The atmosphere at the electronic entertainment Expo (E3) was muted this year--literally. Organizers at the hottest convention in the hard-core video gamer's calendar set noise limits and put decibel meters on its vendors, whose celeb-studded shows and my-game's-louder-than-yours posturing have split a few eardrums in years past.
But some things don't need shouting to be heard. One of them is the Sony PlayStation 2, the next generation of a console that is in 20% of U.S. households. The new machine--on which you'll also be able to play your old PlayStation games--may be the most hotly anticipated entertainment device since the checkers...