E3 2005 Longest Entry Yet Edition
Yep, it's Day 4 of 5 of my E3 2005 entry. Just one more day until I can throw all of these papers away, whoo! Tomorrow's entry will more than likely be my shortest, too.
Oh yeah, today I found out that there's a Nerd Club at UCF. I am SO joining it.
I slept decently well that day if I recall correctly [..why do I always feel the need to share how my night went?] I was sharing a bed with Nikjam while Elzie & Mike slept in the other bed [slept? Yeah right!] Ty, Breaky, and Rimmer took the floor. I did my usual routine of showering and getting dressed. As soon as I was ready I headed downstairs for breakfast, expecting all the PGC guys to be there. Were they? NO! Those assholes had abandoned me! I was a little pissed, but I wasn't terribly upset because I ended up going with the DBG crew (who are cooler people anyway!). Since the car we took was too small, we had to decide what to do.
At some point we jokingly suggested that someone ride in the trunk. Obviously I was the perfect candidate. I actually did manage to get all the way inside and I closed myself in, but then I realized that I apparently don't like closed spaces with little oxygen. I started banging on the trunk hatch to get them to open it, so that idea was shot down. So we just stood there wondering what to do until Cowface saved the day! He said he'd walk to the convention center. I felt bad about it and would have walked with him, but I was already behind, so I had to get to the convention center as soon as I could.
As soon as we got close enough Elzie, Mike, and Breaky got out of the car and left me alone with Rimmer. We then proceeded to have hot man-sex find some parking. We had to go to the top level of the nearest parking lot to find the closest spot. We got out and started heading toward the convention center, talking along the way [about what?]. We got to the entrance of South Hall and parted ways. Rimmer went to the SNK booth, while I had some business with Capcom. Of course, I ran into Striker almost immediately and he didn't even ask me where I had been. He knew I was supposed to be at the Capcom booth though because he said he'd come with me.
While at the Capcom booth I played some Viewtiful Joe, Mega Man Zero 4, Phoenix Wright, and some other titles. At some point we ran into TYP and of all people he was the one to ask me where I had been. I told him what happened and he told me that I must have just missed leaving with everyone [that doesn't explain why nobody gave me a call]. That made me feel a little better, but not much. After that the three of us parted ways but somehow all managed to get back together at the Sega booth. We huddled around Shadow the Hedgehog. TYP got the controller first, and a minute or so later Striker left. I watched him for a few minutes, and looking back I can't believe I didn't start chanting "Let the bodies hit the floor."
I think at some point I started to cramp his style, as he said "You don't have to keep watching me, you know." Well excuuuuuuuuuuse me, princess! So after another minute I left him to go try out the Sonic Rush demo. I fell in love with it. Very reminiscent of the old-school Sonic games, and I loved running at full speed though loops that spanned both screens. I played that and Sonic Gems Collection for a bit, until I decided to see if Rimmer was still at the SNK booth. I didn't see him, but I did run into Breaky. I guess he was in the Falcoon line, too. I really didn't care enough about that to justify waiting in line for an hour or more, so I ended up just walking around the rest of the hall.
At some point I went to a booth just before Rockstar's that was giving away pens and decks of playing cards, so I got a few of those. I wandered around some more, got some more free stuff, and ended up at Konami's booth. I tried some Ultramix 3 and I started to wait in line to play Beatmania, but for some reason I decided not to stay in line. I went around to the front of the booth, where there were more game kiosks along with a stage with Beatmania and a couple of different DDRs.
I also noticed that there was a sign spouting some nonsense about winning prizes. Well, I'm all for winning stuff, but I assumed that I had to fill out some ridiculous forms or something. Boy was I wrong! All I had to do was stick in my business card into one of those lottery wheels. I put mine in, and made a mental note to make sure I was back there by 2 [That sure could have been a mistake]. The reason being that the winner actually had to be present to uh, win. I looked at my watch, and since I had a little while before 2, I decided to do a bit more booth hopping.
About 15 minutes before 2 I went back to the front of the Konami booth, and since there was already a group of people waiting there, I went ahead and took a seat on the floor. To help pass the remaining time, I took out my DS and tried to see if there was any Pictochat to be had. Unfortuantely, there wasn't. There was another guy a few feet away who had taken out his DS, but I guess he didn't want to Pictochat :(
2 PM finally came and some guy got on the stage. He talked about the games on the stage a bit, and threw some shirts into the crowd [I didn't get any]. Then came the moment. He picked a couple of cards out for people who weren't there, but after those two or three tries he pulled out a card that I recognized immediately as a PGC card. "This person claims to be a staff writer." At that point I knew for sure it was me. No sooner did he say my name than did I scream "WHOOOOOO!!!" "You're Vincent Anderson? You've got to be joking me," he says. I shake my head. "So you're really Vincent?" *nod* "Got your ID with you?" *nod* "Oh wait, I guess your E3 badge would be good enough." So he took a quick look at it to verify that I was who I was and then directed me to the side of the stage.
