Five days with full offer, from Wednesday to Sunday and from morning to night. The one proposed by the enormous world of technologies. From there, bridges are built to respond with leisure, creation, competitions, talks and training to the demand of thousands of people from Tenerife, approximately 10,000, on a 40,000 square meter stage, that of the Fairgrounds of the island’s capital. global world offered by Tenerife GG, the largest technological commitment in the Canary Islands, which awaits lovers – locals and foreigners – of the world of video games.
There are going to be intense days of supply from this technological container that unites the public initiative of the Island Council, with the Minister of Innovation, Enrique Arriaga, as a visible face, with the private strength of the lovers of that romantic TLP that decades later is a vestige, already ancient but valid. It has Antonio Cabrera, CEO of the Canarian Esports League HiperDino, as a representative in the organization of this post-pandemic edition of the Covid-19.
Enrique and Antonio act as guides through a space where everything is big. The distances and the refuges. For example, the 400 igloos, read campaign booths, where everything is kept by those who some saw and see as geeks and others as pioneers of a world that has arrived and is advancing unstoppably to stay.
Enrique and Antonio accompany the stages of this royal theater with performances for five days. Spaces for battles between speakers, retro areas full of suggestive flipper machines or models of Kitt, the fantastic car, and Herbie, that crazy flying wolfgswagen from the Disney factory.
Great morning activity, half an hour before the opening to an expectant public. Many people with bags or objects of complicated classification. Technology stuff. There is capacity for 2,000 participants in the LAN (Local Area Network), an acronym for the interconnection of computers in a local area, something for which the Tenerife GG offers the best offer. GG is a wink. On the one hand, Good Game, that is, played well: on the other, Game Con and Game Pro, two-way experience. The organizers have differentiated two areas: one, playful, that GameCon, with the Venue as headquarters, and another, professional, the GamePro, whose stage is the Auditorium. Arriaga summarizes: video games, technology and urban culture suitable for all audiences at the largest technology fair in the Canary Islands.
GameCon visitors will enjoy an area dedicated to K-Pop culture and fans, as well as a space called Hobby GG where they will have more than 150 tables with activities, retro arcade machines, board games and a family-children’s area at their disposal. in which you can learn robotics thanks to the University of La Laguna
.
GamePro takes place in the Tenerife Auditorium and hosts conferences by top-level national and international speakers such as Alistair Cockburn (one of the authors of the Agile Manifesto); Rocío Vidal, author of the scientific YouTube channel, Schrödinger’s Cat; Conchi Lillo, neurobiologist at USAL, and David Bonilla, CEO of the Manfred company, among others.
Tenerife GG seeks to be the largest event in the Archipelago in which video games, esports and technology are combined to offer players and the public all the latest in the industry. A huge technological container.
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The offer.
Enrique and Antonio walk around the venue. A visit to the bowels allows you to check the level of acceptance. There are those who are going to stay here for six days, one after another. The artists who offer their products are also shown. Or those who announce new initiatives. Like Algorithmos that develops workshops for children who are from the beginning programmers and not computer consumers. Luis Rouco, his representative, explains it, although he clarifies that the brain is Jackeline Knopps. Cristina and Gara were part of the Lan Party years ago and now they are teachers in this new idea. They value: “This is another world that is going to put Tenerife at the forefront of video game creation, not just leisure.” Jesús García, president of the Tenerife Imperial Force Association, is also preparing. In his case to offer merchandising to lovers of the saga of the stars that he represents and to parade these days as part of the unfolded offer. He considers that “it is a unique scenario, even more so than the old TLP because it brings together more offer”. The idea of showing what one has also moves Juan Francisco Morales from Fabricando Nostalgia, a name that says it all. An association that wants to teach video game culture and that finds its best space to show retro in all its dimensions.
Tenerife GG offers free admission to all boys and girls under 11 years of age who will be able to access the Fairgrounds for these five days, provided they are accompanied by an adult.
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The demand.
The day progresses and the afternoon attracts more and more people. The Day opens a dialogue between the parties from the perspective of the regulars of the event. David, in his fifties, could pass for an exception, but he is not. He had the cafeteria business at the Recinto Ferial between 2008 and 2016 and then went from his profession, hospitality, to a hobby, video games. He believes that “we must help a world that is greening after the pandemic and support the teams.” It is corroborated by Juan Nicolás, carrot, a classic in this world, or Nita who came to this universe recently, in 2018. The three agree: “This is culture and that is how it must be understood.” David explains that his relationship with this world was to promote his hobby through Explosión Gamer, a textile line. Nico started in 2007 «when we were 600 in El Rosario». He was 14 years old and although it was not the only reason he was almost determined that he would be a computer scientist. Nita understands that “this is a world on the rise and, for example, e-esports are already stronger than football itself.” They agree on the importance of training that “is already done through private or public initiative, such as the César Manrique Integrated Center in Ofra or the University of La Laguna. A path: «More professionals must be called, a good part of creatives from the ludic and the game. This is the path and, furthermore, there is no going back”.
