Asia Game Show 2006 Event Report: A Sad State of Gaming Affairs

The fifth annual Asia Game Show took place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center December 15-18, occupying one segment of the enormous site, located on reclaimed land off Victoria Harbor.

While the the venue was roughly equal in size to the main E3 hall at the LA Convention Center, in terms of content and value for gamers the AGS simply couldn't match any of the major world events.

Both E3 and the Tokyo Game Show built their reputation on flagrant showmanship and an OTT degree of exposure for as many gaming-related products as possible, but none of that held true with the AGS, as it was an unashamed front for Sony's efforts to promote the new PS3 console.

Essentially, the conference might well have been labelled the Sony Asia Games Show, and even then it would have been rather thin since apparently the new Playstation had too limited a range of titles at showtime.

There wasn't any formal Xbox, Microsoft, Nintendo or even PC gaming representation, reportedly something Sony was at least passively pleased with. A few glimpses of Xbox 360 machines were spotted, but the only one we actually approached was mysteriously malfunctioning.

The main event was for local consumers, as Sony Computer Entertainment used the venue as a glorified point of sale, dishing out new PS3's to lucky recipients from a backroom stack that appeared to number in the hundreds, with the line very orderly and in fact not that long by late afternoon. It was, however, pleasing to see people with smiles on their faces as they ventured out to engage in some advanced gaming at home. The euphoria of a gamer knows no bounds.

Sony also had several demonstrations and stages throughout their portion of the hall (more than half), with show babes delivering unconvincing speeches on the Cell processor and other PS3 highlights. There was further a significant amount of resources devoted to the PSP, which is struggling to ward off advances from Nintendo's DS/DS Lite.

Overwhelmingly, this writer was interested in the hands-on demo room, where vibrating massage-chair stations hooked up to large LCD displays demoed most of the PS3 launch lineup. Spectacularly, Resistance: Fall of Man, Sony's own first person shooter as developed by Insomniac Games, had proof in the pudding that PS3 can produce the kind of graphics and gameplay we've been waiting for. An excellently gratifying action number, Resistance was by far the highlight of the show, a telling indication of how limited the scope of the event was.

All of the PS3 game titles working their magic on attendees were exclusive to the console, conveniently enough, making comparisons with versions running on Sony's arch-nemesis Xbox 360 impossible. No wonder, in light of the by-now usual aloof, almost obnoxious attitude espoused by Sony and their staff. People were allowed to cut in line through the velvet rope for supposedly holding "VIP status", and even though stations stood empty, gamers were prodded to finish and leave after fifteen minutes. At any rate, if you put up a velvet rope to keep people out of your display in an occasion such as this, you have a problem. Recall Sega's detached, snobbish demeanor at the 2001 E3 and then review what befell them subsequently.

There were several other notable booths from various purveyors of accessories and even a decent one by Altec Lansing, and of course some of the booth babes were simply gorgeous, attracting more attention than the wares they boosted even remotely warranted.

But the absolute lack of side-by-side perusal of various gaming platfroms rendered AGS into a sad joke basically, and certainly robbed it

of whatever semblence of value for gamers one may have expected the event to have. This writer is tempted to use stronger language, but in the end this was a loss of face and brand quality for Sony and the organizers. The type of Orwellian worldview inherent in putting up a show like this, where one company hogs the venue but tricks audiences with a fair-sounding name, is worrying.

What was good fun were the various performances by local and regional artists, possibly the main reason the (somewhat sparse) crowds turned up. Luminaries like Aaron Kwok, Soler and the stunning Rosemary Vandenbroucke graced Asia Game Show 2006, at least giving us that reminder of what it it's like when fun still counts.

As a Sony press conference or corporate floorspace, the AGS worked. As anything else it was a serious debacle.