7 August 2008 - Speech By Guest-Of-Honour, RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority Of Singapore, At The World Cyber Games Singapore Finals, Suntec International Convention And Exhibition Centre, Hall 402
Speech By Guest-Of-Honour, RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority Of Singapore, At The World Cyber Games Singapore Finals, Suntec International Convention And Exhibition Centre, Hall 402 on 7 August 2008 (Thursday), 12.45pm
Mr Yoon Ki-Heung, Managing Director, Electronics Business Division, Samsung Asia,
Mr Sujan Kamran, Asia Pacific Regional Marketing Manager, Intel Technology Asia Pte Ltd,
Mr Herman Ng, Managing Director, Rapture Gaming,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
1. Good afternoon. It is my great pleasure to be here this afternoon to grace the Singapore National Finals of the World Cyber Games or WCG 2008. Our local teams have worked very hard to come this far in the WCG. While congratulations are in order for achieving this milestone, I would like to spur the various participating teams to continue giving of their best, and to put up a sterling performance in the finals. I am sure that over the next three days of the Asian Finals, there will be some stiff competition from gamers in the region.
2. WCG has been growing from strength to strength and IDA is pleased to have been supporting WCG since 2005. Over the years, the number of competitors for the WCG Singapore Finals has swelled from 650 in 2005 to 950 in 2008. There is also growing diversity in the competitions. I know that this year, WCG has new categories of competitions, including mobile phone games and casual games. I understand that the profile of gamers is also changing. According to the WCG organiser, Rapture Gaming, we are seeing participants from a wider age in the tournaments, from 6 years to 35 years compared to the past, of 16 years to 29 years. Perhaps I can say that one is never too old to compete in such cyber games!
WCG & Games That Are Connected
3. The development of WCG over the years is also a reflection of the increasingly important role that infocomm plays in our games, and in our lives too. It is because of infocomm that regardless of where you are, gamers from around the world can connect with one another online to go on adventure quests together or pit their skills against one another. In fact, portable game devices through infocomm can have wireless connectivity for multi-player networked games, as well as connectivity across different game platforms from desktop PC, to game console, to mobile handset.
4. New emerging technologies are catalysing the development of increasingly interactive experiences for online games that cut across demographic profiles and geographic boundaries. We would like to see Singapore becoming a regional hub for games developers to deploy their products to the world market, as well as to build an ecosystem to accelerate the development of cyber games. With our extensive Internet connectivity to more than 100 countries worldwide, Singapore is an ideal location to be a games hub for the region and beyond. With our robust intellectual property protection regime, and a highly skilled and talented workforce, games companies would find it attractive to base their operations here in Singapore. By encouraging more game titles to be hubbed in Singapore, gamers can benefit from having more choices and getting better game experience. Moreover, individuals aspiring to embark on the exciting career of digital games can be presented with more developmental opportunities in Singapore. We therefore invite gamers to consider games as an area to put your infocomm talent to good use. Indeed, a promising future awaits infocomm talent who can contribute to the growing games industry.
Conclusion
5. On this note, let us now get on to the battles in WCG 2008. There is excitement in the air, and I am sure the final matches that you are about to witness will be electrifying.
6. I extend my best wishes to all players here at World Cyber Games 2008. As they say here, ‘G-G’, and ’Good Game’! Thank you.
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