E3: My time in LA
So I have been to the Mecca of gaming. I got the chance to attend and more importantly write on E3. I saw a ton of games, played quite a bit of them and met and partied with some amazing people. So, here we go.
The Sunday I arrived, I was quite bit nervous. My flight arrived the earliest, so I was the first one there. Why...because I have not met any of the guys I am going to be staying/working with. So I have no real idea who I am looking for. Am freaking out a bit as I wait for them to arrive at the Air Canada terminal. Will I get to go to E3? Will I just have to sleep in the airport for the next week? These things are going through my mind. I have the boss', Shawn, number so I give him a call....nothing. My guess is that he still hasn't landed yet. An hour or so passes. I sit in the airport still waiting. As I see more people coming waiting for their bags, I decide to give Shawn a call again. It's ringing. I make a quick scan of my surroundings to see if anyone picks up the phone. He picks up. I ask where he is, but I have a guess he is already in front of me. I see him and approach him. We exchange greetings and am introduce to more of the staff.
We exit the terminal and wait for the Airport bus to take us to the Metro Station. We talk a bit more about our schedule and what we are going to see. Daniel, one of the writers, is anxious for the THQ booth. He really wants to see Warhammer. Chris S., is really jealous of one of my appointments. Shawn scheduled me to go see Valve, so that means I'm going to see Portal 2. He really wants in on it. I keep my mouth shut that I'm not a fan of Portal. I didn't care for GLaDOS or her "humor". But I keep quiet because this is my assignment and I'll do my best to cover it with an unbiased eye.
We get out of the subway and Shawn notices a Subway near our hotel. He tells us he will be eating there quite a bit over the week. He gets approval points from me for that. When we arrive at the hotel, we are put into our rooms. In my room are Andrew, Nick and the before mentioned Chris S. Andrew comes in later. We go to Shawn's room and discuss a bit of what we are going to be see and doing. I fear I had before the trip is lifted as Shawn pulls out a big box of business cards for us. I was so nervous I wasn't going to have any. I didn't make any before the trip, so was scared what I was going to do for contact info.
Skip ahead a bit, Andrew is gearing up to go the Project Natal event. We are checking our computers, and discover that it's official name is now connect. There's nothing really for us to do, so we just chill out in the room. At this point, we are a bit pissed about the hotel. The room and hotel as a whole was really nice, but internet was just horrible. Super slow. A few hours later, he returns. He has this whole: "What the fuck?" attitude about the event. He goes on to tell us about how Kinect did this whole creepy Cirque du Soleil thing. People are wearing ponchos, there's really nowhere to sit and they aren't letting people leave. The event was really weird and didn't have a gamer vibe to it and from how he was describing it, it sounded just too weird.
Monday approaches. Still one day before the conference. Our last day of freedom, I guess. Isabel, myself and a few others decided to head down to the convention center to go pick up our badges. I was worried about this a bit as well. I put down my name as Chris Moore and was wondering if they wouldn't accept my ID since it says Christopher Moore. Not too much fuss, so I get my badge. We walk around the convention center a bit to know where we are going tomorrow. We spot a nest of booth babes near the entrance. I am intrigued but a bit scared. A whole bunch of booth babes gathered together like that......something is up.
We go outside to wait and talk a bit. At this point I'm really starting to like Isabel and her boyfriend she brought on the trip, Erik. This guy is very funny and I dig talking to him. I get a text from Joe, a friend back in Tulsa, that people at the Microsoft Press Conference are getting free Xboxs. I think he's making it up. After awhile of talking a taking a few pics, we go inside and meet up with Shawn and some of the others at the press conference. I meet Liana at this time. She is a bit of a gaming celebrity in Canada and is doing some video work. As we are talking, I look up and see the IGN staff come down the stairs. At this point the CSI: Miami theme is going through my head as they are walking down the stairs. And in a pack no less. I figured this would go by in slow-mo, but no luck. Still, these are guys I read and watch everyday so it's kind of a big thing to see them all rolling deep. I want to stop them a shake each of their hands and say I'm big fans, but am a bit nervous, so I pass this time. I regret that now really. I would have loved to talk to Greg Miller and Kristine Steimer for a bit.
Decide to hand out with Isabel and Erik for the day. We hit up Hollywood. We walk down the Hollywood Walk and take a few pictures. I get shots of Matt Damon and Kermit the Frog. I was unaware Kermit actually had a star. We stop at the California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. Isabel decides since my birthday is the next day, she'll treat me to lunch. That was very nice of her. I got some Chicken Alfredo while overlooking the Hollywood Sign in the background. Excellent view. Afterwards, we go down the steps and Erik and I hit up the Nestle Toll House in the plaza and buy these huge cookie sandwiches. There was a lot of frosting in these things. I felt pregnant afterwards. Isabel buys a hat from a vendor. Wish I bought one now. They looked very daper and Isabel looked awesome with it on. She's knows her hats.
Once nightfall comes, we all decide to head downstairs to the basement of our hotel to check out a free comedy show. Shawn got us the first round of drinks. The comedians were all right. Isabel really added to one comics performance. She was gone to check out Toy Story 3. She got invited to an early screening since she was covering Disney at E3. The comic goes: "I just want a girl who is wanting to get back at her father." and in she comes. It was amazing. Perfect timing. You can't duplicate that kind of timing.
