G-Star, the country’s largest international game show and trade exhibition, kicks off on Thursday in BEXCO, Busan, to showcase the newest online and mobile games as well as arcade, board and console games.

A total of 434 game makers from 31 countries will participate in the eighth edition of the annual exhibition to be held until Sunday in a wide, 43,000-square-meter venue. G-Star 2012 will greet about 15 percent more participating companies than last year, at a 40 percent larger exhibition venue.

“We will do our best to make G-Star one of the world’s top three game conventions,” co-organizer Korea Association of Game Industry and Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency said. Nintendo Korea has announced its G-Star debut this year, underscoring the convention’s growing global reputation.

Under the slogan “Game, Touching the World,” the global game convention showcases big-name game firms including Nexon, Neowiz Games, Hangame, Blizzard Entertainment and Sega. NCsoft and CJ Netmarble, however, will not take part in the convention this year.

“We plan to make G-Star a melting pot of the game industry, cultural entertainment and business that altogether embraces e-sports, game culture festivals, game industry seminars and many others,” KAGI chairman Choi Kwan-ho said. 

Among leading game makers competing for attention, Neowiz Games secured 15 booths, the largest exhibition spot among all business-to-business participants. The game maker will unveil BLESS for the first time in public, along with other MMORPG, or massively multiplayer online role playing games, such as “EIN,” “DIZZEL,” “Legend of Souls” and others.

The nation’s largest game firm Nexon seeks to kill three birds with one stone ― with MMORPG, sports games and first-person shooter games ― at this year’s G-Star. The company will present its signature FPS games “WARFACE” and “Counter Strike Online 2” and sports games “FIFA Online 3” and “Pro Baseball 2K,” as well as MMORPG “Mabinogi 2: Arena” and “Project NT.”

NHN Hangame will present six games, including mobile games “Golden Glove” and “Fish Island,” online games “Dungeon Striker” and “Astar” and social network game “Uparu Mountain.” Hangame will also release “Undead Slayer,” which was designed, illustrated and developed by one-man company HIDEA.

Hailing the age of smartphone culture, G-Star 2012 will feature about twice as many mobile games as G-Star 2011. The convention also will host a “Smart Game Seminar” on Friday, with a variety of lectures on mobile game trends given by Sundaytoz chief executive Lee Jung-woong and other leaders of the industry.

G-Star 2012 is providing multiple intellectual programs such as “G-Star with the Game Talk 2012,” a talk show inviting visitors to a group discussion and mini-lecture panels of many renowned game industry leaders, including KAGI chairman Choi Kwan-ho, Kakao CEO Lee Jae-beom and Nexon senior director Park Jin-seo.

In addition, G-Star 2012 is hosting an array of business-to-business matching programs, including business investment consulting session “G-Star Investment Market.”

A total of nine selected small and medium-sized game firms will be searching for investment partner firms from home and abroad, making presentations in the conference room of the second exhibition hall.

To maximize visitors’ convenience, G-Star 2012 will have translators at the convenience of international visitors in all necessary spots, the organizers said. Six information desks are distributed through the exhibition halls.

In addition to providing information brochures on the exhibition and cultural events at the entrance, the organizers also will distribute a “G-Star map” of famous tourist venues and fun activities in Busan.

G-Star 2012 adopted a digitalized entrance system, using barcodes for easy access and accurate head count.

This year, the convention has set up four open areas within the exhibition halls where visitors can sit down and rest, the organizers said.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)