\/\/|-|47!!!111??? |\|0 /\/\0r3 b33r!!11one??
We got to the conference at about noon. We split up, intending to meet at about 1 for lunch. I don't even remember what I did. I made a phone call, left a message, wandered around. I headed over to the DigiPen booth, talked to Gordon about the rumors I had heard about the DP party that evening. Turns out it was for alumni only and, lo and behold, I'm an alumni (alumnus?). I got the info and proceeded to wander some more. I ended up running into two of my cohorts at the Nvidia booth where a demo of Psychonauts was running. The Lead Tester from DoubleFine (the company that makes the excellent game Psychonauts) was there, but I was hungry, so I decided to wait and talk to him later. Instead, we left the show room, found our fourth, and exited the center, on a quest for Carl's Jr. We found it, a few blocks north and west of us.
Returning, we sat in on an ATI demonstration, which I found rather boring, so I left. Lots of wandering around doing nothing. A quick summary will suffice for the following 3 hours. Things accomplished in that time:
1. Talked to the Lead Tester on Psychonauts. Game was cool, and he seemed cool, but a little preoccupied with something.
2. Got an Etch-a-Sketch from one of the booths. Special props goes to Kyle for finding it and telling me where it was.
3. Got a cool little CD holder.
4. Got a very nice pen. I don't think I was supposed to take it, as all the other free pens at the show were crap. This one was nice. Oh well. I paid $200, the least I deserve is a decent pen.
5. Got a strawberry smoothie and a Nintendo t-shirt for playing a game on the DS. I didn't understand how the game worked.
6. Noticed that Nintendo, a company well-known for its family-friendly games, was the only company to have "booth babes". For those unfamiliar with the term, a booth babe is a woman that has been hired to stand around in tight clothing (generally not much) and lure geeks to the booth.
7. Got a Playstation cloth thing that connects to the pass card (to be worn around the neck) to replace the X-Box one I and everyone else got to begin with. I'm a rebel.
8. Got 2 Dolby Digital cloth things so I could construct a rig similar to another DigiPen attendee. I'm such a copycat. I never did wear it though.
9. Entered a drawing for a free Notebook. Heaven knows I need it.
10. Checked out the arcade and everything else in the Metreon.
Then, at 5:30, we had a lecture, supposedly on how Hollywood production schemes compare to video game production schemes. There was a technical snafu at the beginning, all because the presenter wanted to show a minute long video. The video simply displayed the various logos of several film production companies (Lions Gate, Gramarcy, etc.) Worth the fifteen minutes or so of technical troubleshooting required. In the mean time, I played with my Etch-a-Sketch. At least one person left the lecture before it really began because of me. How do I know? She asked me where I got the Etch-a-Sketch. I said it then and I'll say it now: the simplest toys are always the best.
Once it actually got going, the lecture was decent.
After that, I considered for a moment going to the DP party, but since my three comrades were not alumni (alumnus?) like me, I decided against it. It would have been too much trouble for everyone. Instead, we came back to the apartment, went to some Turkish/Mediterranean place for dinner (Falafel sandwich good) then drove to the SF state campus to pick up my car (thank you 2-day parking garage!)
Tomorrow, we have a lecture at noon, our final one, and then we hope to convince the DoubleFine guys to take us to their work (it's four blocks down the street) and check it out there. Then I potentially win a Notebook at 3. After that, I have no ideas. Two of my California friends are coming up, so no doubt drinking will be occurring tomorrow. Likely a game of Axis & Allies as well. We shall see.
Returning, we sat in on an ATI demonstration, which I found rather boring, so I left. Lots of wandering around doing nothing. A quick summary will suffice for the following 3 hours. Things accomplished in that time:
1. Talked to the Lead Tester on Psychonauts. Game was cool, and he seemed cool, but a little preoccupied with something.
2. Got an Etch-a-Sketch from one of the booths. Special props goes to Kyle for finding it and telling me where it was.
3. Got a cool little CD holder.
4. Got a very nice pen. I don't think I was supposed to take it, as all the other free pens at the show were crap. This one was nice. Oh well. I paid $200, the least I deserve is a decent pen.
5. Got a strawberry smoothie and a Nintendo t-shirt for playing a game on the DS. I didn't understand how the game worked.
6. Noticed that Nintendo, a company well-known for its family-friendly games, was the only company to have "booth babes". For those unfamiliar with the term, a booth babe is a woman that has been hired to stand around in tight clothing (generally not much) and lure geeks to the booth.
7. Got a Playstation cloth thing that connects to the pass card (to be worn around the neck) to replace the X-Box one I and everyone else got to begin with. I'm a rebel.
8. Got 2 Dolby Digital cloth things so I could construct a rig similar to another DigiPen attendee. I'm such a copycat. I never did wear it though.
9. Entered a drawing for a free Notebook. Heaven knows I need it.
10. Checked out the arcade and everything else in the Metreon.
Then, at 5:30, we had a lecture, supposedly on how Hollywood production schemes compare to video game production schemes. There was a technical snafu at the beginning, all because the presenter wanted to show a minute long video. The video simply displayed the various logos of several film production companies (Lions Gate, Gramarcy, etc.) Worth the fifteen minutes or so of technical troubleshooting required. In the mean time, I played with my Etch-a-Sketch. At least one person left the lecture before it really began because of me. How do I know? She asked me where I got the Etch-a-Sketch. I said it then and I'll say it now: the simplest toys are always the best.
Once it actually got going, the lecture was decent.
After that, I considered for a moment going to the DP party, but since my three comrades were not alumni (alumnus?) like me, I decided against it. It would have been too much trouble for everyone. Instead, we came back to the apartment, went to some Turkish/Mediterranean place for dinner (Falafel sandwich good) then drove to the SF state campus to pick up my car (thank you 2-day parking garage!)
Tomorrow, we have a lecture at noon, our final one, and then we hope to convince the DoubleFine guys to take us to their work (it's four blocks down the street) and check it out there. Then I potentially win a Notebook at 3. After that, I have no ideas. Two of my California friends are coming up, so no doubt drinking will be occurring tomorrow. Likely a game of Axis & Allies as well. We shall see.