Like the biggest amusement arcade in the world, London's Olympia throbbed with digitised music and echoed to the shrieks of delighted punters.

ECTS at Olympia is the premier UK trade showcase for the latest and most exciting consumer hardware and software products.

Packs of teenagers mixed with be-suited business types in queues to try out the latest computer games Thousands of industry buyers flock to Olympia every year to see what the industry will be delivering over the next 12 months.

All kinds of games and accessories were featured from Donkey Kong and the next incarnation of the Tamagotchi to Nintendo, PlayStation, GameBoy and PC.

Serious money is generated by the growing computer games industry and many new products were on show for the first time.

This year, a huge amount of interest was centred on the latest computerised dancing games.

Hundreds of visitors were matching footsteps with on-screen characters and pressing giant foot-buttons in time with obscenely loud music.

Dancing games have been massively popular in Japan.

I have my doubts Brits will embrace the idea of the top dance game, Jungle Book Groove Party.

Boogieing like Baloo the bear is marginally sillier to watch than grown-ups playing Twister.

Konami's Metal Gear Solid 2 was undoubtedly the show's top game but, sadly, it isn't due for release until late next year.

A massive demo screen suspended above the Konami stand was a literal showstopper as crowds gathered to watch the stunning graphics and action every time the demonstration video was run.

PlayStation 2 was everywhere. The Sony demonstration area offered a display of real-time virtual reality where a player armed with a plastic sword found his actions replicated on screen.

The player switched his sword for a plastic mace and the incredible on-screen graphics changed to match. He waved his arms like a bird and a computer-generated image of a bird soared and turned in time with his movements. Truly awesome!

ECTS visitor's favourite online game was almost certainly Playnet's World War II Online that will go live, worldwide, later this year.

The game allows you to compete against other gamers around the world and form teams that operate together as a tank crew, fighter squadron or warship sailors to win command of a whole army.

The potential of this game is amazing - see www.playnet.com Sadly, ECTS is only open to trade buyers and computer journalists with far too much time on their hands. But don't despair, there are plenty of shows in the run-up to Christmas that are open to the public. Watch this space!