E3. Ah, E3. It is the event that gamers dream of attending, and one of the biggest opportunities for the gaming press all year. Going to E3 is an experience unlike no other, and I have been given the chance to live that experience. E3 2010 in Los Angeles, California begins now, and these are the stories of that experience.
I am Bobby Miller. I’ve written for Icrontic gaming for a year and a half now. I have been a gamer all my life, and I have immersed myself in various gaming publications for the last decade. It is why I love to write about games, and why I grew up dreaming of coming to E3. My journey with Icrontic has literally taken me across this massive country, but few of my many experiences compare to the experience of my first E3 last summer. I wrote four blog posts that detailed the events of the conference last year, giving the readers a chance to see what team Icrontic was going through each day. This year, I plan on doing the same. You’ll read of the news, interviews, and interactions that come from this incredible event from almost every publication on the web, but here, you’ll discover what walking the halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center during the Electronic Entertainment Expo is really like.
You should know the cast of characters for this story before I continue. There are six Icrontians, including myself, that will be reporting from E3:
- Rob Updergrove, known as Ghoosdum, is my current roommate in Orange, CA, and newest partner in crime. He writes toilet reviews, what more do you need to know?
- CB Droege, known to everyone as… CB, was also with Rob and I for Icrontic’s inaugural E3 outing. He returns to cover video games and keep us all in line by letting us know that what we talk about “doesn’t actually mean anything”.
- Joe Lloyd, known as Crazy Joe, will be attending his first ever E3, and putting our toilet to the test.
- Ryan Wilsey, also known as Bandrik, is also arriving for his first ever E3, and he’s as giddy as a child on Christmas day.
- Finally, Charlotte Tarlitz, known as Charshie, has previously reported for Icrontic from CES 2010 in Vegas. This is her first E3.
The journey to E3 2010 began today. Journalists from all over the country flew into LAX this morning to prepare for the brutal onslaught of gaming news. Typically, I would have been in that same boat (er… plane, rather), but this year things were different for me. I’ve been a resident of Orange, California for the last two weeks. For once, I am a local. I didn’t have to fly across the country, and I didn’t have to meticulously prepare for four days of the event. In fact, as I write this, it is 2AM PST. I haven’t even packed yet despite the fact that tomorrow we check in to our hotel room. Things are relaxed for once, and I’m literally just driving up the street to get to Los Angeles.
Perhaps my location has made it harder for me to get excited for the event. The collective trip is no longer a huge deal for me, considering it’s in my back yard. Then again, having just driven across the entire United States with only my most important belongings just 16 days ago is also a good excuse for having not focused yet. In general, it still blows my mind when I consider that I live here. I trust I’ll get used to it with time.
E3 has changed significantly in the last five years, though. It isn’t the show that we grew up dreaming about. Today, it is an industry-only event, and the content of the event reflects that. There really isn’t a large number of video games to play, and the overall spectacle has been reduced quite a bit. You think of E3 as being a fun trip where attendees get to play lots of games, but the reality is that for journalists, it’s a job. We will learn a lot, make many connections, and write tons of words. When all of that work is done, then we just might have a chance to play a video game or two. This isn’t a vacation, it is a gauntlet.
Ryan flew in yesterday to prepare for the event. Today I drove to where he is staying in Long Beach to relax within the calm before the storm. We bummed around on the beaches of the Pacific Ocean, tracing lines in the sand and finding jellyfish hanging about. We also managed to discover California microbrew beer at a place called the Belmont Brewing Company, as well as discovering the Disneyland of Pubs called The Yard House, which holds a world record amount of draft beers on tap with an astonishing 200 taps.
Whoever out there said that California was a dead zone for good beer, you were wrong. Completely and utterly wrong.
While Ryan and I were out and about enjoying brews on the pier, an unannounced Microsoft event was going on somewhere in the heart of Los Angeles. Twitter spoke of a leak by USA Today that betrayed top secret information from the event. Said top secret information essentially boiled down to Microsoft renaming Project Natal to “Kinect”. It seemed like an interesting event, but as Ryan and I overlooked our beach side dominion from an 18th floor balcony, I realized that I was much happier out there then I would have been if I were squeezed in with the rest of the press.
Besides, I’ll be getting plenty enough up close and personal time with the sweaty journalistic masses soon enough.
After we had our fill of delicious stouts and porters, I made my way back home to Orange. Tomorrow brings magic hour, when the greatest show for video game press rears its massive, capitalistic head. Get ready for it, I think this year’s show is going to be one for the record books.
Articles RSS