Chescat
06-11-2009, 05:05 AM
On June 2nd, we arrived at E3Expo which was in the Los Angeles Convention Center around 11:30. I was concerned that the previous ones that occurred after 9/11 you had to be searched as you went in. So we didn’t take much with us the first day so we could bypass the line. Turns out there was no searches and no lines outside.
The Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony press conferences were not in the main halls. Our badges were only for exhibits so even if it was the same place, we wouldn’t have gotten in. Couple things we heard from the conference was that Microsoft has something they are working on that you put your hands on like a steering wheel. Without a device in your hand, the system knows you are moving and turning. That would be awesome, if they can get that going. We also had heard that they had the Beatles there for the Beatles Rock Band (Paul & Ringo got up after Yoko Ono and George Harrison’s son and wife). Its due out in September 2009. Nintendo showed accessories for the Wii and also a small turntable so you can be a DJ. We didn’t see it, but saw pictures of it.
12:00 hit and the doors of South Hall and West Hall opened. The crowd rushed the elevators and the doors. They have a good crowd control there and let only so many at a time. Once you pass the guards, you walk in and just see a mass of big screens and loud sounds. We decided to attack South Hall the first day since that had Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Disney Interactive and a lot of the ones we wanted to see where in that hall.
We hit the Disney Interactive booth first. We went into an exlusive screening of some new console games when we first got there. They were showing Spectrobes Origins, Split Second, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned. The Pirate game looks interesting. Each of these games are scheduled for 2010. We also checked out all the other things in the booth. The booth was Disney Interactive which is the console games. We were assured by the Interactive people that the Pirates team is hard at work and dedicated to us gamers and the game definitely wasn’t going away in the future.
From there we went to the Electronic Arts booth and then UbiSoft since it was the next one over. Checked out some of the stuff and then kind of wandered aimless for a while just trying to take all of it in. First day is always tough, you’re not sure what you want to see, but you try and see how much free stuff you can get and what they got. This year as predicted, free stuff wasn’t much around. But its always fun to try and get as many t-shirts as you can. We wandered over to the G4 booth to watch some of the taping. But there was a ton of people there so couldn’t get to close at that point. Was excited to see the new Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days game and Final Fantasy Crystal Bearers at the Square Enix booth. I love looking at the figurines they always bring with them. I love all the Kingdom Hearts characters (especially the Disney ones). We hit the Microsoft booth and saw this racing game that people were sitting in the “car” and had three screens. The line was too long so we never did get to play with it.
One of the jokes I’ve always had with my Intercot guys are, they specifically tell me that I have to take pics of all the booth babes I can find out the show. The last show in 2006, they had cut back because of some group complaining. Well I can say the booth babes are back. I’m not going to post those pictures here, but the drill has always been I send the pictures along to those who ask!!
We started to get hungry and noticed, no where in South Hall did they have the food places open which I found very odd. So we went ahead and went over to West Hall hoping for food. That wasn’t good either. They had a Chinese food and Taco food stand in the back. I think we both have to say, that was pretty pathetic. But when you get desperate for food, you take what you can get. We didn’t make that mistake the next 2 days and ate in the cafeterias outside the halls.
So after attempting food, we came back and hit the Perfect World booth. The people in there were great. We spent a lot of time with them getting information for the game. We also hit Pros vs GI Joe booth. They have been featured on G4 the last 2 months. They just had a Nascar event in May where the Nascar drivers and the Indiana National Guard played Guitar Hero against each other. We'll have more information coming about these two.
We hit the Activision booth since there seem to be something going on. Realized Tony Hawk was there with Paul Rodriguez. They were demonstrating Tony Hawk’s new game. The boards they were on were great. You could touch the board and the game would give you credit for doing a grab on the board. Was hard to see much at that point with Activision since there were so many people there. We wandered over to the Nintendo Booth which was next door and look around. The Wii sports games and fitness games look great. An example is you can do archery. You put the one Wii accessory in front of you like its your scope and the other accessory you pull back like you are actually doing archery and then release the arrow. It was pretty cool. Also saw they had another Golden Sun DS coming out eventually. I loved that game.
We then went to the Sony booth and looked around. Had our pictures taken with Ratchet. That has always been a favorite series of mine. So we got to see the upcoming version of that. We then hit the Capcom both and saw this cat that was dressed up in armor. Had to get a picture of him. I guess he’s big overseas and they are trying to bring that game here. I can’t wait to see that.
On the way out we saw a band of pirates. They were there for the LucasArts game Monkey Island. I told them that Captain was the captain of our guild in Pirates Online and they definitely lined up for a picture. They handed him a pistol which was scary. Unfortunately, LucasArts is always in a meeting room, so you can never see their stuff. But there is suppose to be two versions coming out. The first is a continuation of the old one. And a new one coming out. Can’t wait to see that. I still have my old PC version of that.
On the way out of the convention center we saw the Ghostbuster mobile outside with the lights going. The Staypuff guy was big against the building and you can take your picture there too. Ironically as we were waiting we saw our Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio R. Villaraigosa, come out of the building. We were talking to the ESPN crew that was filming the Ghostbuster car and he turned and got an interview with the mayor. After that excitement we got back in our car and went home. The fun part of the night after is going through all the stuff you accumulate through the day. Sometimes you think what was I thinking.
