MIGS to Open to the Public for the First Time Ever

The Alliance Numerique have announced some exciting news for gamers - this year's Montreal Game Summit will be open for the public for the first time. Enthusiastic gamers will have the chance to experience the grand spectacle of the exhibition zone where companies such as Eidos, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, and Ubisoft will have booths set-up.

Gamers are also invited to attend the closing conference speech by Jonathan Blow - designer of the critically acclaimed Xbox Live game Braid. There is also an open invitation for gamers to come to the Closing Party at the Society of Arts and Technology located near the summit.

I will attending this year's MIGS event, so stay tuned for full coverage on NextGen Player next week. If you plan on attending, keep an eye out for me - and say hi!

Here's the full press release announcing the public opening of MIGS:

Montreal, November 12, 2008 – Now in its fifth year, the Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS), the premier event dedicated to video game artists, programmers, designers and producers, will be opening its doors to the public for the first time ever.

Taking place on November 18-19 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, the Summit will offer several exciting activities geared towards the general public.

Created to meet the growing needs of the industry, the MIGS is the most important gathering of video game designers in Canada and is widely considered to be one of the world large-scale events in this sector. And as part of its mandate to more widely promote the Canadian video gaming industry, this year will feature a special public exhibition dedicated to the visual and digital arts.

Open door on November 19th
The MIGS will open its doors to the general public, free of charge, on Wednesday, November 19th, from 3 pm until 7 pm. Video game enthusiasts will be able to visit the exhibition zone, meet with the representatives of local video game companies and discuss job openings in Quebec. The public will also be able to attend the much-anticipated Jonathan Blow’s closing conference. Jonathan Blow is an independent designer whose game, BRAID, received a warm welcome, from critics and gamers alike, at the beginning of this year.

Visual arts exhibition
As digital arts and video games share much in common, the Summit wishes to promote the artistic aspect of the video games – which has more to do with fine art than technique. For this reason, the Summit features a unique “concept arts”, industry exhibition dedicated to what the industry refers as the which will take place in the exhibition zone of the Palais des congrès. This exhibition will allow the visitors to discover sketches of settings, objects and characters which will take life later in the animation process. This exhibition is a display of Quebec creativity and know-how.

Closing Party and independent stereoscopic game competition
To end the celebrations in style, the public are invited to the Summit closing party for the Gamma third edition, an event challenging the independent developers creativity though a competition. The selected projects will be presented to the public, who will be invited to play and test the games. The prize-winner will be announced that evening.