FOR A NEW London trade showlaunched in something of a hurry,Games Market Europe can considerits debut last month a success – butmore support, particularly from theretail community, is needed if it is toflourish.

Amongst the senior industryexecutives who enjoyed the saneenvironment, where people’s voicescould be heard and focus could be puton Q4 products and local issues, wasLisa Morgan, the UK CEO of specialistretail giant GAME.

“The show was completely differentfrom E3 in the US, but I actually got agood feeling from it,” she told gamesindustry trade weekly MCV.

“Eventhough it was a small-scale event, Ibumped into a lot of people while Iwas there. For networking, it wasexcellent. You only need two or threegood conversations and the thing isworthwhile. It was not a bells andwhistles show, but there is theopportunity there to build on theevent for next year.”

More than 40 companies exhibitedat the two-day event, held in thepopular Business Design Centre,Islington, with total visitor numbersestimated to be around 1,800.

Most exhibitors were cautiouslyoptimistic about the event’s future,but turnout from those working inretail was clearly disappointing.

“There are a fair number of visitors,but the people that it’s for haven’tturned up. The will is there to makethis show a success, but there aren’tenough retailers,” said Gem’smarketing director Dean Van Velsen.