We'll Be Back After This

Didja miss me?

Sorry for the long post-E3 quiet period. Between the show, the parties, writing for NPR and GameMethod (great guys, by the way), battling jet lag, making up for a week's worth of missed work at my day job, losing my home Internet connection temporarily, planning for Memorial day, and so forth, it has been a bit tough for me to get back into blogging. But I'm sure you've all been too busy with similar problems to even notice, right? Right!

I'll be diving back into the usual schedule in a big way next week with lots of outdated E3 commentary. Until then, there are plenty of other sites out there writing some great stuff. Go read one of them.

The Swag Ratings

You might think that E3 is all about the games, but based on the bags full of stuff that everyone lugs back on their plane rides, that might be a little naive. It's really all about grabbing everything that isn't nailed down! Here's my unofficial ranking of E3 swag, broken down into general categories.

1. Stuff related to games - Controllers, carrying cases, game demos, a Nintendo DS stylus, video cards -- they're cool and they ostensibly have to do with your job. Bonus! Sometimes these need to be won in contests
2. USB memory sticks - Eminently useful, and they get bigger every year.
3. Shirts/Hats - Stuff to wear to next year's E3.
4. Toys/plush figures - Great for giving to annoying younger relatives, or using to decorate your desk.
5. Bags - To hold all the stuff you're taking back home, of course.
6. Posters/Post Cards - If you can get them home and find a place to put them up, I guess they're OK.
7. Lanyards - Outside of E3, I can't think of the last time I used a lanyard.
8. Buttons - If you can think of a situation where your Tony Hawk's Underground button will be appropriate to wear, I'd like to hear it.
9. Press kits - Actual game information? Who cares?!

Actual, meaningful, non-repetitive content about E3 coming in the next few days, I promise.

E3 Journal: Scenes from Day 1

What a day. Between the running around meeting developers and playing games for GameMethod.com, I managed to take some notes on things of interest for VGO readers.

• A lot of game journalists no doubt started the day pissed when they found out that a power outage knocked out the media registration area, forcing those without their E3 badges to wait in lines of an hour or more in a big white tent outside. Not a good way to earn good will from the press.
• Yahoo Games! was one of the first booths I hit. They're offering some sort of hybrid service that offers games for download and also offers game writing content from partners like GameSpot and GameSpy, according to a PR person on the floor that may not have had a clue. The big media trend going into this year's E3 seems to be combining editorial and game content under one company roof. Much more on this when I have much more time.
• GameSpot's booth had a nice little glass-enclosed area where you could see all the people putting up a ridiculous amount of content during the show. I could almost envision a taskmaster walking around in there with a whip. "Post screenshots faster, worm!"
• I saw Adam Sessler of G4's X-Play, walking around the Nintendo booth this morning, talking about the new Game Boy Micro on camera. I tried to snap a picture, but a personal security guy stopped me and handed me a card with designated times when I could take his picture and get his signature. Forget that! I promptly took a few steps away and snapped some shots while he wasn't looking. You hear that, Sessler? Your goons don't scare me!
• Picked up the new Nintendo Power at a cubby today. Was excited to see it ever since finding the press release buried in yesterday's Nintendo media kit (they didn't even mention it at the press conference. Lame!) I like the new logo a lot, and the page layout reminds me a lot of Wired, which is a good thing. Haven't had a chance to really get into the new content yet... expect more on that when I have time to sit down and read through it (which might not be till my flight out of here).
• I also ran into Gabe from Penny Arcade at the Nintendo booth (at least I think it was Gabe. That was almost 24 hours and many drinks ago). We had a quick talk over some Mario Kart DS about how game PR and game journalism have a sort of symbiotic relationship that makes them almost indistinguishable. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and he pretended to know of me, so... yay.
• I got one of the last free media lunches being given out at 1:05 today. The roast beef was worth every penny I didn't spend. If you missed it yesterday, swing by room 105 above and to the right of West hall today between noon and one and show your media badge for some good, free grub courtesy of the ESA.
• Ironic moment #1: A sign at the door: "Due to increased security concerns, all badges must be scanned before entering." Of the four times I entered different halls today, my badge was only scanned once. At the end of the day, I just sauntered by without a guard even looking at me. I felt really secure.
• Ironic moment #2: Game Informer said they were giving out 35,000 issues during the show. Tips and Tricks said they gave out 10,000. The folks at the Ziff Davis booth at the end of the day had no idea how many magazines they had given out. Because really, who's going to ask?
• Ironic moment #3: I found a kid near the end of the show who admitted to being 15 when questioned. His dad was very nice about it, explaining that he is friends with one of the organizers. When I took a picture of him, as one of my contestants might, it came out blurry to see. Argh!

