Geek to chic: gaming goes glam

(Credit: Polk Imaging)

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The red carpet clamors with media buzz. Kelly Osbourne flashes a peace sign, Audrina Partridge poses with Bam Margera, and Kat von D hustles her way through the throng of celebrities and wannabes. A 6-foot-7 bouncer checks wristbands, halting you lest you get in before Tila Tequila. Finally, the velvet rope clicks shut behind you and the room opens to a sprawling dance floor flooded with strobe lights and plasma screens. Gorgeous women dressed to the nines bump and grind next to suited businessmen and professional athletes. Despite the glitz, this isn’t a movie premiere, a record-release event or even a celebrity store opening. It’s a video-game launch event for Sean White Snowboarding. Geeks gone social.

Despite the global economic downturn, video games are as popular as ever, the industry is thriving financially, and gamers are growing up. According to a Dec. 18 article in The Economist, “53 percent of American adults play video games of some kind,” which isn’t surprising, considering games are a fairly cheap form of home entertainment. The upshot? Worldwide sales of gaming hardware and software were expected reach $49.9 billion dollars in 2008, says The Economist.

As in the movie business, game companies put considerable effort, and dollars, into promoting their wares. A case study in Game Informer magazine revealed that 10 percent of a developer’s budget could be spent on PR and marketing. As game companies continue to one-up each other with hype and spectacle, the promotional parties just get bigger and better. The gaming industry’s lavish events are now on par with posh Hollywood parties.

Take last summer’s E3 Expo, which made its quiet return to the L.A. Convention Center. Harmonix and MTV Games went all out to support the release of the star-studded title Rock Band 2. A full-fledged gala at the Orpheum Theatre featured numerous VIPs and a performance by the Who. Madden ’09 soon followed with its August launch event at the Rose Bowl, where throngs of professional football players tossed around the pigskin with a few lucky fans. The day’s events were surpassed later in the evening at West Hollywood’s swanky STK restaurant, where Hugh Heffner and his bevy of beauties snuggled in the back booth as Lauren Conrad fumbled with her Xbox 360 controller nearby. And in December, the wacky Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party was unleashed at Apple Lounge, where the Kardashian sisters had a go at the game’s rear-end-controlled use of the Wii Fit balance board.

This past holiday season, game developers sprinted to get their titles onto store shelves and under Christmas trees. The rush translated to a surplus of high-profile games and an uptick in launch parties—sometimes two or more a week. Bethesda Softworks, the company behind the post-apocalyptic epic Fallout 3, kicked off the holiday haste by sending out enormous pre-rusted invitations featuring a hazardous-materials symbol and the words “fallout shelter” on one side and a summons to preview the game and party with the Foo Fighters on the other.

The most extravagant and infamous of these industry events to date occurred in 2007. The game was God of War 2, an action-adventure title chronicling the mythological tales of Greek deities. As both publisher and developer, Sony went the extra mile by organizing a hedonistic festival in Athens for industry bigwigs to promote the game’s European launch. Topless women fed grapes to eager guests, and a freshly slaughtered goat was on display to mimic a sacrifice to the gods. The event immediately garnered negative press, particularly among animal-rights activists, and the launch party was dubbed “Sony’s orgy.” The game went on to earn record-breaking sales for the Playstation 2.

Tonight’s Sean White Snowboarding event, however, isn’t a Greek orgy. It’s an exclusive party at Boulevard 3, one of Hollywood’s most upscale nightclubs. A trio of blondes dressed as snow bunnies sit perched on a mound of snow waving their Wii-motes at a 60-inch screen projected ahead. The Flying Tomato graces the crowd with an entourage of snowboarders. Belvedere shots all around.

As the DJ spins and the booze flows, it becomes clear that some of the most attractive people you’ll ever see are actually warming up to the idea of playing video games. It’s a seamless blend of partying and technology. So grab a controller and join up, because you can’t rock this party until you learn how to properly handle a joystick.

Wave your geek flag proudly: The 2009 gaming-party preview
Another year, another blitz of killer new titles on store shelves. Of course, with the game releases come the parties—midnight launch events, flowing open bars, a tech-savvy throng of celebs and trailing paparazzi, plus super-tight guest lists and ridiculously long lines. Get ahead of it all with our gaming-party preview, a primer to the first four big releases of ’09 along with tips on getting through the door.

Game: Skate 2
Release date: Jan. 20
Party vibe: Similar to Sean White’s shindig: plenty of celebrities, booze, and dancing with pro skaters and tattooed hotties.

Game: Afro Samurai
Release date: Jan. 27
Party vibe: A swanky, traditional Japanese theme. We expect sushi served by geishas and/or ninjas.

Game: Street Fighter IV
Release date: Feb. 17
Party vibe: Hip yet laid-back, with an anime-inspired atmosphere.

Game: Killzone 2
Release date: Feb. 27
Party vibe: Dark and hardcore; we picture plenty of whiskey and flirtatious interstellar soldiers.

Tips
Do your research. The best way to work your way into exclusive gaming parties is to offer a credential, no matter how DIY. Start your own video-game blog or site, get in touch with a publisher’s PR firm, and go after local coverage. Bring a small camera along and score interviews with red-carpet celebs. Don’t be afraid to wave your geek flag proudly—but be sure to dress the part. No one wants to see your special-edition Halo 3 backpack.