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A L S O__T O D A Y
- - - - - - - - - - T A B L E__T A L K Is Web TV ancient history? Discuss the pros and cons of a browser for non-computer owners in the Digital Culture area of Table Talk - - - - - - - - - - R E C E N T L Y Bill's don Return of the hex-crazed wargamers Results of Challenge No. 9 No future in Tomorrowland Interstellar fireworks
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Growing up in gameland
At E3, the game industry's mecca, babes no longer prowl the aisles -- they just beckon from the booths.
BY MOIRA MULDOON E3 is to the computer and video game industry what COMDEX is to the computer world -- a chance for companies to show off what's just out and what's coming up. Distributors come; small developers looking for distributors come; the media come; job hopefuls come; and celebrities come to promote new games (you could catch Gillian Anderson at the "X-Files" booth or Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar de la Hoya playing the new boxing game from Electronic Arts). Walking the E3 floor is a lot like dropping acid and going to an arcade: Suddenly you're actually in the middle of a game universe where lights flash, game voices surround you and everything is four times as big as it should be. Companies with games to show go all out to draw attention to their booths, giving away T-shirts and prizes and setting up unbelievably elaborate booths. Konami -- promoting what was arguably the game of the show, a 3-D shooter adventure for the Sony Playstation titled "Metal Gear Solid" -- created a military embankment replete with buff men and women holding really big guns guarding the entrance and a synthesized voice warning you about the danger ahead. Some of the biggest exhibitors, Sony and Nintendo, created whole worlds inside their booths, big enough to get really lost in. However, the vastness of the booths themselves is an indication of just how big a business games have become, how important selling hundreds of thousands of games is and how much money is at stake. This is now a $10 billion industry: hence the giant marketing push and amazing booths. But among many attendees and longtime gamers, there was a small sense of disappointment this year -- or perhaps disillusionment -- at the feeling of maturity on the march. Growing up in the gaming world is not necessarily considered a good thing, and the number of suits seen -- not only at the show itself, but also at the related parties and events -- was cause for some consternation. Games aren't supposed to be for grown-ups. But gamers are becoming grown-ups. Kids who spent the '80s with Mario and Donkey Kong are now heading into their 20s. Fifteen- to 18-year-olds are still prime targets for gaming companies, but the first generations of hard-core gamers, the ones who've been playing since they could push buttons, are becoming adults and entering the work force (often, of course, in the game industry in some form or another). Even the phenomenon of "booth babes" (or "booth bimbos," if you're feeling more expressive) is experiencing some subtle shifts. As recently as last year, scantily clad women wandered the show floor, drawing attention to certain games by what they weren't wearing. And while you could hardly say there were fewer half-naked women at this year's E3, they seemed to spend more time in their booths than wandering the floor. - - - - - - - - - - - -
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