After Microsoft's press conference here in Los Angleles, one thing is clear - in tinseltown, the cult of celebrity most definitely extends to the computer games world.
The show (and this really was closer to a gig than a press conference), opened with a rash of Beatles and Beatles relatives, with Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney arriving on stage to plug their new game based on the Beatles music. Before them, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison appeared briefly to wave to the crowd (and interestingly, from the other side of the stage - so the two parties never met).
Minutes later pro skateboarder Tony Hawk was on stage, followed by Steven Spielberg, who is apparently a big games player himself.
In a town where image is everything, the lavish, over the top show makes one thing clear - despite the tough economic times, the games industry is growing, and growing quickly. With Microsoft and Nintendo holding their press conferences tomorrow, which are expected to be just as glitzy, it seems that for computer games, at least, the economic good times are beginning to roll again.