Id Takes Its Software Show on the Road

In a savvy marketing ploy to sell its latest game to hard-core fans, game maker Id Software has loaded several computers, a crew of interns and hundreds of free T-shirts onto a tour bus and is taking its software on the road.

Think of the Quake III Arena “Road Tour” as a cross between MTV’s “Road Rules” and an arcade at the mall, all tucked inside a 45-foot black bus. Eight monitors glow eerily inside, casting yellow hues across the pale faces of the people playing the shoot-’em-up game. The air is filled with good-natured trash talk, as players electronically chase one another across a virtual landscape.

The tour, which began in Texas in early August and was co-sponsored by “Quake” publisher Activision Inc., made about 40 stops across the nation. It wrapped up last week at UC Irvine and UCLA, where scores of students ditched classes to spend hours in battle.

“We had one guy even follow us from Texas to Seattle,” said Catherine Anna Kang, director of business development for the Texas-based software firm. “It’s nice to have such loyal fans.”