 rand Theft Auto. Vice City. Devil May Cry. Dragonball Z. To say that Sony PlayStation’s top-selling video games are intense would be like saying gamers are interesting. “In the video-game world, sensory overload is the product,” says Mitchell Mauk of Mauk Design. “A clean, simple exhibit would deny the fundamental values of PlayStation. The challenge is to organize and focus this overwhelming anarchy.” |
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Gamers thrive on competition. So, naturally, a competition arena is at the heart of the exhibit, complete with 177 video-game kiosks. |
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| The designers from Mauk Design answered the challenge of Sony Computer Entertainment of America’s popular game system by walking the fine line between virtual reality and reality — from a light-stick wall to glowing couches to floating video games. Above the ground-floor entrances to the two-story, semicircular exhibit, seven 12-by-16-foot projection screens lure attendees from across the hall with high-energy video-game footage. Inside, on both floors, video games appear to float in mid air, projected onto 7-by-8-foot glass walls. In front of each glass wall is a hollowed out polypropylene couch, with lights inside to give the sofa a warm yellow glow. Gamers also can park in front of one of 177 video-game kiosks scattered throughout the exhibit. The exhibit’s focal point is the competition arena, a red-glowing, glass-floored circle with four video screens mounted high in the center, where gamers can challenge each other in Sony’s new games. The high-tech arena prompted one judge to say, “It’s like being inside a video game – not like a shooter or player, but like I’m inside the equipment with all the rods and mechanics.”  |
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| Double-Deck — Less Than $150/sq. ft. Sony Computer Entertainment of America Mauk Design, San Francisco, 415-896-0499, www.maukdesign.com Pinnacle Exhibits, Portland, 503-844-4848, www.pinnacle_exhibits.com E3 2002 $4 million 200 by 200 feet $100 |
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A light-stick wall lines the back of the exhibit. Up close, the half-inch-by-8-foot LED sticks appear to be just flashing light, but from a distance you see Sony PlayStation logos moving across the wall. |
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