News

Back for the second year, Escapist Expo is the live event extension of Webby award-winning The Escapist (www.theescapistmagazine.com), the gaming generations’ preeminent lifestyle site and mouthpiece. The second annual Escapist Expo builds upon the outstanding success of last year’s three-day inaugural event, celebrating contemporary video gaming lifestyle and diverse global video game culture. More than 6,000 attendees from around the globe are anticipated to attend this year’s event and participate in dynamic and varied offerings, including gaming industry expert keynotes and panel discussions, game publisher exhibitors and dealers, anime and cosplay specialists, visual artists, tabletop gaming, comic and graphic novel dealers, and both live- and electronic-game play competitions. This year, Escapist Expo has doubled its floor space to incorporate the Durham Convention Center, the historic Carolina Theater, and Durham Armory.

“We are excited to bring the WCG USA National Finals to Escapist Expo as the main eSports attraction to this year’s event,” said Han Park, President of ESS Agency, the official WCG USA strategic partner. "As the live event extension of The Escapist’s gaming-focused digital brand, its loyal and passionate fans ofvideo games and multi-media culture are a natural audience for eSports and the level of competition showcased by the WCG USA National Finals."

In addition to the finals competitions, which will be streamed live for viewers at home, the WCG USA will hold daily gaming contests, giveaways, and free-to-play gaming areas. The official live national finals tournament for Super Street Fighter ® IV will be held for attendees at Escapist Expo, where the winner will earn a spot on Team USA and win a full travel package (e.g. hotel, airfare, and meals) to compete for cash and fame on the international stage at the global finals in Kunshan, China.

“Hosting the WCG USA National Finals is the capstone on the great slate of programming we’ve developed for the second Escapist Expo,” said Alexander Macris, Senior Vice President of Alloy Digital and General Manager of The Escapist. "We are particularly thrilled that Escapist Expo attendees will have a chance to compete in Super Street Fighter ® IV to be America’s representatives on Team USA in China!”

Tickets for Escapist Expo 2013 are currently available for purchase online. Other information about the show is available at www.escapistexpo.com andwww.facebook.com/TheEscapistExpo

About World Cyber Games Inc.

Founded in 2000, World Cyber Games Inc. (WCG) is the organizer of the longest running global eSports tournament and festival in existence. Credited with launching the professional careers of many of the planet's top video game competitors, WCG uses a yearlong tournament format, which begins with online, national and regional competitions around the world. Top national competitors then convene to compete in the ultimate global eSports tournament, the World Cyber Games Grand Final, where they compete for prizes, and most of all, prestige. WCG2012 Grand Final will be held in Kunshan, China. For more information visit www.wcg.com

About ESS Agency

ESS Agency (formerly E-Sports Services) was founded in 2006 and has become a top event services and technology agency focused on connecting brands with their audience through video game entertainment. ESS Agency delivers branded and technology solutions for experiential marketing agencies and clients that exceed goals and deliver results. Additionally, ESS Agency has developed a suite of proprietary audience capture technologies that are deployed worldwide by major consumer brands and companies. ESS Agency has been the official USA strategic partner for the World Cyber Games since 2011. For more information visit http://www.essagency.com

About The Escapist

Alloy Digital-owned The Escapist offers a daily escape from the everyday for its worldwide audience of over 4.8 million gamers and entertainment enthusiasts. A multiple Webby Award-winning Internet media publication, The Escapist delivers varied and comprehensive content that attracts the attention of core gamers, developers, and industry insiders alike. With exclusive web video series, cutting edge feature articles, and custom social media events, The Escapist has built a vibrant and dedicated audience and community that are highly influential and deeply engaged, spending an average of 6.3 minutes on site during every visit.

Founded in 2005, The Escapist has grown to become a leading voice in video game culture and the modern day interests and lifestyle of the internet generation, delivering proprietary offerings to the coveted 12-34 male demographic with over 10 million video streams and 40 million page views a month. Its newly-launched gaming and gaming culture expo, the Escapist Expo, brought in 5,600 attendees in its first year. Please visit us at www.alloydigital.com andwww.theescapistmagazine.com.

Carolina Games Summit will be exhibiting at Raleigh Game On Round 2 Tuesday, May 28, at 7 p.m. in The Hive bar downtown.  Pete Biles, Marketing and PR of Mighty Rabbit Studios and Raleigh Game On organizer, states “We held the first Raleigh Game On in 2011 and are excited to once again showcase the latest hits from local independent game developers”.  The event is free and open to the public.

Indie game developers from around the Triangle will be presenting games to the public to test and try out. At the end of the night there will be a vote for best game showcased during the event. Food and drinks will be available for purchase from the Busy Bee Cafe. Indie game developers such as Imangi (Temple Run), Bitmonster (Lili), Mighty Rabbit Studios (Saturday Morning RPG), Spark Plug Games (Plight of the Zombie), and many others will be on hand to showcase their games on various platforms.   

More information can be obtained, along with free event registration, from the events facebook on.fb.me/10WYP2o or Eventbrite raleighgameonround2.eventbrite.com pages.