That’s the end of Day 1.
The Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony press conferences were not in the main halls. Our badges were only for exhibits so even if it was the same place, we wouldn’t have gotten in. Couple things we heard from the conference was that Microsoft has something they are working on that you put your hands on like a steering wheel. Without a device in your hand, the system knows you are moving and turning. That would be awesome, if they can get that going. We also had heard that they had the Beatles there for the Beatles Rock Band (Paul & Ringo got up after Yoko Ono and George Harrison’s son and wife). Its due out in September 2009. Nintendo showed accessories for the Wii and also a small turntable so you can be a DJ. We didn’t see it, but saw pictures of it.
12:00 hit and the doors of South Hall and West Hall opened. The crowd rushed the elevators and the doors. They have a good crowd control there and let only so many at a time. Once you pass the guards, you walk in and just see a mass of big screens and loud sounds. We decided to attack South Hall the first day since that had Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Disney Interactive and a lot of the ones we wanted to see where in that hall.
We hit the Disney Interactive booth first. We went into an exlusive screening of some new console games when we first got there. They were showing Spectrobes Origins, Split Second, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned. The Pirate game looks interesting. Each of these games are scheduled for 2010. We also checked out all the other things in the booth. The booth was Disney Interactive which is the console games. We were assured by the Interactive people that the Pirates team is hard at work and dedicated to us gamers and the game definitely wasn’t going away in the future.
From there we went to the Electronic Arts booth and then UbiSoft since it was the next one over. Checked out some of the stuff and then kind of wandered aimless for a while just trying to take all of it in. First day is always tough, you’re not sure what you want to see, but you try and see how much free stuff you can get and what they got. This year as predicted, free stuff wasn’t much around. But its always fun to try and get as many t-shirts as you can. We wandered over to the G4 booth to watch some of the taping. But there was a ton of people there so couldn’t get to close at that point. Was excited to see the new Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days game and Final Fantasy Crystal Bearers at the Square Enix booth. I love looking at the figurines they always bring with them. I love all the Kingdom Hearts characters (especially the Disney ones). We hit the Microsoft booth and saw this racing game that people were sitting in the “car” and had three screens. The line was too long so we never did get to play with it.
One of the jokes I’ve always had with my Intercot guys are, they specifically tell me that I have to take pics of all the booth babes I can find out the show. The last show in 2006, they had cut back because of some group complaining. Well I can say the booth babes are back. I’m not going to post those pictures here, but the drill has always been I send the pictures along to those who ask!!
We started to get hungry and noticed, no where in South Hall did they have the food places open which I found very odd. So we went ahead and went over to West Hall hoping for food. That wasn’t good either. They had a Chinese food and Taco food stand in the back. I think we both have to say, that was pretty pathetic. But when you get desperate for food, you take what you can get. We didn’t make that mistake the next 2 days and ate in the cafeterias outside the halls.
So after attempting food, we came back and hit the Perfect World booth. The people in there were great. We spent a lot of time with them getting information for the game. We also hit Pros vs GI Joe booth. They have been featured on G4 the last 2 months. They just had a Nascar event in May where the Nascar drivers and the Indiana National Guard played Guitar Hero against each other. We'll have more information coming about these two.
We hit the Activision booth since there seem to be something going on. Realized Tony Hawk was there with Paul Rodriguez. They were demonstrating Tony Hawk’s new game. The boards they were on were great. You could touch the board and the game would give you credit for doing a grab on the board. Was hard to see much at that point with Activision since there were so many people there. We wandered over to the Nintendo Booth which was next door and look around. The Wii sports games and fitness games look great. An example is you can do archery. You put the one Wii accessory in front of you like its your scope and the other accessory you pull back like you are actually doing archery and then release the arrow. It was pretty cool. Also saw they had another Golden Sun DS coming out eventually. I loved that game.
We then went to the Sony booth and looked around. Had our pictures taken with Ratchet. That has always been a favorite series of mine. So we got to see the upcoming version of that. We then hit the Capcom both and saw this cat that was dressed up in armor. Had to get a picture of him. I guess he’s big overseas and they are trying to bring that game here. I can’t wait to see that.
On the way out we saw a band of pirates. They were there for the LucasArts game Monkey Island. I told them that Captain was the captain of our guild in Pirates Online and they definitely lined up for a picture. They handed him a pistol which was scary. Unfortunately, LucasArts is always in a meeting room, so you can never see their stuff. But there is suppose to be two versions coming out. The first is a continuation of the old one. And a new one coming out. Can’t wait to see that. I still have my old PC version of that.
On the way out of the convention center we saw the Ghostbuster mobile outside with the lights going. The Staypuff guy was big against the building and you can take your picture there too. Ironically as we were waiting we saw our Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio R. Villaraigosa, come out of the building. We were talking to the ESPN crew that was filming the Ghostbuster car and he turned and got an interview with the mayor. After that excitement we got back in our car and went home. The fun part of the night after is going through all the stuff you accumulate through the day. Sometimes you think what was I thinking.
That’s the end of Day 1.