Bringing Senses Into Play

Walking past a crack in a wall in the computer game Broken Sword, players feel a draft of air in the real world. When a virtual plane flies by on the screen, a strategically timed breeze -- generated by a set of fans parked next to the monitor -- tries to make gamers feel as if they're standing next to the runway.

Consumer electronics makers looking to tap into the growing computer and video game market are seeking new and novel ways to help players feel as if they're inside their favorite virtual worlds. And they've come up with goggles, furniture and vibrating headphones to do just that.

The air blast is part of a game system due this summer from Philips Consumer Electronics -- the amBX system comes with a wrist pad that rumbles and lamps that flash to simulate thunder and lighting or other special effects from the on-screen world in the real one.

Until now, such features were targeted at hard-core game fanatics. But the mainstream success of Nintendo's Wii console, with its motion-sensing game controllers, has opened up a larger market of potential game aficionados for manufacturers to devise more creative or intuitive ways to let people immerse themselves in video worlds.

Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities, said game peripherals like these add-ons have traditionally composed about 10 percent of the gaming hardware market, making this a $750 million industry in the United States this year. But, he said, thanks to the popularity of the Wii and rock-star-wannabe-game Guitar Hero, the accessory market could grow rapidly in coming years.

"There's a whole new genre of game where the accessory is the game," he said.

On one end of the spectrum, there's the $60 mouse that promises better control for the "shooter" game addict; on the other, there's the $1,500 3-D visor from eMagin that is worn like a pair of wrap-around glasses.

Some companies sell subwoofer devices that attach to the base of a chair to give gamers a sonic bump in the tailbone when they get blown up in a game. The success of the Guitar Hero games has spawned a small sub-industry of companies putting out alternate, wireless versions of the game's toy guitar controller. In an coming game called Rock Band, players can plug a drum-set-like controller into their Xbox systems.

Much of the equipment in the game-accessory and peripheral market is designed by homegrown companies, then sold at gamer specialty stores or online, so sales can be hard to track.

"It's a niche market where a lot of companies come and go," said game industry analyst David Cole. But the business of video games is so large these days, a lot of companies can thrive without becoming household names, he said. "There's a lot of room to make money under the radar screen."

Annapolis resident Christina Gardner got the $400 Ultimate Game Chair for her boyfriend's birthday after seeing it featured in the movie "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."

The chair has 12 vibrating built-in motors -- seven in the back, five in the seat -- and a pair of speakers at the top. If a grenade goes off nearby in a video game, the chair gives the player a corresponding jolt to the back.