Carolina Games Summit will provide information on the many upcoming gaming events in North Carolina, such as Video Games Live June 7th at the Meymandi Concert Hall, Escapist Expo October 4-6th at the Durham Convention Center, as well as the next Carolina Games Summit in 2014.  

About Carolina Games Summit

Carolina Games Summit is a yearly hybrid event that delivers industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cosplay, educational sessions, and trading card games. Attendees compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. All your favorite platforms are featured with both tournament and free play options available on arcade, computer, and console systems. Additional information can be found on the official web site: www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com

Carolina Games Summit will be exhibiting at the upcoming Video Games Live concert on Friday, June 7, at 8 p.m. in the Meymandi Concert Hall. This one night only event will feature music from Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Halo, Warcraft, Metal Gear Solid, Sonic, Kingdom Hearts, Pokemon, Super Smash Bros., Skyrim, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross and many more, including the Classic Arcade Medley and the Tetris Opera!

Carolina Games Summit will bring their signature tournaments to Video Games Live with a twist. Attendees will be able to enter a classic triathlon across 1982 arcade hit Super Pac-Man, 2010 XBOX Live Arcade hit PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX and a title to be announced at the event. Freeplay as well as tournament play will also be available during pre-show activities and intermission.

After the show, there will be a meet and greet session with:

Tommy Tallarico (CEO/Host of Video Games Live, and Guinness World Record holder for working on the most commercially released video games) Cliff Bleszinski (Game Designer: Gears of War and Unreal Tournament franchises) Rod Abernethy (Composer: RAGE, Dead Space, and over 60 other games)

Ticket prices for the event range from $29 - $70 but a special discount is available to our fans using this link Discount and the discount code: “GAMER” which entitles delivers best available section A seats for $48 instead of the regular $65 price.

About Video Games Live
Described by the Washington Post as “ingenious and fantastic,” and “a feast for the eyes and ears,” by The Seattle Times, Video Games Live is an award winning concert event that features beautiful symphonic arrangements of music from the most popular video games of all time, along with synchronized video footage on three giant screens, plus lighting and electronic percussion. The mixture of live action, interactive segments, and stirring musical themes creates an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience. To see examples of the VGL experience, go to VGL

VGL was created by industry legend, composer Tommy Tallarico. The multimedia concert introduces new audiences – families, video game enthusiasts and non-gamers – to the symphonic experience. The concert spotlights the music that enhances the most gripping video game moments – rescuing the princess, winning the boss fight, saving the galaxy from aliens or defeating the undead – with performances from recent blockbusters and iconic classics.

About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony performs over 175 concerts annually to adults and school children in more than 50 North Carolina counties. An entity of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the orchestra employs 65 professional musicians, under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn, and Resident Conductor William Henry Curry.

Headquartered in downtown Raleigh’s spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It holds regular concert series in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines and Wilmington—as well as individual concerts in many other North Carolina communities throughout the year—and conducts one of the most extensive education programs of any U.S. orchestra. Additional information can be found on the official web site: NCSymphony

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit is a yearly hybrid event that delivers industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cosplay, educational sessions, and trading card games. Attendees compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. All your favorite platforms are featured with both tournament and free play options available on arcade, computer, and console systems. Additional information can be found on the official web site: CGSummit

The Carolina Games Summit helped raise $1,628 for Child’s Play Charity by hosting ShootMania Storm, Gears of War: Judgement, and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier tournaments in the Child's Play booth at the East Coast Game Conference. The Conference was held April 24-25th at the Raleigh Convention Center in North Carolina. The tournaments spanned both days of the event. Registration for the tournament was free to all conference attendees however a small donation to the Child’s Play Charity was requested from each participant.

The winners for the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Guerilla Mode score tournament included 1st Place: Wyatt Pritchard , 2nd Place: Caleb Talmage and 3rd Place: Tony Douangkham. Gears of War: Judgement FFA winners included 1st Place: Ross LeMere, 2nd Place: Ian Riddle, and 3rd Place: Wyatt Pritchard. Taking 1st Place in the ShootMania Storm FFA Royal tournament was Evan Brown followed by Steve Burke, in 2nd, and Keegan Belongia in 3rd. Taking 1st Place in the ShootMania Storm 3v3 Elite tournament was team ECGC followed by team URSA MAJOR, in 2nd, and Team 20 in 3rd. The full list of participants along with winners for all our events are posted on our past tournaments page Tournament Info

Pictures from the event may be viewed on our facebook page: Facebook

We would like to thank our sponsors: Plantronics, Alienware, BenQ, Red Storm Entertainment, Ubisoft, and Epic Games without their support this event would not have been possible. In addition we would like to thank the East Coast Game Conference for donating the space, Internet, and power required to pull off this great fund raiser. We would also like to thank the Wake Tech Game Development Club members who invited us to join in this amazing opportunity to raise money for a great charity.  For the second year in a row they held a raffle at the Child's Play booth, which raised the majority of the funds.

