Expo fans high-tech targets

By JUHA SAARINEN

The teeming crowds at the weekend's pulp-culture expo, Armageddon, were more varied than you would expect at what is basically a geekfest.

But one thing was clear. All the visitors were firmly in the sights of companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Sony and Telecom, who injected a larger-than-usual dose of tech into Armageddon this year.

By the expo entrance at Auckland's Aotea Centre, Telecom was trying to make a mint from the teenage texting craze and had one of the largest stalls at Armageddon to promote its G027 and Boost products.

But on Sunday the Telecom stall looked deserted, whereas elsewhere in the centre computer parties were rocking.

Large plasma, projector and LCD screens displayed the "fragging" (gaming) action for visitors who couldn't get near the games machines thanks to endless queues of enthusiastic joystick-wielders.

Microsoft plugged expo-goers into its Xbox games console and Sony set up its competing PlayStation 2 for the gaming masses. Sony's Singstar karaoke singing game pulled in large crowds.

Two mesmerised boys playing a very realistic game of Xbox tennis on a massive projector screen illustrated the lure of games, literally any games, for youthful fans.

Apple had a bunch of Macintosh G5s busy running 3D games.

Although the "traditional pulp culture" such as comics, trading cards, Trekkie-ana, and characters from the gory splatter version of Hansel and Gretel were well-represented at Armageddon, they seemed somewhat squeezed in between the computer games.

Actors from The Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Lexx, Stargate and Harry Potter brought over to sign autographs and have their pictures taken with fans seemed a bit bored with the lack of attention.

But whether this was due to the $35 charge per picture or the fact that they weren't digitised and starring in a 3D game was hard to say.