E3 is over. I am glad. It’s always a blast, but it has the strange effect of both recharging your batteries and draining them at the same time. I am taking the weekend to relax and — of course — play games. I need to finish some campaigns so I am ready for all the new stuff that’s coming! But on my way out, I wanted to post a few of the personal photos I collected, like this one of the Activision meeting room, which people didn’t see unless they had an appointment. Some of the people you’ll recognize, and some you won’t. But this is what I saw, more or less as it happened.
I got in line for Sunday's Natal/Kinect Cirque du Soleil show as early as possible. Very glad I did.
I got to hang out in line with my old buddy Ryan McCaffrey. This is him checking his iPhone to learn that the name "Kinect" had just leaked!
Monday night was Activision's event at the Staples Center. I was there early and caught some soundchecks. It's weird to see the place in full concert mode but nobody in the seats.
I never realized red carpets were so short. What's that, 100 feet? The press is crammed off to the right.
Nintendo brought 3DS units to its press conference Tuesday morning and locked them to lovely ladies. Seriously -- look at their belts.
"It only does cocktails"? Sony's press event was right after Nintendo's. I arrived around 10:45 and Sony was already serving booze.
Back in the Activision meeting room, Beenox's Thomas Wilson was explaining the finer points of the game to hordes of press.
Not the Activision meeting rooms, but the inside of the Mortal Kombat theater in West Hall. They're definitely going ghoulish this time.
Pac-Man ate my arm. Bastard.
E3 is a blast -- just ask the enthusiastic @MitchyD and @Samueltehg33k
Kat, being the supportive wife she is, was quick to take a photo of my collapse after trying Dance Central on a high skill level. I was catching my breath for about 15 minutes.
Lt. Col. Hank Kiersey, the military consultant to the Call of Duty series, challenges almost everyone he meets to do a handstand push-up. Naturally I had to try. Ryan McCaffrey was there to capture my failure. Please note Hank is holding my interview microphone.
Just to prove that corporate rivalries are not personal ones, EA's online editor-in-chief Jeff Green and I swapped badges. I like that guy.
Moments later, I realized I was standing next to Tim Kitzrow, the voice of NBA Jam. I have a stupid look on my face but this was a huge, huge honor to finally meet the man who made BOOMSHAKALAKA! a household word.
I bumped into Cliff Bleszinski a little later, over in the Nintendo booth, so Kat snapped a photo. I am a CliffyB fan.
That's Yameen, the composer of all the original hip-hop tracks you hear on the One of Swords podcas. And at least I figured out how to smile like a human being for ONE photo.
No E3 photo gallery is truly complete without a booth babe photo. Hell, GamePro did an entire gallery of them. But I’m really more interested when the booth babe serves the game. Out-of-work models in short skirts with your company’s name across their chests? Not necessarily the classiest way to go. Dressing someone up as a game’s character to catch your attention? I actually think that’s okay — hell, you’ll see that at any comic convention, so why not here? So I snapped a shot of Catwoman, promoting SOE’s upcoming PS3 MMO, DC Universe Online. Ironically, I did not stay for a demo of the game. I guess I’m part of the problem. But I did link to the game, so maybe that gets me off the hook.
All in all, E3 2010 was the return of the “big show” that many people said they missed. It wasn’t unreasonably loud, it wasn’t unreasonably huge — it was appropriate to the success, influence, and fun of gaming. I said earlier this week that I was going to the show to see new games and old friends, and I got to do both those things. It was my 15th E3, but my first where I was not strictly a member of the traditional press corps…even though I had a Media badge and (as my blog hopefully shows) tried to continue operating as a legitimate press outlet.
No matter what, I chalk it up as a win.
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