The ShootMania FFA Royal and 3v3 Elite Tournaments was held on Alienware x51 desktops with BenQ XL2420T 24” LED displays and Plantronics GameCom 780 7.1 Channel headsets, the official computer , monitor, and headset of the Carolina Games Summit. The Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Guerilla Mode score tournament and Gears of War: Judgement FFA Tournament was held on XBOX 360 consoles with BenQ XL2420T 24” LED displays customized with FPS presets and Plantronics GameCom X40 headsets. For discount codes and more information on our equipment visit Gear

If you were unable to attend donations but would like to donate visit our official Child’s Play donation widget here: Donations

About Child’s Play
In 2003 Child’s Play was organized, which is a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing toys and games in the charity’s network of over 70 hospitals worldwide. Over the years, you as a community have answered the call and come together to raise millions of dollars.

The term “record-setting” doesn't do the final total justice, nor does incredible, amazing, generous, or overwhelming. In 2012, Child’s Play Charity raised over 5 million dollars for children across the globe.

With events and a record number of community-run fundraisers, Child’s Play as a group are able to raise an astonishing amount to benefit kids in hospitals, clinics, and domestic violence shelters worldwide. Each of these events requires thousands of volunteers, organizers, and participants, each working long hours, weekend after weekend, to ensure everything is in working order. Additional information can be found on the official web site: Child's Play

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit is a yearly hybrid event that delivers industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cosplay, educational sessions, and trading card games. Attendees compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. All your favorite platforms are featured with both tournament and free play options available on arcade, computer, and console systems. Additional information can be found on the official web site: CGSummit

About East Coast Game Conference
The East Coast Game Conference is considered the largest gathering of Industry leaders on the east coast. The conference provides everything for academic learning, video game enthusiasts, and industry professionals with engaging program opportunities for networking and collaboration. The conference is presented by the Triangle Game Initiative, a non-profit trade association of video game companies in North Carolina and the International Game Developers Association, a non-profit trade association of video game developers around the world. Additional information can be found on the official web site: ECGC

The Carolina Games Summit will host ShootMania Storm, Gears of War: Judgement, and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier benefit tournaments at the East Coast Game Conference with 100% of the proceeds benefiting Child’s Play Charity.  The Conference is being held April 24-25th at the Raleigh Convention Center in North Carolina.  The tournaments will be held in the Exhibition Hall and will span both days of the event.  Registration for the tournaments is free to all conference attendees however a small donation to Child’s Play Charity will be required upon arrival. Tournament registration is currently available at www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com/tournaments.php and will continue on site at the Child’s Play booth in the exhibition hall.

The ShootMania Storm FFA Royal and 3v3 Elite tournaments will be held on Alienware x51 desktops with BenQ XL2420T 24” LED displays and Plantronics GameCom 780 7.1 Channel headsets, the official computer , monitor, and headset of the Carolina Games Summit.  The Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Guerilla Mode score tournament and Gears of War: Judgement 4v4 tournament will be held on XBOX 360 consoles with BenQ XL2420T 24” LED displays customized with FPS presets and Plantronics GameCom X40 headsets.

Full color custom made plaques will be awarded to the first place winners in all tournaments along with prizes from the developers of the games, many of whom are attending and speaking at the East Coast Games Conference and will be available to talk with tournament participants at various times during the event.  Prospective attendees must purchase their East Coast Game Conference passes from www.ecgconf.com.

If you are unable to attend donations are accepted online via the official Child’s Play donation widget here: http://bit.ly/10a8Pe3

About Child’s Play
In 2003 Child’s Play was organized, which is a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing  toys and games in the charity’s network of over 70 hospitals worldwide. Over the years, you as a community have answered the call and come together to raise millions of dollars.

The term “record-setting” doesn’t do the final total justice, nor does incredible, amazing, generous, or overwhelming. In 2012, Child’s Play Charity raised over 5 million dollars  for children across the globe.

With events and a record number of community-run fundraisers, Child’s Play as a group are able to raise an astonishing amount to benefit kids in hospitals, clinics, and domestic violence shelters worldwide. Each of these events requires thousands of volunteers, organizers, and participants, each working long hours, weekend after weekend, to ensure everything is in working order. Additional information can be found on the official web site: www.ChildsPlayCharity.org

About Carolina Games Summit                                                                                                
Carolina Games Summit is a yearly hybrid event that delivers industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games. Attendees compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. All your favorite platforms are featured with both tournament and free play options available on arcade, computer, and console systems. Additional information can be found on the official web site: www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com

About East Coast Game Conference
The East Coast Game Conference is considered the largest gathering of Industry leaders on the east coast. The conference provides everything for academic learning, video game enthusiasts, and industry  professionals with engaging program opportunities for networking and collaboration. The conference is presented by the Triangle Game Initiative, a non-profit trade association of video game companies in North Carolina and the International Game Developers Association, a non-profit trade association of video game developers around the world. Additional information can be found on the official web site: www.ecgconf.com

The Carolina Game Summit announces that Plantronics will be the official headset of their 2013 Season. Plantronics GameCom headsets will be used across the board for all Xbox and PC video game tournaments held at the 2013 Carolina Game Summit, February 2nd, 2013 10am - 8pm.

The official PC tournaments will utilize Plantronics’ new limited-edition GameCom Commander headset, which incorporates tournament-ready noise isolation, game audio, and voice communication. The official Xbox tournaments will feature Plantronics’ highly popular GameCom X40 headset. In addition to these featured headsets, Plantronics will also provide over $3,000 worth of headsets to tournament and contest winners throughout the event. For additional information about these and other Plantronics gaming headsets, please visit Plantronics PC Gaming.