More slightly after it happens.

E3 Journal: Party Hard Party Hard Party Hard

When I got to the Golden Gopher at 6 p.m. sharp (yes, I'm a big nerd) no one else was there. By the time I left at 9 p.m., I had met roughly two dozen of the greatest game journalists around. Thanks to Adam Jacobson, Mike Musgrove, Marty Poulin, Joel Johnson, Brian Crecente, Tim Stevens, Amit Runchal and Alex, Colin Campbell, and everyone else who came out but didn't give me a business card to let me remember them in my half-asleep state (I know there's a few of you). Also a big thanks to Dave Thomas for pretty much setting up everything and making the cheesy IGJA sign at the bar. Biggest thanks to Bhu Srinivasan at Sports Gamer for making liars of us and giving $200 worth of free drinks to the guys who came out. Because of this generosity, we've all agreed not to force you out of business, as we were planning.

No thanks at all to anyone who knew about the party but didn't come. We'd better see you at the next "not an E3" party, tenatively scheduled for May 10, 2006.

Quote of the E3 Moment

"We interrupt our regularly scheduled weekly newsletter to bring you this important announcement: 'AAAUUUGGGHHH! E3!'"
-From Gamespot's Weekly Newsletter

The Revolution is Broke!

Who broke it? USA Today's Steven Kent did, with a story in this morning's edition coming ahead of the 9 a.m. Pacific press conference. You may remember that Kent broke the story of the Nintendo DS for USA Today just over a year ago today. Hey, Nintendo... save some for the rest of us, huh?

The story includes a picture and some light details of online capabilities and backwards compatibility, but is a little light on details, some of which Nintendo will undoubtedly reveal in a few hours. I'll be there, attending my first first-party E3 press conference. Watch this space for my impressions as soon as possible.

Problematic Press Passes?

I've heard anecdotal evidence that the third time wasn't the charm for some members of the media who tried to get in to Sony's grand unveiling of the Playstation 3 this afternoon. Derek Signore, a member of the GameMethod team with whom I'll be covering the show, tells me approximately 100 to 200 people, including him, were turned away from the press conference despite receiving online confirmation for their attendance. It seems that members of the press who registered their spots a month or less before the conference were put on a standby list and had the most trouble getting in. Sony reportedly gave no advance warning that the conference was overbooked or that people would have problems getting in.

Some people who had problems, including another member of the GameMethod team, were able to use their contacts to join the approximately 2,100 who filled the 1,800 seating capacity sound stage. Still, Signore tells me that press from sources ranging from U.S. News and World Report to Gamespot were not allowed in. Many foreign press members were also reportedly turned away due to a lack of translators. A large group of the rejected reportedly gathered at the Starbucks across the street from Sony's Culver City Studios while the conference was going on.

To be clear, this is all based on anecdotal, hearsay evidence that I have made no effort to confirm. I myself didn't attend the conference, or see the lines of people turned away for myself. I'm just reporting what I'm hearing at this point. Have your own Sony press conference horror story? Want to report a general problem getting access to anyone at E3? Fill out a comment below or write me about it.