Exciting activities for the public at the launch of Game2Read - A highlight of READ! Singapore 2010

Release Date : 26 Jun 2010

Game2Read encourages young gamers and the community-at-large to discover the joy of reading

SINGAPORE, 26 June 2010 – The National Library Board (NLB) launched Game2Read today. The event, jointly organised by NLB and Singapore's Cybersports and Online Gaming Association (SCOGA), is one of the key highlights of READ! Singapore 2010, the nation-wide reading initiative which promotes a culture of reading fiction among Singaporeans. Game2Read aims to encourage gamers, youths, and the community-at-large to discover the joy of reading through games and sports, and in the process inspire our youth to explore new horizons and reach for their dreams.

Dr N Varaprasad, Chief Executive of NLB said, “Our youth and the community are increasingly more IT savvy. It is common to see many people spending much of their time on gaming, surfing the Internet as well as logging onto social networking websites. Through Game2Read, we hope that gamers would be game enough to read books that are relevant to games, thus igniting their love for reading.”

Held from 26 to 27 June at The Plaza, at the National Library Building, members of the public can look forward to a series of activities related to popular gaming titles and sports. Books related to gaming and sports will be showcased and made available for borrowing. One of the highlights is the appearance of Thomas Lim, author of Seals of Light and creator of Tactics Anthem, a game which was inspired by his first book, Armour of Light.

In addition, a cyberwellness exhibition will allow gamers and the public to take away learning tips on gaming addiction, cybersafety, netiquette and cyberbullying. Fans of Quest will also have the opportunity to redeem a pack of Quest collectible cards from a mobile borrowing station at the event. Please refer to the Annex for more information on the activities.

 

ANNEX – Key Highlights of Game2Read

1) Gaming competition

A gaming competition between the top regional all-girls DotA celebrity team, PMS|Asterisk*, and the recently crowned Singapore champions for Heroes of Newerth (HoN), an all-boys team, Princess Council.

Date: Saturday, 26 June 2010
Time: 2.30pm – 4.00pm

 

2) Cyberwellness exhibition

Find out more about cyberwellness topics presented by SCOGA on gaming addiction, cyberbullying, netiquette, health and nutrition, and more.

Date: Saturday – Sunday, 26 – 27 June 2010
Time: 11.00am – 6.00pm

 

3) NLB book loans on books related to gaming and sports

Over the two-day event, Public Libraries Singapore will be showcasing more than 500 gaming and sports related books. Books on World of Warcraft, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Soccer, amongst other titles will be available for loan.

Date: Saturday – Sunday, 26 – 27 June 2010
Time: 11.00am – 6.00pm

 

4) Quest collectible cards available for redemption

Quest fans will be able to redeem a packet of collectible cards, with every four books borrowed, at the mobile borrowing station at Game2Read. Quest is a year-long reading initiative to cultivate the love for reading in reluctant readers, especially boys aged 7-12 years old, with the use of collectible cards.

Date: Saturday – Sunday, 26 – 27 June 2010
Time: 11.00am – 6.00pm

 

5) 'Journal Singapore' Boardgame

Designed by Monsters Under The Bed, 'Journal Singapore' hopes to engage youths and the public-at-large in Singapore's history.

Date: Saturday – Sunday, 26 – 27 June 2010
Time: 2.00pm – 6.00pm

 

6) Book discussions

Books selected for READ! Singapore 2010 such as Legend of the Condor Heroes and Romance of the Three Kingdoms will be discussed during the sessions.

Date: Sunday, 27 June 2010
Time: 1.00pm – 4.00pm

 

7) Game2Read Hour

GTR Hour will be held after the two-day event. This is a nation-wide call for gamers to take a break from gaming and pledge a gaming hour to reading for one hour on 18 July, 2.00 – 3.00pm under the Read! IT initiative. Jointly organised by NLB and Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), this initiative aims to encourage members of the public to go online to view celebrity gamers, amongst many others, read live via the Internet.

There will also be onsite activities at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), which include a cosplay festival, and a talk by Koei on how they adapted the successful series of Romance of the Three Kingdom games from the book.

This activity is opened to all. Interested parties can log onto the website, www.scoga.org/gtr, to support their favourite gamers from Warcraft 3, Starcraft, Counter Strike and DotA.

Date: Sunday, 18 July 2010
Time: 2.00pm – 3.00pm