Carolina Games Summit returns
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on December 24, 2016 12:31 PM
The Carolina Games Summit will return to Goldsboro in February with plans to host the video gaming attraction for two days in downtown Goldsboro.
The summit, which started in 2006, was previously held at Wayne Community College through 2013 before the event moved to Raleigh and Durham.
An effort involving several groups, city officials and downtown developers led to the summit's return. The event typically draws 2,000 people, including many from other cities and towns.
"WCC is a great venue, and we had many great years there, but I believe downtown will allow us to expand and grow our event without forcing our local attendees to leave the city," said Michael Everett, Carolina Games Summit founder and creative director. "The combination of our past attendees requesting us to restart a Goldsboro event, along with interest from parties downtown made the venue choice easy."
The summit will be extended to two days for the first time and will be held Feb. 4 and 5 at several downtown locations.
Tickets are available and on sale at 1077 N. Berkeley Blvd., online at www.carolinagamessummit.com or at the door both days. Tickets offer the chance to reserve a spot in video game tournaments, such as Smash Brothers 4, Madden 2017 and Halo 5. Other benefits include shorter lines at the event, private attendee only message forums and preview access to upcoming event information.
Some of the highlights this year include participation from Red Storm Entertainment and Ubisoft studio, which will return with their latest Virtual Reality projects, access to fresh-eyes testing and educational seminars.
Spark Plug Games will discuss their ongoing serious games and entertainment products in development. Dark Unicorn Games will demonstrate their new collectable trading card game products. Colleges and schools, including N.C. State University and Fayetteville Technical Community College, will set up exhibits and have speakers at the event.
The Carolina Games Summit will have tournaments, speakers and exhibits at several downtown locations, including the Wayne National Building, on West Walnut Street, the Terrace Room of the Waynesborough House, ACME Theater and the Paramount Theatre, on Center Street.
Industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cosplay, educational sessions and trading card games are all planned. Popular gaming tournaments will also provide the chance to compete against people from across the state and country.
Tournaments and free-play opportunities will be available on several platforms including consoles, computers and arcades.
The event's return to Goldsboro was also prompted by an interest in exposing the public to simulation and game design as a viable career, especially for younger generations.
"Another reason it's coming back to Goldsboro is to bring the gaming industry and emerging technologies to eastern North Carolina," said Mark Stevens, a Goldsboro city councilman and Carolina Games Summit director. Stevens, who interned with Nickelodeon, previously worked in animation and the gaming industry, from 2001 to 2009, for companies including EA Games and Riot Games.
The two-day summit will be held from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 4 and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Feb. 5. Additional information is available at www.carolinagamessummit.com.