Gamecock Takes 2008 EIEIO To Texas

Austin-based publisher Gamecock has announced that its second annual Expo For Interactive Entertainment, Independent and Original (EIEIO) will take place on March 6, 2008 at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q in Austin, Texas, promising "a full line-up of artist-driven games, along with music, mayhem and good ol’ fashioned Texas hospitality." Gamecock held the first EIEIO in 2007 alongside the reformatted, downsized E3 Media & Business Summit, geared for independent game companies excluded from E3 with the aim of being "free of the constraints and general bad vibes of the regimented suitfest o' sequels," as Gamecock founder and CEO Mike Wilson told Gamasutra in an interview at the time. Gamecock promises that this year's event will feature a similar showcase of independent developers, featuring console and PC games from developers such as Wideload, Red Fly Studio, Spark Unlimited, Replay Studios, Firefly Studios, and TimeGate Studios, with more publishers and developers to be announced in the coming weeks. Following the all-day event at Stubb's, Gamecock plans a concert the same evening open to the general public via tickets. The company says it hopes to feature bands comprised of members of the gaming press. Said Gamecock's Wilson, "While we have enjoyed providing an entertaining respite for the industry during the painful California-based trade shows of years past, it has always been our dream to show people how we really do it down in Texas. We want this E.I.E.I.O. to be part videogame expo, part backyard carnival, part indie revival. And, as E.I.E.I.O. leads right into SXSW -- the annual mecca for independent artists from all walks of life -- we are heading up the charge to get the best and most original games here."