Tickets are available to the public for $10 each and may be purchased online or at the door. Visit the official web site, CGSummit, for a full listing of all 24 tournaments, plus speakers, exhibitors, and additional details. Contact the event organizers at info@carolinagamessummit.com for more information on attending, exhibiting or speaking at the Carolina Games Summit.

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit will be held Saturday February 2nd 2013 10AM – 8PM at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC. This hybrid event will once again deliver industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games. Compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. Enjoy all your favorite platforms including arcade, computer, and console games with both tournament and free play options available. Additional information can be found on the official web site: CGSummit

The 8th Annual Carolina Games Summit is proud to announce their partnership with pro gaming tournament organization National Championship Gaming(NCG). NCG will proudly conduct the Black Ops 2 4v4 and FFA tournaments at the Feb 2nd 2013 Carolina Games Summit.

GoldenBoyFTW, a professional eSports Broadcaster, will be casting the event live worldwide at NCGpro twitch and CGSummit twitch from 11am - 6pm EST.

National Championship Gaming is a Pro Gaming Tournament company based in North Carolina sponsored by GameStop Inc. While NCG concentrates on Professional Gaming Tournaments, the amateur gaming market is a big part of their business model. Amateur tournaments are held using the same rules, respect, and equipment as their professional counterparts. Giving the amateur gamer the same experience previously available only to pro gamers. Prospective tournament participants should visit NCGpro and 4v4pro for more information.

“National Championship Gaming will be joining us in our efforts to deliver a professionally ran tournament experience that is accessible to all at just $10 per participant.” states Michael Everett Creative Director Carolina Games Summit, “We pride ourselves on matching pro gamer specifications for rules, equipment, and participant recognition via our professional produced awards ceremony and livecasting services, NCG will ensure we deliver on this promise to our attendees.”

Tickets are available to the public for $10 each and may be purchased online or at the door. Visit the official web site, www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com, for a full listing of all 24 tournaments, plus speakers, exhibitors, and additional details. Contact the event organizers at info@carolinagamessummit.com for more information on attending, exhibiting or speaking at the Carolina Games Summit.

About National Championship Gaming
National Championship Gaming (NCG) is a Tournament Gaming and Media Company hosting and supporting amateur and pro gaming tournaments throughout the USA. NCG holds properties such as 2v2pro 3DayBash GameTaste VGheaven The Pro Recap Show (TPRS), The NCG Show Match, and Clan Matcher. The official NCG website is NCGpro, and our official partner site is NCGpro.

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit will be held Saturday, February 2, 2013, 10AM – 8PM at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC. This hybrid event will once again deliver industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games. Compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. Enjoy all your favorite platforms including arcade, computer, and console games with both tournament and free-play options available. Additional information can be found on the official web site: Carolina Games Summit

The Carolina Game Summit announces that BenQ Corporation will be the official monitor of their 2013 season. Already in extended sponsorships with the Intel Extreme Masters and the Major League Gaming Pro Circuit, BenQ GL2450HM 24” LED monitors will be used across the board for the XBOX video game tournaments held at the 2013 Carolina Game Summit, February 2nd, 2013 10am - 8pm.

The BenQ monitors feature advanced dynamic contrast ratio of 12,000,00:1, a powerfully fast response time of two milliseconds, all on a beautiful HD resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. The hosts of the Carolina Game Summit always bring a superior experience to each of the tournaments hosted at their events. “The choice for us was obvious when BenQ researches partnered with professional gamers to produce their new gaming line of monitors,” stated Michael Everett Creative Director for the Carolina Games Summit. Equally impressive is the Senseye technology which should offer smoother game-play and less choppiness with support for higher frames per second, better colors, and clarity.

Prospective attendees can register online now at Carolina Games Summit for just $10, this price also includes full access to all the speakers, exhibitors, and excitement that the Carolina Games Summit has to offer.

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit will be held Saturday February 2nd 2013 10AM – 8PM at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC. This hybrid event will once again deliver industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games. Compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. Enjoy all your favorite platforms including arcade, computer, and console games with both tournament and free play options available. Additional information can be found on the official web site: Carolina Games Summit

About BenQ Corporation
BenQ Corporation is a renowned global trendsetter of connected digital lifestyle devices founded on the brand promise of “Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to Life.” With a keen insight into ever-evolving consumer preferences, BenQ uniquely creates the ideal balance of leading technology and signature design to provide visual and mobile solutions that elevate consumer lifestyles. BenQ continues to delight the world’s consumers with a broad product and embedded technology portfolio spanning digital projectors, monitors, interactive large-format displays, digital cameras and camcorders, mobile computing devices, and lighting solutions.

David Sears will speak at the upcoming Carolina Games Summit taking place on February 2nd at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC. His topic, “The Marquise de Sade, Machiavelli, and Me: The Truth about Power and Politics in the Game Industry,” will give insight on how producers see creatives, how creatives see producers and will help develop techniques for surviving the games industry long term. Drawing on over 1400 pages of reference including the original writings of de Sade and Machiavelli, David also interviewed game industry veterans who told the “inside stories” of their experiences in some of the greatest—and worst—game companies of our time.

