The annual pyrotechnic floor show known as E3 ― the Electronic Entertainment Expo ― is the videogame industry's Super Bowl and Cannes Film Festival combined, a glittering excuse for the people who make and market games to splash about in a pool of unchecked hype and ballooning profits. In the past couple of years, the atmosphere at LA's Staples Center has become downright Roman ― a celebration of staggering retail conquests (videogame revenue is fast approaching that of movies and music) and golden future. Booth babes in the garb of various games roam the crowded show floor. Giant screens broadcast footage of the latest releases, highlights of bloody combat between sinewy animated characters. Speakers blare the sounds of explosions, vehicular thunder, and exhortations to prepare oneself to be blown away. Removed from the mayhem, in a makeshift meeting room at the back of Nintendo's sprawling booth, Shigeru Miyamoto, a slight, soft-spoken presence, leans forward in his chair. Miyamoto, the designer who more than any other single person has led gaming to its current perch, talks, incongruously enough, about the essence of polite society. "Every game has rules," he says. "So I think about them often. I talk to my children about them. For instance, the trains in Japan all have a few seats reserved for pregnant women or the elderly. The rules regarding those seats are that if an elderly person or pregnant woman steps on the train, you should let them sit. I also tell them to think about the results of their actions, to not do things like throw a cigarette out the window. You never know what the result of throwing that might be."
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