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Gaming at SEMA Show 2005
Several things in life go together such as milk and cookies, peanut butter and jelly, Bobby and Whitney (that one’s still a mystery for me), and video games and SEMA. Not just any video games, but games geared towards racing and the urban crowd.
Throughout this years’ SEMA show in Vegas, it was obvious that gaming plays a significant role in drawing attention and on-lookers into booths. Some vendors used flashy displays, neon lights, and the ever popular scantily clad young ladies to pull people into their displays. However, trend savvy vendors took advantage of this opportunity to capture their audience by using virtual racing simulators to pull in the crowds.
 Ford, Scion, and Honda brought their A-games by setting up multi-player stations while other vendors simply opted for stand-alone arcade based simulators. Honda went with the legendary racing simulator Gran Turismo 4 complete with Recaro inspired racing seats and a fire extinguisher…just in case your skills were too hot for others to handle. Ford and Scion were running platforms not even available yet – the highly anticipated X-Box 360. Ford, however, took it to another level by allowing participants to get behind the wheel of the soon to be released Need For Speed: Most Wanted. Ford also launched Funk Master Flex’s Ford Fusion to coincide with the introduction of the Flex/Fusion online game.
Not to be outdone, Scion was holding it down with their xA Speedsteer by Five Axis. The little whip is totally dedicated to gaming and features two 19” LCD monitors, a 43” plasma mounted under the hatch, and three interlinked X-Box consoles running one of my personal favorites, Forza Motorsports.
By far, the sickest game gadget I found for the ultimate in-home racing experience is the Playseat. It’s fully adjustable, easily folds down for storage and eliminates sitting on the floor or having to wedge a wheel device under your butt while hitting corners at 90+!
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