Trigger Happy
5
NEVER-ENDING STORIES
A tale of two cities
Los Angeles is a game of SimCity played by a maniac. Six-lane freeways gridlocked with sports utility vehicles pump out untold cubic tons of exhaust fumes, enveloping the city in a permanent yellow smog. It’s more or less compulsory to drive any distance more than ten yards, but you’re not allowed to smoke a cigarette. In fact, thanks to designer Will Wright’s inbuilt bias toward public transport, it wouldn’t actually be possible to build Los Angeles in his videogame. This satirical dystopia is too weird to be anything but real.
It’s also the venue for the world’s largest annual videogame trade show, E3. The bustling steel- andconcrete cathedral of the Los Angeles Convention Center is roaring with the combined sound effects and
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