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Institutional bet.
HiperDino and the Cabildo de Tenerife are the sponsors of this fair. Tenerife GG, which is undoubtedly called to become the largest event dedicated to gaming, not only in the Canary Islands but in all of Spain. “I am sure it will be like this after this first edition that promises to be spectacular.” These are the words of Enrique Arriaga, the Island Councilor for Innovation, who adds: «TGG is much more than an event for lovers of e-sports, but also. TGG is a great center for companies and business from which we will publicize the potential that Tenerife has to host firms linked to this important market that moves millions of euros around the world every year”, and adds: “what is more important : an employment niche».
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Invitation.
Arriaga invites video game lovers «to come to this Fairground and enjoy, also families because there are activities for all audiences and they will have a great time on the ground floor of this building. There will be no lack of cosplay or the show of the hand of Korean kpop ». The counselor reveals attractive curiosities: «We have deployed more than 25 kilometers of cable and thanks to Canalink we will reach a connection speed of 20 gigabytes». He points out that the initiative “has 2,000 LAN seats, 30 independent video game development studios and more than 100 gaming activities.”
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foreign dimension.
Tenerife GG will be an official stop for the TEKKEN Spain Championship, it will host the first annual forum dedicated to the esports business in the Canary Islands and there will be other notable initiatives such as Google’s Women Techmakers, which provides visibility to women in the field of technology at the couple that promotes their talent or, for example, programming and video game workshops for children, such as Unreal4Kids.
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A call.
Until next Sunday the 17th, the Tenerife Fairgrounds and the Auditorium will host more than 100 activities with an uninterrupted LAN zone with high connectivity and high-level competitions, where some of the most representative figures of esports will meet and more will be distributed. of 50,000 euros in prizes. At the same time, there will be a professional area that will host speakers of international stature and in which talks related to the technology sector and gaming will be held, as well as free play areas and thematic spaces. From today, visitors will also be able to enjoy exhibitors, workshops, musical performances and activities for the little ones, in which technology plays a prominent role. As a showcase for the latest developments in the sector, Tenerife GG aims to position itself as the largest event in the Canary Islands dedicated to technology.
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The Hyperdyne League.
The Canarian Esports League HiperDino takes place in parallel to Tenerife GG. It is an initiative promoted by the HiperDino company that aims to satisfy the needs of the gamers of the Archipelago and promote a leisure alternative for the residents of the Canary Islands. In addition, with this activity skills such as teamwork, coordination or concentration can be worked on. Its first season closed with more than 4,400 players and 72 activities held. Already in its second edition, which ended in July 2020, it generated triple the number of competitions and exceeded 15,000 registered users during its summer campaign, the Summer Series, which was held between August and September last year. The third season closed reaching 17,400 active players and distributing more than 20,000 euros in prizes. It currently has more than 23,000 registered users on its platform.
In three words from Enrique Arriaga: Tenerife Good Game.
game lab
game lab
mute
Ivan Fernandez Lobo, founder of
and pioneer of this world at a national level, He represents like few others the spirit with which this initiative was born to develop, in his words, “the most influential medium of our sigo”. The vocation is permanent. Not only for enjoyment but to lay the foundations for a possible industry as is already happening in Catalonia, which he helped forge, and a stable space in the future. Play, but also create and «make culture». The conversation with Antonio Cabrera and Iván flows. Antonio remembers his beginnings when he was an engineering student and a group of friends started this journey in El Rosario. Then came the jump to the institutional and later to the Fairgrounds. Iván goes back twenty years ago when he started at the university in his native Asturias with an idea,
of which he is the founder and alma mater. He sees Tenerife as an ideal option to not only promote leisure but also create and generate wealth. Iván recounts his experience and reveals a first that will bring an international level project to the Island in November. But above all, he encourages the initiative of people like Richard Bartle, the creator of
More than an e-sports center
and the virtual worlds that preceded the current metaverse. Consider Tenerife as a place with enormous potential in the future. Both show the illusion on the way to the Auditorium from the Fairgrounds of those who see that everything is beginning. The important thing is cooked among the professionals because everything is «talent» and from there «the rest». Antonio sums it up: «It’s a strange year. We will put a pike in Flanders and it is the beginning of something very big ». | jdm
