E3 2008: Misc. Musings a.k.a. Day One Wrap-Up

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E3 2008: Misc. Musings a.k.a. Day One Wrap-Up

Wed, Jul 16, 2008

It's Wednesday morning in beautiful Los Angeles, California -- home of the 2008 E3 Media and Business Summit -- and your beloved GameCyte staffers have now accumulated a combined total of eight hours of sleep. We've already hit the pavement to bring you more E3 coverage; but before we lose ourselves entirely in the flood of digital fun and Texan speeches, here's a brief update with some of yesterday's more obscure observations.

David Hayter Is A Nice Guy™

E3 2008 Capcom David Hayter

Though it could possibly be misconstrued from voice actor David Hayter's well-publicized "Open Letter" that the voice of Solid Snake might resent prolonged contact with his many fans, meeting him in person I found that nothing could be further from the truth. While Hayter admitted that he fully intended to disappear from public view as soon as possible, he came off as incredibly personable, courteous, and happy to satisfy fanboy dreams.

After the Capcom press conference Hayter was surrounded by a small crowd of journalists, and even though it was obvious he had places to go, he patiently and enthusiastically greeted each in turn; signing autographs, posing for pictures, performing mock CQC on fans and even recording one lucky guy's answering machine message in his Snake voice: "This is Solid Snake. Jay can't come to the phone right now because we're out hunting Metal Gear. So please, leave a damn message."

GameCyte's camera batteries had long since died, but we'll see if we can't track down Hayter for a Lost Planet interview in the near future.

Sony knows how to throw a party... or at least accommodate journalists.

E3 2008 Sony Press Accommodations

While every one of the Big Three's press conferences had infinitely better accommodations than our own hotel, Microsoft's in-house event at the LA Convention Center only offered water and uncomfortable stadium seating, while Nintendo drove us ten miles to the Kodak Theatre in downtown Hollywood at 7:30AM only to be confronted by empty coffee pots, an hour-long wait in a cramped lobby and a forced move when we were told a block of unmarked seats was for VIPs only.

Sony's event at the Shrine Auditorium was the perfect respite. Arriving a mere 30 minutes ahead of being seated, the event had simple, clearly marked registration by last name, a decent bar, smoothies and iced tea, and heaping buffet plates full of tasty treats, ranging from bacon-wrapped sausages to delectable lemon bars. While the event ran rather long, it was only a five-minute shuttle ride back to the convention center.

Even so, our award for least offensive press conference thus far has to go to Electronic Arts, who not only provided free pens, notebooks and asset-filled USB thumbdrives at the door, but also kept the presentation squarely focused on gameplay -- at least compared to the hyperbolic assertions that riddled the events of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.

Wake Up and Smell The Wi-Fi

Wake up wifi

Speaking of accomodations, one we would have liked to see more of is wireless internet. Though the ESA-sponsored media room hosted a pair of powerful wireless routers mounted on stands for loft and excellent connectivity, the internet connection they share has so far proven spotty at best, often delaying your precious GameCyte updates and making liveblogging sans cellular modem untenable.

Despite its many misgivings, the only spot we've been able to reliably deliver news has been in the lobby of our hotel. Above, catch a glimpse of GameCyte's caffeine-drenched rockstar lifestyle for the foreseeable future.

E3 2008, Electronic Entertainment Expo, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony

This post was written by:

Sean Hollister - who has written 825 posts on GameCyte.

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2 Comments For This Post

Seaniccus Says:
July 16th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Apparently gamecyte reporters prefer different brands of energy drink and water.

I request a Hollister/Henning face off!

Arrowhead vs. Aquafina!
Monster vs. Redbull!

Who will be the least exhausted reporter?
Jesse Henning Says:
July 16th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Not pictured in the above photo is a giant sack of coffee grounds that I simply decided to eat, dry.

(It's not pictured because that didn't actually happen.)

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