Games people play.(editor's note)

Several years ago, garners created a frenzy over the second-generation consoles, camping out in store parking lots for a chance to be the first on their block to experience the new wave of computer gaming. Offering a huge leap in power over the previous gaming consoles, these systems supported collision detection, accurate characters, and graphic detail that "immersed" players in the games. No longer were people simply moving polygons across a screen; they were part of the action.

It was not just the state-of-the-art hardware that people craved. Two years ago, overnight lines formed once again; this time, it was for the Xbox title Halo 2, which logged a first-day sales record of $125 million (see "The Halo Effect," January 2005). These events proved beyond a doubt that the video game industry was a cultural and economic force.

That idea was punctuated late last year with the arrival of the third generation in interactive entertainment: the Xbox 360 (see "Let the Games Begin," January 2006, pg. 22). Last month, Sony and Nintendo threw their latest systems into the ring, with the PlayStation 3 and Wii, respectively. All three systems take advantage of the industry's latest breakthroughs in technology, representing a dramatic leap forward in high-def gaming and entertainment with vertex and pixel shading, displacement and normal mapping, dynamic ambient occlusion, global illumination, and other high-level graphics techniques.

This holiday season, all the attention is on the newcomers. Like last year with the Xbox 360, demand for the PS3 and the Wii far outweighs supply. Unless you had connections or the stamina to wait in a line for three days, you were not among those who celebrated Thanksgiving Day with turkey, stuffing, and Call of Duty ...