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Coming soon to a theatre near you: An attraction with no big-name stars and no plot. There might be an exciting car chase, though, or a brain-teasing trivia game.

Movie theatres, mainly in Europe so far, are experimenting with turning their big screens into giant video game systems. It's a way of putting the cinemas to use during off-peak hours and adding new attractions to feature showings.

A number of cinemas in Britain and Spain have begun offering games on their screens, using control devices mounted at each seat. Some of them are using technology from a Canadian company, Toronto-based TimePlay Entertainment Inc.

Jon Hussman, TimePlay's president and a former chief executive of arcade operator Playdium Entertainment Corp., says his company has been working on the cinema game system, which costs between $75,000 and $100,000, for about four years.

It's designed primarily for movie theatres, he says, though it could also be used in stadiums or casinos or to provide entertainment aboard cruise ships.

How it works

Each movie theatre is connected through the Internet to a central complex server that sends games to the theatre. Each seat in the theatre offers a handheld control device to play the games.

The hand-held game unit looks like a tablet-style computer, with a 10-inch, high-resolution touch screen, Mr. Hussman says (though TimePlay has also developed a unit that looks more like a home video-game controller). The wireless devices don't have to be plugged in, but they are tethered to the seats.

The server is connected wirelessly to a digital projector in the cinema's projection booth, so patrons can participate in multi-player games using the big movie screen for display. Up to 200 players can play games at the same time, individually or in teams within a single cinema, or between several theatres in a complex.

"People like that - knowing that they're competing against people who are physically in the same space that they are," says Mr. Hussman, adding that players get satisfaction when they see their names posted on score-keeping "leader boards" when they do well.

The system can be used for various kinds of games. Odeon Cinemas Ltd. of Britain has tested it in cinemas in Manchester and Huddersfield with a mixture of on-screen bingo and other games, such as a movie trivia game and a card game.

The cost of the games varies. In Britain, TimePlay charged £4 (about $8) for 30 minutes, compared with the cost of a movie ticket of about £8 (about $16). The company intends to raise the price to about £10 (about $20) for 45 minutes when it releases its next product in February in Britain. When TimePlay launches Deal Or No Deal, it expects to charge $15 for about 75 minutes of play.

One reason the idea is getting more attention in Europe initially is more relaxed attitudes about gambling on that side of the Atlantic. It works well for games such as bingo and keno, where patrons can win money, Mr. Hussman says. "In the U.K., we were able to get a license to do that ... It's tougher in this market."

But the possibilities also extend to trivia quizzes - one of those tried out in Britain was a movie-related trivia game, Mr. Hussman notes - and to action games that could take special advantage of cinemas' big screens, sophisticated sound systems and stadium-style seating.

Two audiences

Gerald Buckle, digital development manager at Odeon U.K. in London, says his company's first trials of the TimePlay system in the summer found there are two audiences. Bingo went over well with traditional bingo players, a middle-aged crowd who took to bingo on-screen without trouble but showed little interest in other games. A younger audience - the type who have PlayStations and video games at home, Mr. Buckle says - took to the interactive games.

Odeon found that it could offer games as stand-alone attractions, or as opening attractions before movies, he said. After a three-month trial, Odeon has stopped running the games in Manchester and Huddersfield while TimePlay tweaks the system to address some feedback from patrons, Mr. Buckle added.

New games

TimePlay is developing new games, more akin to television game shows such as Deal Or No Deal and The Price is Right, as well as exploring some sports-related game ideas, Mr. Hussman says. The plan is to roll out the system to about 20 of Odeon's roughly 100 venues in Britain in 2008.

Rank Group PLC has been using TimePlay's system in about 10 British casino and bingo hall locations since May and will be expanding to more than 20 in 2008, he says. TimePlay hopes to see its system in about 30 more British locations by the end of 2008.

He adds that the company is hoping for its first commercial installations in the United States by mid-year, working with Dedham, Mass.-based National Amusements Inc. and Carmike Cinemas of Columbus, Ga. Neither chain would comment, though a spokeswoman for National Amusements said her company had no firm plans for the TimePlay technology at present.

As for Canada, Mr. Hussman says, "we're hoping to do something in 2008." He said his company has a relationship with Cineplex Entertainment LP, but he would not say if the Toronto-based chain has rollout plans, and Cineplex did not respond to inquiries.

TimePlay is not the only player in cinema games. In Spain, Yelmo Cineplex is trying out the concept in a modified Madrid cinema; the focus of the Cinegames system is on multi-player action games, and its system has 17-inch screens at every seat, with the main screen providing game highlights and a scoreboard.

A similar trial in Germany was dropped after a four-month period, however, when it didn't attract enough audiences.

Mr. Hussman sees nothing but possibilities, though. "This platform will evolve and the content will evolve with the platform over time," he says.

And Mr. Buckle says Odeon U.K.'s experiments show games in cinemas will work, not just as adjuncts to movies but as stand-alone entertainment in their own right.

How big-screen game technology works

Technology turns big cinema screens into multi-player experiences, using specially designed interactive games. Up to 200 people can play at the same time, individually or in teams within a single cinema, or between several theatres.

Complex server:

Using the Internet, connects to all cinemas linked to the network, sends games to individual theatre game servers

Theatre game server:

Computer-based game machine installed in the cinema projection booth. Runs the games and communicates with the handheld devices

Handheld device:

Players in audience each have their own handheld controller, allowing them to interact with the games shown on the big screen. Each device has a 10" colour touch-screen, along with magnetic card reader and encrypted data link for secure credit-card payment

SOURCE: TIMEPLAY.COM