfy a much wider audience that has so far excluded young ones,” said Bin Fahad.
Yokota said it was natural for PlayStation as a leader in the gaming industry to tie up with DWTC, considering it had been very successful in organising the popular Gitex shows.
Revenues from gaming now surpass even those of Hollywood. The interactive gaming industry is projected to reach a level of $16.9 billion by 2005. This increase has been bolstered by the release of next-generation consoles and interactive gaming. Thus the industry will continue to grow at the rate of 15 per cent per annum, which is three times the growth of the film and computer hardware business.
Important gaming expositions like the E3 and ECTS (European Computer Trade Show) help drive this trend by showcasing the latest developments in the industry. The absence of such events in the Middle East belies the expectations of the die-hard gamer.
“The Middle East gamer is as evolved as a gamer in Europe or America. The ‘Middle-East PlayStation experience’ is our endeavour to bring to the gamer, the best that PlayStation has got to offer, both in terms of hardware and the latest software titles,” said Yokota.
With over 1300 software titles and having a worldwide installed base of more than 30 million for PS2 and 90 million for PS1, PlayStation is by far the most dominant gaming platform. In the Middle East, PlayStation has an installed base of more than two million units.
The “Middle East PlayStation experience” involves the setting up of an integrated interactive entertainment arena in the same hall as the Gitex shopper at Airport Expo. Both DWTC and Sony feel that with around 400 PlayStation consoles loaded with the latest software titles, the “Middle East PlayStation experience” will be the perfect platform to bring gaming to the masses.
