Fan Expo 2006: The Gaming Scene

Games
Fan Expo 2006: The Gaming Scene
By Eli Green
September 5, 2006 - 18:00

Disappointed. That was the word I was originally going to use to share my views about the gaming scene at this year's Fan Expo. The new word I have chosen, however, is hopeful. As I entered the doors to Fan Expo, on Friday, and toured the floor, I noticed the scarcity of game booths. In total, there were only four booths hosting games to be played.

Space: The Imagination Station was hosting six playable Xbox 360s with various games, G4 Tech TV had four DS Lite demo systems and a website called DorkArmy.com was hosting multiple consoles ranging from the NES to Xbox 360, changing games at their leisure. The only console manufacturer to have their own booth at the show was Nintendo, showing off already released titles for the DS Lite.

Friday attendance at the gaming booths could only be considered lax, as very little was going on, and few people were visiting the booths. Saturday and Sunday, though, were a different story altogether. G4 was hosting a different system each day of the show. Friday, as mentioned before, was DS Lites, Saturday was Playstation 2 and Sunday was Xbox 360. The Space booth was well visited on Saturday and Sunday, as was DorkArmy.com's booth, as they hosted tournaments featuring Halo 2 on Saturday and Halo 2 time trial competitions on Sunday.

Finally, the Nintendo booth had two surprise guests appear on Sunday. The new Onyx Black and Coral Pink DS Lites, which are set to be released in North America on Sept. 13th, were readily available for public viewing. Anyone who wanted, could get their hands on the new DSs to check them out, like the two fans shown below with two of Nintendo's own promo staff.

Click the picture to enlarge it.