The Game Doctor [The Game Doctor has been a legend in the electronic gaming industry since he debuted in the world's first video/computer game publication, "Electronic Games" in 1981. He has answered software-related questions in more than a dozen magazines and gaming sites. As a long-time fan of POSTAL, he has made periodic pilgrimages to the gopostal.com site and now returns to answer questions for The Urinal. Doctor, your patients await... The Gimp] With E3 being the dominant theme of this issue, I thought it might be an opportune time to answer a question I'm often asked by younger game fans. Having heard stories about the old Consumer Electronic Shows (CES) they wonder how the game industry migrated from CES to E3. The first CES was held in the late '70s and coincided with the arrival of the Video Revolution. VCRs, big-screen TVs, gigantic satellite receivers, laserdisc players and an array of electronic gimmicks dominated the shows in the early 80s, by which time CES was running two shows a year – Winter CES (WCES) in Las Vegas every January and Summer CES (SCES) every June in Chicago. Although video and computer games were already quite popular by 1980, there weren't many game companies on the floors of CES at that point. It wasn't until 1983 that game-based hardware and software comprised a significant presence at the shows. Many companies dropped out in 1984, of course, and by '85 computer software dominated the interactive entertainment segment with videogames being sold off at discounts along with the hardwired Pong-type machines of a decade earlier. The NES-spawned videogame explosion of '86 saw consoles once again hold sway on the CES game scene, with the big console manufacturers like Nintendo, Sega, NEC – and later Sony – requiring massive exhibit space. But CES had an interesting policy when it came to assigning booth placement. The companies which had signed up for the first shows in the late '70s were always awarded the choice positions. This led to the main hall being occupied by companies selling TVs and VCRs along with those Hong Kong entrepreneurs who made telephones in the shape of grand pianos and Formula One race cars. By the '90s, the game companies comprised the largest and most successful segment of the consumer electronic market, but found themselves crammed into circus tents constructed outside the hall itself, in parking lots out back. The game people had another problem with CES, beyond being treated like the red-headed stepchild. The game industry didn't need two shows a year. The WCES was largely a waste of money for game companies, the majority of whose business went down during the Christmas holidays. All the game people could do in January was spend money on parties and show off games that most attendees had already seen (albeit in unfinished form) at the previous SCES. These twin weaknesses were exploited by the folks behind E3. One show a year, in the spring, in LA, was extremely attractive to the game industry since most of the businesses were located on the West Coast anyway. And in the 10 shows E3 has staged since 1995, they've only stumbled badly one time by signing up to hold the show in Atlanta for several years in the late 90s. Although I believed the original deal was for three shows, E3 wisely pulled the plug after two. And that's the story of how E3 hijacked the Goose That Lays the Golden Egg from CES. Or as Nelson Mundt would say: "HAW Haw!" And that's a wrap for this issue. For answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions, check out the official GoPostal.com site. But send any new questions regarding RWS, the POSTAL franchise and anything else that occurs to you to: GameDoctorKunkel@aol.com.

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