Fun for all ages

Monday, May 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

and Robert Zizzo

THE green flag waves and we're racin'.

It's our chance for fame at the old Brickyard and the chumps to our right and left should have known they have little chance against a couple of old pros.

After all, we've got a combined 40 years of "arcade experience." In this case, the Indy 500 Formula auto racing game at the GameWorks Las Vegas grand opening Saturday night is no test for a couple of old-time "vidiots" who honed their skills with pockets full of quarters and spots in front of Pac Man and Frogger machines.

OK, so the 8-year-old who could barely reach the gas pedal whipped us. Must be another Andretti.

GameWorks, in The Showcase on the Strip across from New York-New York hotel-casino, is a 47,000-square-foot warehouse o' fun. It's a joint venture of DreamWorks SKG, Sega Enterprises and Universal Studios.

The key players behind GameWorks are Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Michael Montgomery. Some of those partners joined celebrities Chris Farley, David Schwimmer, Blair Underwood, Brenda Blethyn and Peter DeLuise at the grand opening for an evening of virtual entertainment.

For Farley, it was a chance to "take out our aggression" on the tank-fighting game. For others, it was a dream come true.

"I hope GameWorks is a comfortable addition and fits in with what I think is the fun capital of the world," Katzenberg said. "Steven Spielberg was 'Mr. Inspiration.' He has always loved games and the challenge. What really pushes this to a new level is the fact you can play with other people.

"Just like Las Vegas no longer caters to just one audience, GameWorks is not about teenage boys alone."

But for those teenage video-game fans, this is the coolest place in the world. When you throw in a bar and a restaurant, adult players might think this is interactive heaven.

In a setting that could pass for Dr. No's basement, dance music pumps energy into an atmosphere that includes:

* More than 250 games, ranging from virtual skeet shooting to air hockey to video checkers.

* The world's tallest free-standing rock climbing structure -- an amazing 75 feet high.

* A 15-seat Internet lounge that links surfers to the World Wide Web.

* A 100-seat restaurant, a Starbucks Coffee bar, a "Fry Station" serving french fries and soda, and a snack bar.

* A 5,000-square-foot full-service bar with pool tables and foosball tables.

* A retail shop that offers more than 50 different items of apparel and accessories.

GameWorks is open every day, 10 a.m.-4 a.m., but save your quarters for the slot machines. Smart cards, a payment method that stores your credits on a card, are used for all games.

The first GameWorks opened in March in Seattle and sites in Ontario, Calif., Tempe, Ariz., and Dallas will open later this year. More than 100 GameWorks are planned worldwide by 2002.

While we were no match for that punk 8-year-old at Indy, we found some quick revenge. That's when we introduced the young lad to a "classic" -- Asteroids.

We knew we were in good shape when he looked uncomfortable in front of a game that had more buttons than dimensions. The old warriors were back.