I probably looked pretty awkward walking across that stage [..why do you say that?], and then I gave the crowd a glance, which made things even more awkward. After a 30 second conversation with the Konami people, I was ready to sprint out of there to find somebody to tell, but at the last second I remembered that I had left my bags at the foot of the stage where I had been sitting. [For those who don't remember I won an HDTV, like all of their DDR/Karaoke Revolution games, and a 5.1 speaker system] I gathered my stuff and walked as fast as I could to West Hall since there was almost certainly going to be someone still at Nintendo's booth.
I got there and wandered around for a couple of minutes before I bumped into Jonathan Lindemann. I quickly told him and then moved on. I found Mike and Elzie playing Fire Emblem and told them, too. I paced back and forth to see if I could find anyone else, then I started towards the Media Room to see if there were any other PGC guys I could tell. I don't remember telling anyone, but I went ahead and used an hour to write up impressions for the site.
For whatever reason I then decided to check the halls on the opposite side of the Media Room. There I found Atlus' booth. I remembered that they were going to be holding a Puyo Pop tournament, so I headed on in. To my surprise, Rimmer was already there. I asked him what I needed to do to enter the tournament. We were both in the second group, so we had to wait a while before we could play. I suggested that we bust out our penises Pictochat, so we did. That lasted all of a minute before it was our turn to play. If I recall correctly, there were 6 guys and 2 computer players. Rimmer bawled and smashed all over the competition (read: me) and ended up winning one of their PS2 games.
After that, we headed off to find the rest of the gang. I don't quite remember what happened after that, but I believe that we tried to find the Subway that was close to our hotel [The same one we were mistakingly given directions to, too!], but Breaky and I gave hilariously bad directions, so we ended up just going back to the hotel. When we got back we ordered some pizza. While we ate Elzie killed us all in Panel de Poop. Then I bugged Rimmer about dueling since he had bought us both decks and we [oh no there are no more notes for this day :(]
[That's okay, this entry was incredibly long as it is. Rimmer totally owned me in that game, and then we played more games until we went to sleep that night. The End.]
Oh yeah, today I found out that there's a Nerd Club at UCF. I am SO joining it.
I slept decently well that day if I recall correctly [..why do I always feel the need to share how my night went?] I was sharing a bed with Nikjam while Elzie & Mike slept in the other bed [slept? Yeah right!] Ty, Breaky, and Rimmer took the floor. I did my usual routine of showering and getting dressed. As soon as I was ready I headed downstairs for breakfast, expecting all the PGC guys to be there. Were they? NO! Those assholes had abandoned me! I was a little pissed, but I wasn't terribly upset because I ended up going with the DBG crew (who are cooler people anyway!). Since the car we took was too small, we had to decide what to do.
At some point we jokingly suggested that someone ride in the trunk. Obviously I was the perfect candidate. I actually did manage to get all the way inside and I closed myself in, but then I realized that I apparently don't like closed spaces with little oxygen. I started banging on the trunk hatch to get them to open it, so that idea was shot down. So we just stood there wondering what to do until Cowface saved the day! He said he'd walk to the convention center. I felt bad about it and would have walked with him, but I was already behind, so I had to get to the convention center as soon as I could.
As soon as we got close enough Elzie, Mike, and Breaky got out of the car and left me alone with Rimmer. We then proceeded to have hot man-sex find some parking. We had to go to the top level of the nearest parking lot to find the closest spot. We got out and started heading toward the convention center, talking along the way [about what?]. We got to the entrance of South Hall and parted ways. Rimmer went to the SNK booth, while I had some business with Capcom. Of course, I ran into Striker almost immediately and he didn't even ask me where I had been. He knew I was supposed to be at the Capcom booth though because he said he'd come with me.
While at the Capcom booth I played some Viewtiful Joe, Mega Man Zero 4, Phoenix Wright, and some other titles. At some point we ran into TYP and of all people he was the one to ask me where I had been. I told him what happened and he told me that I must have just missed leaving with everyone [that doesn't explain why nobody gave me a call]. That made me feel a little better, but not much. After that the three of us parted ways but somehow all managed to get back together at the Sega booth. We huddled around Shadow the Hedgehog. TYP got the controller first, and a minute or so later Striker left. I watched him for a few minutes, and looking back I can't believe I didn't start chanting "Let the bodies hit the floor."