David is a renowned creative director and game designer with twenty-two years of industry experience. Creative director for the critically acclaimed and best-selling series of SOCOM: US NAVY SEALs games for Playstation 2 and PSP, David has also designed for many other genres. His first work, an adaptation of Harlan Ellison's "I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream" was an award winning PC adventure game. His other titles include racing games, platform games and action adventures on a variety of consoles for developers including Virgin Games, Looking Glass Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Pseudo Interactive, and Ubisoft Montreal. Currently, David is the creative director for an unreleased military tactical shooter project titled, “H-Hour: World’s Elite™”.

Tickets are available to the public for $10 each and may be purchased online or at the door. The event includes video game tournaments, industry speakers, live music, educational sessions, and exhibition booths. An exciting mix of fun, academic opportunities and career exploration has been created for students, aspiring game developers, educators and professionals alike.

Visit the official web site, Carolina Games Summit, for a listing of events and additional details. Contact the event organizers at inf@carolinagamessummit.com for more information on attending, exhibiting or speaking at the Carolina Games Summit.

About SOF Studios
SOF Studios is an independent video game studio led by elite Special Operations veterans and premier gaming experts. Currently, SOF Studios is developing an innovative military, team-based tactical shooter titled “H-Hour: World's Elite”. H-Hour is the first shooter game to feature real world Special Operations veterans as playable game characters. Shaped by the expertise and personal experiences of our decorated Heroes, H-Hour: World's Elite™ is truly the first game of its kind.

About Wayne Community College
Wayne Community College is a public, two-year college located in Goldsboro, NC with an open-door admission policy. As it works to develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce, it serves 14,000 individuals annually as well as businesses, industry and community organizations with high quality, affordable, accessible learning opportunities, including more than 100 college credit programs. Additional information can be found on the official web site: WCC.edu

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit is a hybrid event that will deliver industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games. Compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. Enjoy all your favorite platforms including arcade, computer, and console games with both tournament and free-play options available. Additional information can be found on the official web site:cgsummit.com

The 8th Annual Carolina Game Summit will spotlight premier students of the Simulation and Game Design Program at Wayne Community College, one of whom is Kithic Games Co-Founder, Creative Director, and Lead Programmer Andrew Howell. Along with his father, Mike Howell, the duo spent eight years analyzing, building, and coding video games as a hobby before taking their interest to the next level and formed Kithic Games in July 2012. Upon graduation Andrew Howell hopes to take Kithic Games to highest ranks of the gaming industry by releasing a fresh library of games for consoles, PC’s, handhelds, Mobile devices, and other innovative game technologies. Visitors to the Kithic Games exhibit can play test the team’s current project, sign up for beta testing, and register for an iTunes gift card. The team is seeking motivated artists and sound technicians for collaboration on anticipated future projects. Follow Kithic’s progress on Facebook Twitter

Attendees and prospective competitors can register online now at www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com for just $10 per player, this price also includes full access to all the speakers, exhibitors, and excitement that the Carolina Games Summit has to offer.

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit will be held Saturday, February 2, 2013, 10AM – 8PM at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC. This hybrid event will once again deliver industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games. Compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. Enjoy all your favorite platforms including arcade, computer, and console games with both tournament and free-play options available. Additional information can be found on the official web site:

Acey Boyce will speak at the upcoming Carolina Games Summit taking place on February 2nd at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC. His topic, "Serious Games: Making Real Life More Fun," reports on over seven years of real world work experience making games for education at both UNC Charlotte and NC State University. 

Game technologies help people practice new skills, from flying planes to learning math, and can also encourage better behavior, choices, and attitudes - from quitting smoking to making new professional connections. In this talk, Acey Boyce, a PhD student studying serious games at NC State, will talk about recent developments in serious games research, revealing the elements that encourage better learning and user generated content creation in his BeadLoom Game. Bead Loom Game, playable at community.game2learn.com, is a game developed to teach middle school mathematics within the context of creating bead loom art. Students design and share bead art with one another while learning how to graph points and shapes, and solve challenging puzzles of how to minimize the number of shapes they create to make their designs. We have used Bead Loom Game to research how the addition of game elements including in-game tutorials, leaderboards, and user design showcases, have encouraged greatly increased play and learning.

The unifying aspect of the Carolina Games Summit is its dedication to informing the public that simulation and game design is a viable career choice for today’s youth. “Visitors can experience presentations from industry visionaries, plan for a future in the game development field, and enjoy fiercely competitive tournaments all at one event." Said Michael Everett,  Creative Director of the Carolina Games Summit.  Prospective attendees can register online now at www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com for just $10, this price  includes full access to all the speakers, exhibitors, tournaments and excitement Carolina Games Summit has to offer.

