MONTE CARLO--I remember getting my very first Sega Genesis with the racing game, Super Monaco GP. Although I wasn't a fan of F1 racing, I loved the 16-Bit graphics of that game and the ability to race through the hairpin turns of Monte Carlo. I arrived in the real Monte Carlo for the first time this week, and discovered immediately something that the videogame didn't get accurate--the hills. This city is built along a huge cliff wall, which means the annual F1 race that is held here is anything but flat--as it was in that videogame. It's also amazing to see some of these hairpin turns in real life--along with the marks that burning rubber have made every year along the red-and-white-striped curves.

I'm actually visiting Monte Carlo for Imagina 2008, a 3D technology conference that features a full day of videogame speakers. It's interesting how a videogame was responsible for my first experience with Monte Carlo virtually and now games have brought me to the real thing. This city is beautiful and the weather here is perfect. Every night, the ocean lulls you to sleep, as the Fairmont Monte Carlo is at the bottom of the cliff, right on the ocean. The convention center for the conference is just next door, right past the Japanese Garden that Princess Grace Kelly was involved with.

Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Nvidia and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe were among the videogame panelists at the show, which attracted about 2,000 people from across the world--although mostly from Europe. It's quite a different atmosphere from E3, and much smaller than the SIGGRAPH conference in North America, but it was great to see a packed house interested in videogames in Monaco. And the speakers they brought in were pretty impressive, especially EA's Glenn Entis, who won an Oscar for his work at PDI (makers of Shrek) before leaving Hollywood CGI for gaming. If you ever get a chance to visit Monte Carlo, check out the casino. You've seen it in numerous movies, including the most recent James Bond and one of the Ocean's films. It's even more impressive in real life. Just bring comfortable shoes, as it's all hills here no matter which direction you walk.