Throughout the course of this past weekend, September 17^th – 20^th, the Paris Game Festival took place over on the continent, showcasing some of the best games of this year and the hopefuls for 2010. Big name publishers such as Microsoft, Sony, Activision, Electronic Arts, Nintendo and Square Enix were joined by a raft of development studios and accessory manufacturers, each attempting to wow their audience with their latest and greatest releases.

            More than 70,000 attendees journeyed to Paris Exhibition Center, Porte de Versailles, for the three days open to the public (with the September 17th open day restricted to industry professionals only), taking part in hands-on gaming sessions and the usual amount of gaming festivities. The likes of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Bayonetta, Gran Turismo 5 and Assassin’s Creed II were considered the highlights, but much more was available to gamers on the show floor.

            Activision’s Blur and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 were predictable in their garnering of the public’s attention, whilst Electronic Arts saw fit to demonstrate the likes of The Saboteur, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Brütal Legend and Left 4 Dead 2 alongside a number of forthcoming and recently released titles. Konami were on-hand with Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 and Saw: The Game whilst Microsoft delivered it’s first public hands-on sessions with Halo 3: ODST, Forza Motorsport 3 and Lips: Number One Hits. Nintendo had the honour of showcasing both Dead Space: Extraction and Monster Hunter Tri~ at their booth alongside first-party productions, and Sony ramped-up the European schedule with highlights including God of War 3, Heavy Rain, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and the aforementioned Gran Turismo 5 for PlayStation 3, coupled with the PlayStation Portable editions of LittleBigPlanet, MotorStorm and Gran Turismo. The EyePet also drew considerable crowds via its’ very large overhead demonstrations.

            THQ also had their own both, touting both WWE SmackDown! Vs. Raw 2010 and Darksiders: Wrath of War while SEGA draw an enormous crowd with hands-on play from Bayonetta. Ubisoft refused to be outdone, presenting Red Steel 2, Assassin’s Creed II, R.U.S.E. and Avatar as their strong holiday line-up, and Warner Bros. chose to deliver the first public appearance of LEGO Rock Band alongside the imminently arriving Scribblenauts.

            And finally, the ever-encouragable Tecmo Koei Europe presented Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 at the Paris Game Festival. With three game pods allowing attendees to get hands-on with Ryu Hayabusa’s demon slaying acrobatics, and their own home-grown “booth babes”, Laura Sindall and Kaman Fong, the talents of which showcased in a recent issue of Neo Magazine, the Tecmo Koei Europe stand was unsurprisingly busy all weekend. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is due to launch on October 2^nd 2009 throughout Europe, and Electronic Theatre will be delivering you an in-depth review very shortly.

            With the Paris Games Festival out of the way for another year, next on the agenda is the London MCM Expo, taking place October 24th-25th. Electronic Theatre will of course be at the MCM Expo, delivering you all the latest gaming new direct from the show floor.

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