About North Carolina State University
With an enrollment of more than 34,000 students, NC State is known for its leadership in education and research, and globally recognized for its science, technology, engineering and mathematics leadership. The university’s 2,100 faculty members include 16 members of the National Academies, and the university offers bachelor’s degrees in 102 fields, masters in 106 fields, and doctorates in 61 fields. As a major research university, NC State has the people —from undergraduate and graduate students to faculty — and the responsibility to advance knowledge, transfer technology, and discover and develop innovations that solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. NC State’s Centennial Campus, home of the Computer Science Department, is a unique community of collaboration where industry and government partners work alongside faculty, staff, post-docs and students conducting cutting-edge research in state-of-the art facilities. NC State’s Computer Science game development concentration helps students develop an understanding of the scientific and technological principles associated with the design and development of computer and console games for both entertainment and serious applications.

About Wayne Community College
Wayne Community College is a public, two-year college located in Goldsboro, NC with an open-door admission policy. As it works to develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce, it serves 14,000 individuals annually as well as businesses, industry and community organizations with high quality, affordable, accessible learning opportunities, including more than 100 college credit programs.  Additional information can be found on the official web site: www.waynecc.edu

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit is a hybrid event that will deliver industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games.  Compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments.  Enjoy all your favorite platforms including arcade, computer, and console games with both tournament and free-play options available.  Additional information can be found on the official web site: www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com

FraggedNation (www.FraggedNation.com) has agreed to support Carolina Games Summit (CGSummit - www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com) with an online League series to keep players engaged during the off season.

FraggedNation has been growing its influence in the competitive gaming industry for ten years, and has players socializing and competing across many games and all platforms every day. Terry Tognietti, CEO of FraggedNation’s parent company Nation Fusion, Inc., says, "CGSummit has done a great job with their annual event, and this allows both communities to interact and enables the Carolina Gaming Community to utilize the FraggedNation developed competitive software to stay involved year ‘round. We take great pride in this relationship.”

Carolina Games Summit has been the premier gathering spot for gamers and game developers in the region since 2006. “Keeping attendees attention between events has been a struggle” says Michael Everett, Creative Director and Founder of CGSummit, “This new partnership will give our attendees a reason to stay connected with each other, our event, and our sponsors throughout the year.” 

About FraggedNation
FraggedNation has been evolving and growing since its inception as a competitive site in 2002, expanding to all platforms and adding significant social features over the last few years. It is known as a social, competitive video-gaming site, for gamers, by gamers, and recently surpassed 100,000 registered members! It is owned by Nation Fusion, Inc., which is focused on building on the community’s desires and uniting with other like minded communities. It is virtually completely driven and managed by volunteers. Recent feature additions include BattleBox, a real time chat and open challenge system enabling instantaneous matchups on your desired game, unique achievement tracking, and Gaming News updates. Additional information can be found on the official web site: www.FraggedNation.com

About Carolina Games Summit
  Carolina Games Summit will be held Saturday, February 2, 2013, 10AM – 8PM at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC.  This hybrid event will once again deliver industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games.  Compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments.  Enjoy all your favorite platforms including arcade, computer, and console games with both tournament and free-play options available.  Additional information can be found on the official web site: www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com

Since its inception in 2006, the Carolina Games Summit has been the premiere gathering spot for the North Carolina video game community. Over 1,200 people attend each year. The 2012 Summit featured 17 speakers and 8 sessions. The 2013 Carolina Games Summit takes place February 2 at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC.

The old stereotypes are crumbling! Where once viewed as brain-rotting time-wasters, innovative educators around the world are beginning to shed a new light on video games as meaningful, engaging, and powerful tools for learning, commercially using successful games as powerful tools for learning? Yes! Join Lucas Gillispie as he shares how games like World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Portal, and others are not only valuable for entertainment, but have tremendous potential for classroom learning. We’ll look at what the academic experts are saying, explore real-world examples of video game integration into instruction, and challenge the very foundations of traditional education as we chart a course for the future of video game-based learning.

Lucas Gillispie is an Instructional Technology Coordinator for Pender County Schools in southeastern North Carolina. An avid gamer, he is passionate about the integration of video games into the learning environment. In 2009, he founded the WoWinSchool Project, a program designed to explore the educational potential of games like World of Warcraft with at-risk middle grades learners. Lucas oversees a district-wide Minecraft implementation, of over 300 student accounts, while providing professional development on game-based learning to teachers in his district, state, and beyond. His most recent project, SAGA (Story and Game Academy)aims to encourage middle grades students to build reading and writing skills through video games on platforms ranging from the X-box to the Play-Station. When he is not supporting his guild in the battlegrounds of Guild Wars 2, he blogs about games in education at: http://www.edurealms.com.

The unifying aspect of the Carolina Games Summit is its dedication to informing the public that simulation and game design is a viable career choice for today’s youth. Michael Everett Creative Director for the Carolina Games Summit says, “Visitors can experience presentations from industry visionaries, plan for a future in the game development field, and enjoy fiercely competitive tournaments all at one event." Prospective attendees can register online now at www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com for just $10, this price also includes full access to all the speakers, exhibitors, tournaments and excitement Carolina Games Summit has to offer.

