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Brian Crecente, the night editor of Kotaku, says:

I received an interesting package from the State of Georgia over the weekend. It was from the Digital Entertainment Liaison for the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Film, Music and Video office.

Inside was a copy of the “Videogame Style Guide and Reference Manual” and little pack of press releases singing the praises of Georgia and pointing out that the state has become “a hotbed for video game industry development.”

Hotbed you say? Read on…

Getting better all the time in Georgia:

In a modern Alpharetta office building, nearly 50 employees at Hi-Rez Studios have been working on a “spyfi” video game called “Global Agenda” for more than two years.

The effort has cost owner Erez Goren millions of dollars. But he’s hoping he’ll enjoy a huge payoff: 100,000 or more players worldwide paying $12-$15 a month for a taste of intrigue in a virtual world.

In the real world, the action centers on the game industry’s rapid growth and where the new jobs will go.

Georgia is eager to be a player.

At the first Southern Interactive and Game Expo — SIEGE — which opens today at the Crowne Plaza Perimeter Hotel in Atlanta, one of the sponsors is the Georgia Economic Development Department, which doled out $10,000 to impress the game enthusiasts.

SIEGE is expected to attract affluent game businessmen, cash-strapped students and hundreds of others over the weekend.

“It’s a big deal,” said Bill Thompson, deputy commissioner of Georgia’s Film, Video and Music Office, a division of the Economic Development Department.

SIEGE was organized by the 2-year-old Georgia Game Developers Association, which has about 60 member businesses and a mailing list of 350.

“We’re looking to make Georgia the new game mecca,” said Clinton Lowe, the association’s co-founder and chairman.

Read more: Georgia a player in booming video game industry | ajc.com

Southern Interactive Entertainment & Game Expo
Coming October 5-7, 2007 - Atlanta, GA

SIEGE begins this Friday, October 5th at 5 pm. That’s when Johnny Wilson, former editor of Computer Gaming World; Bill Bridges from CCP/White Wolf; Dov Jacobson from Games That Work; and Celia Pearce, head of the Experimental Games Lab at Georgia Tech; take the stage to discuss how to bring art to games.

Following that, we have numerous concurrent sessions, including ones on game writing, creating Flash games, censorship, marketing, the games business and more.

The evening concludes with a party thrown by CCP/White Wolf, a company that has earned a well-deserved reputation for its bashes, as well as LAN gaming competitions. A full schedule of events, including details on our mod competition, concept art contest, portfolio review, college fair and more, is on our web site at: Schedule / Events

Come join us and enjoy.

There is ample parking at the hotel, the Crowne Plaza Perimeter NW at:

6345 Powers Ferry Rd
Atlanta, GA 30339
Hotel Front Desk: 1-770-955-1700

See you Friday!