The Tetris Effect by Dan Ackerman

Author:Dan Ackerman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: 2016-07-17T16:00:00+00:00

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TETRIS TAKES LAS VEGAS

A cacophony of lights and sounds assaults even the most jaded observer. Long halls extend into the distance, disappearing into a sea of tents, tables, signs, and booths. The high ceilings towering above give the entire space the feel of an airplane hangar converted into a bustling bazaar.

And then there are the people. An endless sea of quivering humanity, tens of thousands packed shoulder to shoulder despite the enormity of the space. Some are dressed for business, jackets and ties straining against the Las Vegas heat. Some are engineers or creative types stuffed into extra-large T-shirts. Most fall somewhere in the middle: men in polo shirts with a company name neatly stitched over the left breast, vacantly staring out from assigned stations at their employers’ booths or else wandering the massive halls looking for the elusive next big thing.

This strobing hell on earth is the Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, an annual exposition and trade show held in the Las Vegas Convention Center each January since 1978. The brands, trends, and technologies have changed over the decades, but the basic premise remains the same. Electronics makers, retailers, distributors, inventors, and investors all descend on a packed convention center for several days to see the latest and greatest consumer technology.

Some years, it might be hi-fi stereos that generate the buzz; other years it may be 3D televisions or home automation. The modern era of the show is dominated by a handful of major companies hiding inside their own walled microcities, like the grown-up version of a child’s fort, complete with meeting rooms, lounges, private showrooms, and even their own security forces. Sony, Samsung, LG, Toshiba, and others act as feudal states, each within a catapult’s throw of each other, competing to draw the largest crowds to their presentations. If your neighbor is showing off 80-inch televisions, you had better have 100-inch models.

Today, video games have their own trade show—the equally overpacked, epilepsy-inducing Electronic Entertainment Expo (or E3). But for many years, video games were a big part of CES.

And in 1988, video games and the machines that played them were hot topics at the Consumer Electronics Show. Companies such as Nintendo and Sega seemed to finally have cracked the living room console code, with products like the Nintendo Entertainment System reviving a dormant market once dominated by the now-extinct Atari 2600.

At CES in early 1988, Henk Rogers was standing in a long, slow line, even if he wasn’t quite sure why.

Deep queues inevitably formed in front of most of the video games on display at the show as attendees waited for a chance to get a few minutes of hands-on time with a new game. The ritual was reminiscent of how kids would stand in line waiting to play their favorite games in an arcade, only this time, it was a captive audience of industry professionals waiting to play new video games in the name of research. Even better, you didn’t need a stack of quarters, just an official show attendee badge.

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