About Wayne Community College
Wayne Community College is a public, two-year college located in Goldsboro, NC with an open-door admission policy. As it works to develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce, it serves 14,000 individuals annually as well as businesses, industry and community organizations with high quality, affordable, accessible learning opportunities, including more than 100 college credit programs. Additional information can be found on the official web site: http://www.waynecc.edu

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit will be held Saturday, February 2, 2013, 10AM – 8PM at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC. This hybrid event will once again deliver industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games. Compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. Enjoy all your favorite platforms including arcade, computer, and console games with both tournament and free-play options available. Additional information can be found on the official web site: http://www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com

With their launch in 2005 at SakuraCon in Seattle, WA, Maxx Merch has become one of the most popular product lines sold at conventions across America. Maxx Merch is pleased to announce their participation at the 8th Annual Carolina Games Summit on Feb 2nd 2013. To promote this exciting addition to the event a free Assassin’s Creed prize pack will be given away via re-tweet contest @cgsummit.

Prize pack contents:
• 12” x 18” custom artwork print, signed by the artist

• Three 1.5” pinback buttons

• A printed acrylic keychain

• 100% cotton screen printed T-shirt*

* Winner should contact info@carolinagamessummit.com with shirt size selection. S – 2XL, standard unisex sizes.

Prospective attendees can register online now at www.carolinagamessummit.com for just $10 per player, this price also includes full access to all the speakers, exhibitors, and excitement Carolina Games Summit has to offer.

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit will be held Saturday, February 2, 2013, 10AM – 8PM at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC. This hybrid event will once again deliver industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games. Compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. Enjoy all your favorite platforms including arcade, computer, and console games with both tournament and free-play options available. Additional information can be found on the official web site:www.carolinagamessummit.com

About Maxx Merch
Maxx Merch is the parent company for one of the most well known product lines sold at anime, comic, sci-fi, gaming, and pop culture conventions across North America. Our merchandise is renowned for its adaptations, ranging from adorable to awesome, of the most popular characters and icons from these communities. A former employee of various game development studios, lead artist Ashley McKenzie produces all the artwork applied to our merchandise. We pride ourselves on being one hundred percent fan driven, and are happy to receive custom orders if we do not carry an item you desire. To follow our travels and keep up to date on the latest products we release, follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/MaxxMerch

The 8th Annual Carolina Games Summit will feature an official Ghost Recon: Future Soldier 4v4 tournament hosted by Red Storm Entertainment on Feb 2nd 2013. To promote this exciting addition to the event a free autographed copy of the game will be given away via re-tweet contest @cgsummit. “Over the past seven years Red Storm Entertainment has exhibited, contributed prizes, keynoted, and hosted game development sessions at our event. We are extremely excited to add hosting an official tournament on their latest entry to the Tom Clancy franchise to that impressive list,” states Michael Everett, Creative Director for the Carolina Games Summit.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is a third-person video game published by Ubisoft and jointly developed by Ubisoft Paris, Red Storm Entertainment, and Ubisoft Bucharest. Future Soldier is the fifth installment in the Ghost Recon series and was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. The campaign has settings such as Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia and Norway. Future Soldier features a fully cooperative campaign, as well as competitive multiplayer which will be the focus of the tournament hosted at the Carolina Games Summit. “Red Storm is looking forward to the strategic and competitive rivalries that attendees of the Carolina Game Summit bring to the battlefields of Ghost Recon Future Soldier,” said Geoff Brock, Community Developer for Red Storm Entertainment.

Prospective e-Sport competitors should gather three friends and register online now at www.carolinagamessummit.com for just $10 per player, this price also includes full access to all the speakers, exhibitors, and excitement Carolina Games Summit has to offer.

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit will be held Saturday, February 2, 2013, 10AM – 8PM at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC. This hybrid event will once again deliver industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games. Compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. Enjoy all your favorite platforms including arcade, computer, and console games with both tournament and free-play options available. Additional information can be found on the official web site: www.carolinagamessummit.com

About Red Storm Entertainment
Red Storm Entertainment is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ubisoft Entertainment, specializing in console games, CD-ROM games and related merchandise. Their objective is to become the market leader for entertainment products that satisfy the appetites of "hardcore" game players, while also appealing to the broader community of "casual" game fans attracted to realistic and intelligent games. With games like Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, the company quickly became recognized as an innovative creator of titles that break the mold by combining popular genres to provide a totally immersive gaming experience. Red Storm's games feature seamless combinations of action and strategic gameplay, as well as thrilling new types of play for on-line gamers. Armed with a proven formula for success, Red Storm Entertainment’s goal is to produce top-quality, innovative games while continuing the collaboration with Ubisoft to bring our franchise titles to all viable platforms. Additional information can be found at the official website: www.RedStorm.com

About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has offices in 26 countries and has sales in more than 55 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. For the 2011-12 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of €1.039 billion. To learn more, please visit: www.ubisoftgroup.com.

Tom Clancy’s, Ghost Recon, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, the Soldier Icon, Ubisoft, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the US and/or other countries.

Since its inception in 2006, the Carolina Games Summit has been the premiere gathering spot for the North Carolina video game community. Over 1,200 people attend each year. The 2012 Summit featured 17 speakers and 8 sessions. The 2013 Carolina Games Summit takes place February 2 at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC.

