For those of you who've been following videogames for a while, or at least for longer than 11 years, back in the day--the years before 1993--videogames and the Consumer Electronics Show went together like love and marriage. Games were shown in a large tent in Las Vegas as part of the ever-growing Consumer Electronics Show, which today is the largest trade show in the world. Videogames went their own way in 1994 with the Electronic Entertainment Expo, a show that itself has grown into the largest gaming trade show in the world.

CES is a big show. Over 140,000 attendees walked the football field-size show rooms (1.53 million square feet) to view new products from 2,400 exhibitors. Big names like Microsoft, Intel, Sony, Panasonic, LG, Samsung and HP had huge booths to lure retailers to sell their products. Consumer electronics are expected to generate $101 billion this year alone. In contrast, E3 has about 65,000 attendees, 540,000 square feet of showroom and 400 exhibitors, including Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Electronic Arts and THQ.

Beginning last year, videogames have been making a comeback at CES. This year saw a large number of game companies--some in Vegas for the first time--sharing the spotlight with plasma TVs, HD DVDs and digital cameras. CES will never win back the game industry to the point of closing down E3, but it looks like videogame companies are now taking advantage of the convergence between consumer electronics and games. After all, your PS2 and Xbox already play DVD movies and CDs. With three new consoles expected to ship over the next two years (Xbox Next this fall and Nintendo Revolution and PlayStation 3 next year), as well as Sony's PSP this March, this convergence will continue in new directions. PSP plays movies and music, as well as games. And next-gen consoles will open new avenues for entertainment through broadband.

Getting back to this year's CES, the show started off with a full day Game Power Summit, which was a sold-out event that offered the hundreds of attendees a who's who list of game industry experts talking about everything from the history of gaming to handheld gaming to online gaming. The summit was so popular that CES may add an entire Game Power at CES section to next year's show floor--so there'd be the game conference the day before the show officially opens, and then an actual presence on the floor where game companies can show off their products.

Sony used Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, which is just down the road from the convention center, to mark the North American debut of its PSP. There were 200 PSPs and 17 playable games on hand, after the brief press conference. Later that night, Sony rocked the Hard Rock with a full night of musical guests like Dave Navarro, Jennifer Lewis and Joan Jett.

Microsoft's Bill Gates had his annual keynote address, always a sell-out event. Conan O'Brien hosted the two-hour press conference, which had plenty of unintentional humor thanks to hardware and software flaws--including an Xbox screen that turned blue. Gates included the Windows Media Center Extender Kit for Xbox in his press conference. The device, which is now on store shelves, allows gamers to plug the gaming box into the networked home. Gates didn't talk about Xbox Next, code-named Xenon, during his CES talk, but he did mention it in interviews surrounding the show. While Microsoft is still mum on details, other than the fact that it will be at E3, the next Xbox is expected to launch this fall. On the show floor, Microsoft had several Xbox games, including Forza Motorsports, which will now ship this April. On the PC side, Microsoft had Vivendi Universal Games' FEAR on display.

Another event before the show was the Digital Experience at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino, where companies like Nyko, Sony Online Entertainment, Nokia N-Gage, LG, Voodoo PC and eMargin showed off their latest. LG has a new PC gaming LCD monitor shipping this month which will take full advantage of the vibrant colors of PC games. And eMargin, a start-up company, had a cool gaming goggles visor on display, which allows any videogame to be viewed in full 3D. They won't be out until this summer.

Nyko has some cool new devices coming out for the PSP, including a Charger Case that can recharge a PSP twice on one charge, extending the PSP's battery time, which is currently four to six hours for games and just over two hours for movies. Taking things a step further, the Theater Experience delivers the charge plus two small speakers for a mini sound system. Nyko also had Screen Armor protective covering for the PSP, which is another necessity, as the screen quickly smudges.

Nokia had two new N-Gage titles on display, including EA's SSX: Out of Bounds game and Ubisoft's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Both games looked and played great in 3D on the color phone screen. And with N-Gages now available for free with a contract, more people are getting into these games.

Nintendo was at CES, showing its latest line-up of Nintendo DS and GameCube titles at the Showstoppers evening event as well as in an RV parked next to the convention center. Yoshi's Tough & Go, WarioWare DS and a new puzzle game called Polarium for the Nintendo DS were there, as well as WarioWare: Twisted! for GBA, and Resident Evil 4 and Star Fox Assault for GameCube. Atari had its March 2005 release Retro Atari game on hand, which includes: Pong, Missile Command, Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Tempest, Warlords, Gravitar, Lunar Lander and Sprint.

Electronic Arts had six PSP launch titles on display at the Venetian Hotel, marking the first time the software giant had used the show. The six games, which included NFL Street 2 Unleashed, Need for Speed Underground Rivals, MVP Baseball, FIFA Soccer, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, and NBA Street Showdown, is the most that EA has ever had for a console launch (it had four titles for PS2's launch).

Sony Online Entertainment had its new Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade PSP game at several different events and booths, as well as EverQuest II for PC and Champions: Return To Arms for PS2. SOE's PSP title was one of the best games for the system on display at CES.

Two new game consoles were on display, although both had been shown at E3 last year, along with PSP. Infinium Labs' Phantom Game Service, a broadband subscription game console for the living room, and Tiger Telemetics' Gizmondo handheld gaming system, which includes video and music playback, GPS and wireless e-mail access. Gizmondo ships in April for $399. Phantom has no concrete release date, but has already been delayed once from a fall 2004 launch. Both game systems were at the Microsoft booth.

Other gaming companies at CES included peripheral companies like Saitek, which had new controllers on display. Nvidia had a large booth for the second consecutive show to feature its new 3D gaming cards and other technologies. Electronic Arts had Battlefield 2 running at this booth on nVidia's 6800 Ultra cards and Ubisoft had its new WWII shooter, Brothers In Arms, on hand.

There was also a new CES area called Cardio Play Zone, where Konami had its Dance Dance Revolution Extreme for PS2 on display, complete with dance mats. Other gaming companies were also there. Kilowatt Sport had the Powergrid Fitness system, which uses a Norditack-type device to turn exercise into movement in any PS2, Xbox or GameCube game. Electric Spin had a Golf Launch Pad, which doesn't plug into a game console, but does connect to a PC. It allows golfers to refine their swings at home using new technology.

Of course, there were also hundreds of new gadgets and HDTVs and other devices that will all be used as videogame players in some form or another, whether it's by phone or PDA or flat screen TV. As games and electronics continue to converge, CES will remain a showcase for interactive entertainment.