GAME ON MAKERS OF HOT NEW CONSOLES, SOFTWARE ROLL OUT GLITZ AT E3.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer At the Electronic Entertainment Expo, ground zero of the geek A technically oriented person. It has typically implied a "nerdy" or "weird" personality, someone with limited social skills who likes to tinker with scientific or high-tech projects. The origin of the term dates back to the late 1800s. world, nothing seems too strange. The three-day trade show, which began Wednesday at the Los Angeles Convention Center The Los Angeles Convention Center (abbreviated LACC) is a convention center in downtown Los Angeles. The LACC hosts annual events such as the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, and was best known to video games fans as host to E3 until its cessation in 2006. , brings together hardware heads and game gurus, with everyone else in the multibillion-dollar industry fighting for a peek at what they've cooked up. Here, loud, flashy displays are the norm and absolutely nothing is ordinary. ``Dude, I couldn't tell if that last guy was a zombie A computer that has been covertly taken over in order to perform some nefarious task. It is estimated that millions of PCs around the world have been compromised and, under the control of a third party, routinely transmit messages unbeknownst to the user. or not,'' murmured one goggle-eyed attendee. He wasn't even inside the show yet. The slack-jawed, vacant-looking man before him could have been a character hyping a game or just a really hard-core gamer. At E3, it's hard to tell. The biggest excitement of the annual expo, now in its 11th year, centered around the new game consoles. Microsoft's Xbox 360 won't be out until the holidays, while Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Revolution will start selling next year. Still, their smooth graphics and massive processing power had mouths watering inside the packed halls. At an Xbox 360 display, gamers lined up, snapped photos of the glass- encased en·case tr.v. en·cased, en·cas·ing, en·cas·es To enclose in or as if in a case. en·case  ment n. console and stared wide-eyed. It didn't move, didn't make a noise and they couldn't play it. But they still shot video to show to their friends and post on their Web sites. ``For the hard-core gamers, this is the only way to get close to it,'' said Larry Walker ``I know if you come all that way, you'll do whatever it takes to get close. Stand next to it, take a picture, kiss the box, whatever. There's probably guys here who'd steal it, too.'' His excitement will translate into dollars down the road for software publishers like Calabasas-based THQ THQ Toy Headquarters THQ Territorial Headquarters THQ Tehsil Headquarters (Pakistan) THQ The Holy Quran THQ Theater Headquarters Inc. The company showed off a gang-based open world game called ``Saints Row'' that allows users to gallivant gal·li·vant also gal·a·vant intr.v. gal·li·vant·ed, gal·li·vant·ing, gal·li·vants 1. To roam about in search of pleasure or amusement. See Synonyms at wander. 2. To play around amorously; flirt. freely through a gritty urban setting, using an early version of the Xbox 360 to showcase its intricate graphics. ``It's an exciting time for the industry,'' said Peter Dille, the company's senior vice president of worldwide marketing. ``Every transition to new hardware is an opportunity to shuffle the deck. When people start talking about the next generation consoles, they want to see what's coming for software.'' That poses a challenge for publishers: How to stand out with the technology that's already around in a year when everyone's talking Everyone's Talking, actual name Everybody's Talking, was a game show which aired on ABC February 6 – December 29, 1967. Former dance-party host Lloyd Thaxton was the host, and Wink Martindale and Charlie O'Donnell were the announcers. about what's coming next? The video game industry rakes in more than $20 billion internationally with games for the current crop of hardware and doesn't plan on coasting until the next generation comes around. ``They're the consoles that are driving the industry, but you've got to have a game to play on it,'' said Angela Emery, director of communication for Glendale-based Buena Vista Games. ``You have the hardware news, that's the top story, but people are still here looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. what they're going to be playing in the next few months.'' So companies trumpet their current titles, using all the usual trade-show tricks to catch eyes. As Emery stood in front of a ``Chronicles of Narnia'' booth, fake snow rained down onto her green-rimmed glasses, a prop to promote BVG's ``Chicken Little'' game. At one booth, zombies Zombies Companies that continue to operate even though they are insolvent. Also known as living dead. Notes: It's advisable to avoid investing in zombies at all costs their life expectancies are highly unpredictable. lurched, while not far away, vixen-like urban warriors with rifles and hot pants hot pants pl.n. 1. Vulgar Slang Strong sexual desire. 2. Very brief tight shorts worn by women as an outer garment. Noun 1. posed for pictures with eager attendees. There were games on cell phones, games with guns, even a game based on the Bible. Live bands and rave dancers grabbed for attention while clips of hits, both the football and gangland variety, played in high definition across immense screens. ``Hang on, we've got bullets flying overhead,'' said Edgar Gonzalez, a 24-year-old network operations manager from Marina del Rey, as he tried to describe the scene. ``It's absolutely electrifying e·lec·tri·fy tr.v. e·lec·tri·fied, e·lec·tri·fy·ing, e·lec·tri·fies 1. To produce electric charge on or in (a conductor). 2. a. . You play the game, then you say, 'Wow, I talked to the guy who designed that.''' Brent Hopkins, (818) 713-3738 brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Edward Tehune, center, and Christi Holland try out a game Wednesday based ``The Nightmare Before Christmas.'' (2 -- color) Thomas Troisch of Seattle plays a cell-phone game as Tadaya Tsuyukubo of maker Nameco Hometek looks on. (3) Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming console draws onlookers as it displayed under glass at the Convention Center. Evan Yee/Staff Photographer |
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