In preparation for the 2013 Summit, we are accepting proposals for conducting a session. Presenting a session at the Carolina Games Summit provides rewarding exposure both professionally and personally. This is an opportunity to share ideas and practices with some of the brightest lights in future game design and some of the biggest fans of video games. We look forward to an exciting lineup of speakers at the 2013 Carolina Games Summit!

The unifying aspect of the Carolina Games Summit is its dedication to informing the public that simulation and game design is a viable career choice for today’s youth. Our proposal process is informal and easy—just a web form at carolinagamessummit.com/speak. Proposals should include a one- or two-paragraph description of the topic and a brief outline of key points. New presenters at the Carolina Games Summit will also need to send biographical information. Sessions are normally 45 minutes in length. Conference speakers receive entry to the event, access to our catered hospitality room, and a free booth for their company. Speakers are responsible for their own travel expenses.

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit will be held Saturday, February 2, 2013, 10AM – 8PM at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC. This hybrid event will once again deliver industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games. Compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. Enjoy all your favorite platforms including arcade, computer, and console games with both tournament and free-play options available. Additional information can be found on the official web site: www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com

The World Beyblade Organization will be hosting an official Beyblade Colosseum tournament in Goldsboro, NC at the 8th Annual Carolina Games Summit Sponsored by Time Warner Cable on February 2nd from 10am until 8pm. Players from across the country will be participating in the tournament making it one of the largest tournaments in 2013. Representatives from the World Beyblade Organization will be on hand to answer any questions and give advice for rising beybladers. The World Beyblade Organization is responsible for hosting more than 20 tournaments in North Carolina, along with hosting hundreds around the world over the last four years.

In addition to the main Beyblade Colosseum tournament , there will be free play and vendors on site selling Beyblades and accessories. The winners will receive custom plaques, medals, Beyblades, and recognition from hundreds of fellow gamers during the awards ceremony at the end of the event. Registration is just $10 and is available now at www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com.

About World Beyblade Organization
The World Beyblade Organization is the unofficial sanctioning body for the battling spinning top hobby Beyblade by Takara-Tomy. We offer a comprehensive ranking system allowing you to battle other Bladers for BeyPoints, a detailed Beyblade encyclopedia in the form of the Beywiki, and the world's largest and most active Beyblade discussion forums! For more information on upcoming events and the latest news on Beyblade, check out: http://www.WorldBeyblade.org

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit will be held Saturday February 2nd 2013 10AM – 8PM at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC. This hybrid event will once again deliver industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games. Compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments. Enjoy all your favorite platforms including arcade, computer, and console games with both tournament and free play options available. Additional information can be found on the official web site: http://www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com

The Escapist is launching the first Escapist Expo, a premier consumer convention centered around games culture! The Expo will unite fans of video games, tabletop games, science fiction, fantasy, comics, music and more in a celebration of everything great in multi-media escapism!

The event will take place at the Durham Convention Center in Durham, NC for the entire weekend of September 14-16, 2012.  Carolina Games Summit has partnered with the Escapist Expo to host seven of the largest videogame tournaments on the East Coast.  The lineup includes: Halo Reach 4v4 and Mortal Kombat on Friday, Gears of War 3 4v4 and Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown on Saturday, with Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier 4v4 and Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition finishing up the expo on Sunday.  A three day League of Legends tournament will also be held on Alienware PCs.  All console tournaments will be held on the XBOX 360.  

Attendees looking to get in on the action will need to first purchase a $30 three-day-pass or a $15 one-day-pass to the expo from www.escapistexpo.com or at the door.  Ghost Recon sponsored by Red Storm Entertainment, Gears of War 3 sponsored by Epic Games, and League of Legends sponsored by Riot Games are all available for just the price of admission.  All other tournaments become available with the purchase of a single $10 video game tournament pass available both online and at the door.

In addition to becoming a part of gaming history at the inaugural Escapist Expo competitors can look forward to prizes such as custom made plaques, autographed games, and competing in front of celebrity developers from studios such as Epic Games and Red Storm Entertainment.  The final rounds of the Ghost Recon 4v4 tournament will even be played on yet to be released maps with the 1st place team getting an exclusive studio tour of Red Storm Entertainment in Cary, NC.

About Carolina Games Summit
Carolina Games Summit will be held Saturday February 2nd 2013 10AM – 8PM at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC.  This exciting annual event will once again deliver industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions, and trading card games!  Compete against gamers from all over the country in a variety of popular tournaments.  Enjoy all your favorite platforms including arcade, computer, console games, and card gaming with both tournament and free play options available.  Additional information can be found on the official web site: www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com 
 
About The Escapist
The Escapist is a multiple Webby Award-winning internet site focusing on games and entertainment. With almost 4 million fans, The Escapist is able to quickly and effectively reach the elusive young and affluent male demographic through the use of high quality editorial and exclusive video shows.  Founded in 2005, The Escapist has grown to become a leading voice in videogame culture.  The Escapist aims to capture and celebrate the contemporary videogaming lifestyle and the diverse global video game culture by way of in-depth features, thought provoking articles and relevant columns authored by leading videogame authorities, as well as cutting-edge video shorts.  Additional information can be found on the official web site: www.EscapistMagazine.com