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Fusion of Hollywood films and video games at premier trade Glenn Chapman
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LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Hollywood glamour and video game thrills united to entrance the thousands of hard-core gamers that crammed the world's premier computer trade show here.
Games based on major films and game titles with blockbuster status in their own right, complete with movie-like action scenes, played out on screens both colossal and small in the cavernous venue.
A game titled "Strangle Hold" crafted by film director John Woo featured a virtual Chow Yun-Fat hero.
There were games based on the "Superman" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" films slated for release later this year.
Games were imbued with characters and plots from movies as recent as "The Da Vinci Code" and "Mission Impossible III" and as classic as "The Godfather" and "Scarface."
"This is where movies and television converge with gaming," said Ephraim Cohen, who was tending to an exhibit by the Singapore Games Exchange Alliance. "I see crowds of 200 people watching video games like they are movies."
"That is a statement about the industry today."
Much of the talk at behind-the-scenes workshops at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) centered not on game technology, but on story lines and character development, according to Cohen.
"We're talking as though we're making movies instead of games," Cohen said. "I think Hollywood is sitting around counting the cash."
The union of films and games is a natural extension of electronic entertainment and has gained momentum, according to Kate Isenberg of Bethesda Softworks, the US company that created a "Pirates of the Caribbean" game due out this summer.
"Hollywood and video games are definitely converging," Isenberg said as she checked the reservation list of people that wanted to try the company's new game. "It's a crazy day."
Gamers flooded the exhibition floors, which spanned an area equivalent to 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools, and waited in line to try out not-yet-released games and gaming consoles.
Women dressed as alien vamps, alluring barbarians, and sexy race car drivers were among the models hawking game-makers' wares to the mostly male crowd.
Speakers blared and giant screens displayed trailers in a sensory-drowning ambiance akin to a frenzied mix of Times Square, Las Vegas and Disney Land.
Zach Hum and Evan Lee, both 18-year-old Los Angeles-area residents, skipped school to immerse themselves in E3.
"It was worth it," Hum said as he waited on line at the Natsume games booth. "It's like seeing the preview to a movie. Some people get to see just the preview; we get to see the whole movie."
"And, you get a lot of free stuff," Lee chimed, hoisting a bag loaded with t-shirts, magazines, lanyards and other promotional goodies.
Jeff Sobol, who founded the game publisher Polago Design in Alberta, Canada, eagerly tried "Sonic Hedgehog" on Japanese game maker Sony's PlayStation 3, which will go on sale in November.
"I came to learn what is coming down the pike," Sobol said as he played. "There seem to be a lot more interesting things than last year."
E3 is in its 12th year, and with the gaming business booming, the event has turned into a important meeting place for industry movers and shakers.
Gaming business merchants streamed into pavilions representing peers in Britain, Korea, Australia, Canada, Singapore and other countries.
At the "Powered by the UK Zone," potential alliances with E3 attendees were sent to Britain by instant computer messages to kickstart business deals.
"It's basically the ultimate video game business battle ground," Cohen said of the show. "You get great deals done here, and you get the experience."
Released on: May 13, 2006
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