I think at some point I started to cramp his style, as he said "You don't have to keep watching me, you know." Well excuuuuuuuuuuse me, princess! So after another minute I left him to go try out the Sonic Rush demo. I fell in love with it. Very reminiscent of the old-school Sonic games, and I loved running at full speed though loops that spanned both screens. I played that and Sonic Gems Collection for a bit, until I decided to see if Rimmer was still at the SNK booth. I didn't see him, but I did run into Breaky. I guess he was in the Falcoon line, too. I really didn't care enough about that to justify waiting in line for an hour or more, so I ended up just walking around the rest of the hall.
At some point I went to a booth just before Rockstar's that was giving away pens and decks of playing cards, so I got a few of those. I wandered around some more, got some more free stuff, and ended up at Konami's booth. I tried some Ultramix 3 and I started to wait in line to play Beatmania, but for some reason I decided not to stay in line. I went around to the front of the booth, where there were more game kiosks along with a stage with Beatmania and a couple of different DDRs.
I also noticed that there was a sign spouting some nonsense about winning prizes. Well, I'm all for winning stuff, but I assumed that I had to fill out some ridiculous forms or something. Boy was I wrong! All I had to do was stick in my business card into one of those lottery wheels. I put mine in, and made a mental note to make sure I was back there by 2 [That sure could have been a mistake]. The reason being that the winner actually had to be present to uh, win. I looked at my watch, and since I had a little while before 2, I decided to do a bit more booth hopping.
About 15 minutes before 2 I went back to the front of the Konami booth, and since there was already a group of people waiting there, I went ahead and took a seat on the floor. To help pass the remaining time, I took out my DS and tried to see if there was any Pictochat to be had. Unfortuantely, there wasn't. There was another guy a few feet away who had taken out his DS, but I guess he didn't want to Pictochat :(
2 PM finally came and some guy got on the stage. He talked about the games on the stage a bit, and threw some shirts into the crowd [I didn't get any]. Then came the moment. He picked a couple of cards out for people who weren't there, but after those two or three tries he pulled out a card that I recognized immediately as a PGC card. "This person claims to be a staff writer." At that point I knew for sure it was me. No sooner did he say my name than did I scream "WHOOOOOO!!!" "You're Vincent Anderson? You've got to be joking me," he says. I shake my head. "So you're really Vincent?" *nod* "Got your ID with you?" *nod* "Oh wait, I guess your E3 badge would be good enough." So he took a quick look at it to verify that I was who I was and then directed me to the side of the stage.
I probably looked pretty awkward walking across that stage [..why do you say that?], and then I gave the crowd a glance, which made things even more awkward. After a 30 second conversation with the Konami people, I was ready to sprint out of there to find somebody to tell, but at the last second I remembered that I had left my bags at the foot of the stage where I had been sitting. [For those who don't remember I won an HDTV, like all of their DDR/Karaoke Revolution games, and a 5.1 speaker system] I gathered my stuff and walked as fast as I could to West Hall since there was almost certainly going to be someone still at Nintendo's booth.
I got there and wandered around for a couple of minutes before I bumped into Jonathan Lindemann. I quickly told him and then moved on. I found Mike and Elzie playing Fire Emblem and told them, too. I paced back and forth to see if I could find anyone else, then I started towards the Media Room to see if there were any other PGC guys I could tell. I don't remember telling anyone, but I went ahead and used an hour to write up impressions for the site.
For whatever reason I then decided to check the halls on the opposite side of the Media Room. There I found Atlus' booth. I remembered that they were going to be holding a Puyo Pop tournament, so I headed on in. To my surprise, Rimmer was already there. I asked him what I needed to do to enter the tournament. We were both in the second group, so we had to wait a while before we could play. I suggested that we bust out our penises Pictochat, so we did. That lasted all of a minute before it was our turn to play. If I recall correctly, there were 6 guys and 2 computer players. Rimmer bawled and smashed all over the competition (read: me) and ended up winning one of their PS2 games.
After that, we headed off to find the rest of the gang. I don't quite remember what happened after that, but I believe that we tried to find the Subway that was close to our hotel [The same one we were mistakingly given directions to, too!], but Breaky and I gave hilariously bad directions, so we ended up just going back to the hotel. When we got back we ordered some pizza. While we ate Elzie killed us all in Panel de Poop. Then I bugged Rimmer about dueling since he had bought us both decks and we [oh no there are no more notes for this day :(]
[That's okay, this entry was incredibly long as it is. Rimmer totally owned me in that game, and then we played more games until we went to sleep that night. The End.]