Anyway, afterwards, we have a quick meeting and head to bed. The conference starts the next day.
TO BE CONTINUED...
The Sunday I arrived, I was quite bit nervous. My flight arrived the earliest, so I was the first one there. Why...because I have not met any of the guys I am going to be staying/working with. So I have no real idea who I am looking for. Am freaking out a bit as I wait for them to arrive at the Air Canada terminal. Will I get to go to E3? Will I just have to sleep in the airport for the next week? These things are going through my mind. I have the boss', Shawn, number so I give him a call....nothing. My guess is that he still hasn't landed yet. An hour or so passes. I sit in the airport still waiting. As I see more people coming waiting for their bags, I decide to give Shawn a call again. It's ringing. I make a quick scan of my surroundings to see if anyone picks up the phone. He picks up. I ask where he is, but I have a guess he is already in front of me. I see him and approach him. We exchange greetings and am introduce to more of the staff.
We exit the terminal and wait for the Airport bus to take us to the Metro Station. We talk a bit more about our schedule and what we are going to see. Daniel, one of the writers, is anxious for the THQ booth. He really wants to see Warhammer. Chris S., is really jealous of one of my appointments. Shawn scheduled me to go see Valve, so that means I'm going to see Portal 2. He really wants in on it. I keep my mouth shut that I'm not a fan of Portal. I didn't care for GLaDOS or her "humor". But I keep quiet because this is my assignment and I'll do my best to cover it with an unbiased eye.
We get out of the subway and Shawn notices a Subway near our hotel. He tells us he will be eating there quite a bit over the week. He gets approval points from me for that. When we arrive at the hotel, we are put into our rooms. In my room are Andrew, Nick and the before mentioned Chris S. Andrew comes in later. We go to Shawn's room and discuss a bit of what we are going to be see and doing. I fear I had before the trip is lifted as Shawn pulls out a big box of business cards for us. I was so nervous I wasn't going to have any. I didn't make any before the trip, so was scared what I was going to do for contact info.
Skip ahead a bit, Andrew is gearing up to go the Project Natal event. We are checking our computers, and discover that it's official name is now connect. There's nothing really for us to do, so we just chill out in the room. At this point, we are a bit pissed about the hotel. The room and hotel as a whole was really nice, but internet was just horrible. Super slow. A few hours later, he returns. He has this whole: "What the fuck?" attitude about the event. He goes on to tell us about how Kinect did this whole creepy Cirque du Soleil thing. People are wearing ponchos, there's really nowhere to sit and they aren't letting people leave. The event was really weird and didn't have a gamer vibe to it and from how he was describing it, it sounded just too weird.
Monday approaches. Still one day before the conference. Our last day of freedom, I guess. Isabel, myself and a few others decided to head down to the convention center to go pick up our badges. I was worried about this a bit as well. I put down my name as Chris Moore and was wondering if they wouldn't accept my ID since it says Christopher Moore. Not too much fuss, so I get my badge. We walk around the convention center a bit to know where we are going tomorrow. We spot a nest of booth babes near the entrance. I am intrigued but a bit scared. A whole bunch of booth babes gathered together like that......something is up.
We go outside to wait and talk a bit. At this point I'm really starting to like Isabel and her boyfriend she brought on the trip, Erik. This guy is very funny and I dig talking to him. I get a text from Joe, a friend back in Tulsa, that people at the Microsoft Press Conference are getting free Xboxs. I think he's making it up. After awhile of talking a taking a few pics, we go inside and meet up with Shawn and some of the others at the press conference. I meet Liana at this time. She is a bit of a gaming celebrity in Canada and is doing some video work. As we are talking, I look up and see the IGN staff come down the stairs. At this point the CSI: Miami theme is going through my head as they are walking down the stairs. And in a pack no less. I figured this would go by in slow-mo, but no luck. Still, these are guys I read and watch everyday so it's kind of a big thing to see them all rolling deep. I want to stop them a shake each of their hands and say I'm big fans, but am a bit nervous, so I pass this time. I regret that now really. I would have loved to talk to Greg Miller and Kristine Steimer for a bit.
Decide to hand out with Isabel and Erik for the day. We hit up Hollywood. We walk down the Hollywood Walk and take a few pictures. I get shots of Matt Damon and Kermit the Frog. I was unaware Kermit actually had a star. We stop at the California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. Isabel decides since my birthday is the next day, she'll treat me to lunch. That was very nice of her. I got some Chicken Alfredo while overlooking the Hollywood Sign in the background. Excellent view. Afterwards, we go down the steps and Erik and I hit up the Nestle Toll House in the plaza and buy these huge cookie sandwiches. There was a lot of frosting in these things. I felt pregnant afterwards. Isabel buys a hat from a vendor. Wish I bought one now. They looked very daper and Isabel looked awesome with it on. She's knows her hats.
Once nightfall comes, we all decide to head downstairs to the basement of our hotel to check out a free comedy show. Shawn got us the first round of drinks. The comedians were all right. Isabel really added to one comics performance. She was gone to check out Toy Story 3. She got invited to an early screening since she was covering Disney at E3. The comic goes: "I just want a girl who is wanting to get back at her father." and in she comes. It was amazing. Perfect timing. You can't duplicate that kind of timing.
Anyway, afterwards, we have a quick meeting and head to bed. The conference starts the next day.
TO BE CONTINUED...