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So, E3 week has begun, and I have officially arrived in Los Angeles to start attending the convention, which officially opens up tomorrow at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Technically, today is Day Zero, but with all of the festivities and conferences going on, the week is already in full swing. Most of what I've experienced thus far is less about the glamour and more about what actually goes on for a Reporter or for someone attending as a part of the media. So, consider it a blog, if you will! Click below and start following my travels!

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This whole day could be effectively described in one word – insane. Starting with the 3AM wakeup time, followed by my departure through Uber to downtown Los Angeles, the day was off to a crazy start. Leaving the house at 5:30 so I could make that 9:30 Microsoft conference was a good way to start a Monday morning, with a midpoint at the Kawada hotel in the heart of downtown LA so I could check in my luggage. I’m surprised that my room actually was ready for me, at such an early hour – check in wasn’t supposed to happen until after 3PM.

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After my Uber drops me off at the Galen Center, where the conference is set to begin, it’s about 8:00 AM. There’s lines at this place going in and out, people are running around. The poor fellow next to me is freaking out because his phone isn’t pulling up his barcode for whatever reason. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why when you go to one of these events, you print the hardcopy out as a final measure. Apparently I was actually ahead of the curve and I got to skip the giant media registration line and go straight to the priority seating queue. Doors didn’t open till 8:40, I got there at 7AM and there was already a decent sized queue waiting. That, and I was stuck sitting with guys that probably hadn’t showered in a few days. About an hour before Microsoft let us into the conference, lines are snaking out the door with media folk. It was pretty cool. Open seating at the conference (well, not really, we had tickets that guided us to a section but once we got there, free seating!) led me to get a very close to center stage spot.

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That Microsoft conference though. All I have to say is…damn. I’ve watched a lot of those online in previous years, but being there, in the midst of all of the action, was infinitely better. It was actually a very fast 90 minutes, considering how much content they threw in there. This year, the conference actually was good and didn’t have a ton of shameful throw ins that were there in previous years. Things that I never imagined I’d be hyped about… that all changed with the adrenaline-charged atmosphere of the conference. People were going wild over some of the showings, and for good reason. In my particular seat section, we were all losing it over the XBOX 360 backwards capabilities and the Hololens demonstration with Minecraft.

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I just loved it when I see all of these online people be like, oh yeah, I can enjoy the content on my 4K monitor, where I get lag free, 60 FPS streams, and after witnessing a conference live on the floor, there’s still no comparison. There can’t be. The base drops and the sound effects were amplified to almost ridiculous levels. There were a ton of fancy monitors that still had secondary information about the game while the main gameplay trailers were still going. The release dates could have been gotten, yeah, but the level of insanity that the conference had in terms of hype levels and adrenaline was beyond anything that I’ve seen in a long time. It’s damn difficult to be able to reproduce that from a television screen or from a computer monitor. The little things – like when a developer celebrity happened to enter the room during the pre-show seating – caused eruptions of cheers from the audience and the VIP section in general. Our entry passes into the convention – the little amulet dangling from my neck (see photo!) would start blinking and flashing in time with all of the gameplay trailers, and when you look all around the convention center, it’s pretty cool to look at. Once the show ended, the badges were no longer blinking but could be poked instead for flashes of light. Gimmicky, but hey, I like it. It flashed in green and silver – traditional XBOX colors.

Once the convention ended though, the day got further crazy. Had to try and get the lay of the convention center, but unfortunately most of the floor was closed and only accessible for exhibitors. A new friend and I tried playing it friendly with a guard, but oh well, no dice. Today would be relatively quiet in comparison to everything that’s going to happen tomorrow, but there’s still a lot to be done. I am a little bit sad though that I won’t be able to attend any more press conferences this year, but I achieved my number one goal this year, which was to just attend any of them and have a good time. And yes, so far I’m having a great time. Am I exhausted? Absolutely. I got roughly two hours of sleep last night, and I'm in my hotel room, barely able to keep my eyes open, and running coverage on a few other conferences while people are away. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be done in very early tonight. In other very exciting news, however, my hotel room's amenities suck and actually don't work. No refrigerator, and only one towel. Great. This is an absolutely stellar hotel so far. Kitchenette is also completely dead. I can't believe that a total of $445 was shelled out for this ridiculous hotel. Anyway! I’ll catch up with everyone tomorrow on the showroom floor – you can feel free to follow me on the GBAtemp Twitter for my latest shenanigans as they happen, or visit the GBAtemp IRC and/or Shout Box, where I may end up having some conversation. Stay classy, GBAtemp, I’ll catch you guys tomorrow.

GBAtemp Twitter
Photo Album - Day 1

 

[endoverend]

Sounds very, very hectic. Are you going to have much time to see the sights in LA this week?

 

[Ryukouki]

Nope, none at all. I don't even think I'll have time to hit the show room floors at all for the convention, other than one for a quick review item pick up. I'm stuck with appointments from the moment the floor opens tomorrow and Wednesday till closing. Either that or I'm going to actively start canceling appointments so I actually have time to experience the convention. I'm getting to that point right now where I just have no reason to want to meet some of these devs, especially since, unfortunately they're independents.

 

[Costello]

That was a great read. Shame about the hotel. All I can say is, hopefully we'll be able to up the trip's budget for next year
Looking forward to reading day two three and four!

 

[Ryukouki]

That was a great read. Shame about the hotel. All I can say is, hopefully we'll be able to up the trip's budget for next year
Looking forward to reading day two three and four!

Day four might not exist if my appointment decides to bail on me. If that happens I may check out Wednesday. I absolutely refuse to fork over another $128 for this subpar level of service.

 

[cearp]

Day four might not exist if my appointment decides to bail on me. If that happens I may check out Wednesday. I absolutely refuse to fork over another $128 for this subpar level of service.

hopefully if you complain well to the right person you might get a refund

 

[Ryukouki]

I definitely will. Trust me. My refrigerator is broken. And room service still hasn't sent up my ice bucket.

 

[the_randomizer]

I definitely will. Trust me. My refrigerator is broken. And room service still hasn't sent up my ice bucket.

Complain to them, if they want your money, they're gonna have to compromise or at least give you a refund. Man, what a POS hotel -_-

 

[thorasgar]

Does the Magic Fingers work at least?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Interesting read, and as for the hotel room, I would complain to staff and ask to get another room. That's what my dad always does when something isn't working anyway.

 

[ShinyLatios]

Seems like a cool experience