We may have glanced a glimpse at an initial list of exhibitors set to showcase their games and wares at this year’s gamescom event, but now a larger and more extensive round-up of developers, publishers and technology companies has emerged.

While this list is but a quarter of the full line-up of exhibitors that will appear at the world’s largest games convention (once again taking place in Cologne, Germany), we can still pick through it and see which of our favourite companies have signed up so far.

Valve Software has once again made the list, which will be fantastic for gamescom 2011 attendees (especially after the studio was a no-show at E3 2011), while Bethesda Softworks and EA are also present and accounted for.

There are new (and big) additions to the list, too:

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According to a post on consumer site NPack.de, an initial list of publishers and developers set to exhibit their wares at this year’s gamescom event in Cologne, Germany has been revealed, with big hitters Electronic Arts, Nintendo and Ubisoft scheduled to make an appearance.

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GDC Europe 2010 kicked off in Cologne, Germany today, and with it came the opening keynote for the European game developers conference delivered by none other than videogame industry luminary, Warren Spector.

Spector would be best known for his work on Deus Ex, but his career extends much further back than that title from 2000, with a legendary list of games on his resume including Ultima Underworld, Thief and System Shock.

In the keynote, entitled “What Videogames Can Learn from Other Media…What We Can’t…And What We Shouldn’t,” Spector used to full effect his extensive experience in the game industry, a college degree in film, and his own personal love for movies, comic books, radio and storytelling to deliver an incredibly interesting talk

The keynote compared the evolution of other media to that of videogames, and Spector gave his thoughts on why it’s not necessarily a bad thing to borrow business and production methods from other media, while there are times when it may be detrimental to (and even stunt) the future success and evolution of the medium of videogames.

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European and other PAL region PS3 owners looking forward to signing up with Sony’s content-rich PlayStation Network subscription service, PlayStation Plus, will gain access to a host of great content over the coming months (and years) in the form of full PSN games, minis, game add-ons and extra content. This much you knew.

If gamers in these regions sign up for the service before August 3rd, however, they’ll be eligible for a free downloadable copy of the original LittleBigPlanet for PS3, which is a huge bonus.

According to a reply to a comment appearing on a European PlayStation Blog post, however, users in South Africa, Germany and Greece may have to wait just a little while longer to get their copy of the awesome platform game.

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In June 2009 it was revealed that the German government was considering a move to completely ban the production and distribution of violent videogames in the country – a move that would severely affect German consumers, and essentially force game developer such as Crytek (Far Cry, Crysis) out of the country.

Almost two months later, a lowly internet petition (of all things) stalled plans to move forward with the ban due to the fact that the German government, by law, is required to hold public hearings on any online petition that is signed by 50 000 people or more.

At the time, the online petition regarding the ban on violent videogames in Germany had reached over 70 000 signatures.

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The highly intriguing and intense looking first-person shooter/adventure game, Metro 2033, has been given a few release dates for the regions of North America, Europe and the UK, as well as Germany and Australia, via a status update on the game’s official Twitter page. From the tweet:

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The next iteration of the Tony Hawk series of games, Tony Hawk: Ride, has been dated for the US, UK and Germany, now set for release in mid to late November on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii.

The new skating game, which comes bundled with a skateboard peripheral, was recently revealed to only be releasing in the US, UK and Germany this year, while other regions will have to wait until next year to break their neck after slipping on the custom controller.

Tony Hawk: Ride will release on November 17th in the US, and November 20th in the UK and Germany.

During the beginning of June it was revealed that the government of Germany was moving to place a complete ban on the sale and production of violent videogames in the country.

The catalyst of this action was the tragic school shooting on March 11th in Winnenden, which left 15 people, including the shooter, dead. The event was attributed to the shooter’s exposure to violent videogames.

Plans put in place to move forward with the ban have been hampered, however, by the lowliest form of protest – an internet petition.

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From a report on GamePolitics, it seems as though the German government, by way of its sixteen Interior Ministers, have requested that Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, move to ban the production and distribution of violent videogames in the country.

Additionally, the ministers hope to put the ban in place before Germany’s next elections on the 27th of September.

This news came about after a scheduled conference of interior ministers, where school shootings (and in particular the tragic shooting on March 11th at a school in Winnenden) were heavily discussed to bolster their argument for a ban on violent games.

A ban as aggressive as this would adversely affect game developers in the country such as Crytek, developers of shooters Far Cry and Crysis, by forcing them to either outsource development work to developers in other countries, or move their headquarters out of Germany – something Crytek have threatened to do before.

The ban would obviously also adversely affect consumers in the country, who will need to seek alternative sources for their games.