Let me tell you a story. No, not about a man named Jed. This story is about a young boy, who at the tender age of eight was constantly being questioned. All of the big growed ups would ask the boy what he wanted to do when he grew up. Could he be a space man? What about a fire man? Oh! You know who are cool? Chefs, with their fancy hats and fancier foods! You can be anything you want boy! What do you want to be?
The boy had finally come to a conclusion. “I want to make video games.” He said.
And so he did.
That boy is a lot older now, and some would say even slightly wiser. That boy, if you haven’t picked up the gist of this nostalgia, is me. I’m Matthew, and I’m the Business Systems Technician at Terminal Reality. Hello, it’s nice to meet you too. This is my second year here at Terminal Reality, and my second year in The Industry as a whole.
Being a member of this crazy business affords you certain obscure perks, such as greater effect from caffeine or enhanced toxic green blood. One of our better known perks is that you are invited to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo in beautiful Los Angeles, California. E3. It’s like our Wrestlemania, but without most of the spandex.
I have wanted to go to E3 for as long as I have known there was an E3 to go to. Even when my badge arrived in the mail, it still did not seem real to me. The event still felt like some impossible dream in the mind of a young boy. There’s no way I’m actually going to E3, am I? That place just exists in pictures on the Internet, it can’t be a real thing I can go experience. On the contrary, it was real; very real.
It Does Not Work
We washed ashore at the wonderful Ritz Milner, the hotel that time forgot. Which is not to slight you Ritz Milner, not in the least, I loved staying with you baby. You were a very clean establishment with ultra polite and helpful staff, and an adequate breakfast every morning. But man, no cellphone signal penetrates this building, or any of Los Angeles from what I have come to understand. No WiFi, but there was an Ethernet cable helpfully draped over the night stand. I tried to plug it in to my iPhone. It was not very effective.
Just a hop, skip, and a short walk to the LA Convention center brought us to the doorstep of video game mecca. Problem was that doorstep didn’t open until 11AM on Tuesday, and it was 10 o’ clock California time. Plenty of time to learn the lay of the land, read your daily show magazine, and determine where the closest exits, restrooms, and other facilities were located. But no amount of time can prepare you for that fated hour. When the curtains are drawn back from the windows, the doors opened, and the rush of people begin making their way inside.
I recall standing in the middle of South Hall, feeling a bit overwhelmed. The landscape stretched out before me, so surreal and wonderful; there were so many booths of screaming shouting neon colors, so many people moving through like individual currents in a massive river. I stood there like a rock impeding the progress of many eager salmon, and I didn’t care. I had made it, and this was our E3.
And our E3 it was. First and foremost there was the Star Wars game for Kinect for Xbox 360 announcement which lit the Internet on fire after it debuted from the sights and sounds of the lavish Microsoft Cirque du Soleil affair. The trailer appeared again the following day to the same (if not greater) round of applause during the Microsoft press conference. We’ve had this one under wraps for a time now, and while it was great to finally let it out, it was even greater to share that wonder and excitement with you. Thank you.
That wasn’t all we had at E3. Following that up was an all star appearance for Def Jam Rapstar featuring the Def Jam mogul himself, hip hop icon and legend Russell Simmons. Mr. Simmons was on hand at the Konami presser to talk about our game, and what it means for hip hop as a whole. Later Russell appeared at the Def Jam Rapstar booth. Really, to call it a booth is a disservice, this thing was a full blown stage with lights, a giant screen, and a copy of our game blasting out the massive sound system. We also had some sound booths in the back that you could jump in to and get your swagger on with a little more privacy.
Redman and Method Man tearing E3 to the ground!
I made it a point to swing through the Rapstar booth whenever possible, and the place was always packed. Not nearly as packed as it became on Wednesday for the Redman and Method Man performance. When Red and Meth took the stage, we turned E3 in to a hip hop riot! It felt like every single person in West Hall was trying to occupy the same space around our stage at the same time. It was out of control. As far as I’m concerned, if you missed Redman and Method Man, you missed E3. Period. Da Rockwilder? METHOD Man? They were booked for 30 minutes, and they stretched it to 50. The crowd wouldn’t let them leave! From the slums of Shaolin, Wu-Tang Clan strikes again. Wu Tang!
That wasn’t even the highlight of my E3. No, before I left I just had to take the mic in my hand one time and set the Def Jam Rapstar stage correct. From the corn fields of Iowa, all the way to beautiful Los Angeles California, I performed Kanye’s breakout hit “Gold Digger” for the people at E3. And it was awesome. I will never forget those three days for as long as I live.
Video? You betcha! Thanks to Spearsoft for grabbing this from the crowd and uploading to YouTube
Shout out to Cheapy D from Cheap Ass Gamer. Major props to you and the rest of the CAG crew, y’all throw one heck of a party. Shout out to Erick Castillo from Disciplined Monkey Studios, it was a pleasure meeting you and your gang at the CAG party, and I had a blast conquering Day 3 with you guys.
Thank you to everyone who made this possible: Terminal Reality for being an awesome place to work for. American Airlines for flying so many planes every day. Burger King for being The Home of the Whopper. The ESA for coming up with E3 in the first place. Most importantly my family for instilling in a young boy that you really can do whatever it is that you want to do. E3 2010, another dream realized.
