The Explosion of 'Presence' at the new CES Gaming Zone

The Changing Focus of CES

"Hip to Be Square" -- the song written by Bill Gibson, Sean Hopper, and Huey Lewis, and released in 1986 as the second single from the multi-platinum album, Fore! by Huey Lewis and the News followed a trend in the mid-80's that reinterpreted the classic ballad -- it was a song that told a story and, at the same time communicated an idea and, while the men that wrote it and the artist and band that preformed it were not talking about video game entertainment and the video game industry, they could have been.

The song professed a sentiment so universally significant that it quickly worked its way into, and secured a permanent place within pop culture as the anthem of the underdog. The acceptance of the song and its attachment to the idea was so solid that it became a popular shorthand reference in everything from fiction to the monologue on The Tonight Show.

Whether it is the simple fact that being a geek is cool -- or (more likely) the demonstrated fact that computer and console gaming and the many industries that are associated with it really are a major economic force, the "squares" of gaming have finally attained the recognition that genuinely deserve, and the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show finally included an industry section reserved for games and gaming companies.

The Gaming Showcase

Located in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center will be the largest Gaming Showcase in CES history, which is being promoted as THE place to get ready to see advancements in online gaming and gaming-related product -- and the debuts of the same -- all in one centralized location.

More than 12,000 square feet of exhibit space has been set aside -- and the organizers are presenting the space as the prime destination for gaming business, touting that its products will include gaming hardware and software from online PC and HD gaming to plasma HDTV, surround sound, and power conditioning hardware.

In practical terms it is still very early in the organizational process for the 2012 show, but there is already an early list of confirmed exhibitors -- gaming industry players who have already committed to the show, and are busy planning out their exhibit or hiring the consultants that will make that all happen.

This year in addition to companies that create the hardware that gamers rely upon -- like Advanced Micro Devices, Mad Catz, NVIDIA, and Turtle Beach, we will see a massively expanded presence from Microsoft's game divisions, Sony Online Entertainment and its other game divisions, and the current unofficial estimate (as of 22 July 2011) that include over 100+ games for Kinect, Move, and Nintendo's 3DS platform. That figure does not include the PC games, and console games that are not motion-control-aware.