Electronic Entertainment Expo

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

E3 is no more. I went in 1998 when it was in Atlanta with former JC denizens JQW and LSG. I drove there! In a 1996 Plymouth Neon.

We got in because they were letting everyone in. Wink wink, we're game journos at the game site Jolt Country Dot Com. We had badges. My badge is in the garage.

I met Douglas Adams and Richard Garriott, both of them were nice to me. I saw previews of the computer game versions of Sentinel Returns and NFL Blitz. We played, I think, "FireTeam", an online squad based tactics game that was really fun, only it felt weird to talk to others through the microphone. But in my defense, I still don't do that with online games and I also don't play online games.

The expo was so overwhelming. I remember there was a line to meet Brett Favre and the model from Forsaken. I remember that the creators of Space Bunnies Must Die! had an actress play the part of the protagonist and be at the expo. 3D Realms hired a guy to play Duke Nukem. (I got autographs from Douglas Adams and the guy that played Duke Nukem, all told. Those might be the only autographs I've ever asked for in my life.) There were a number of different rooms and other expos or conventions I have been to have had a similar thing where they just keep pounding you with light and input and sound and it can become a lot. But it was fun.

There is a comic book convention in Denver each year and I don't go to it, so I don't want to pretend that I ever wanted or needed to go to E3 again. At some point they really tried to crack down on the general public - game players - getting into the show, and then (I think?) they pivoted and tried to make it all about the gamers getting into the show. I remember hearing that distribution deals got done there? I guess? I bet it sucked to have to crunch for a demo or playable chunk of game for the show if you worked in video games.

It was really fun when I went.

[AArdvark]

The internet ruins everything after a while, doesn't it. Soon we need never leave our houses at all.


THE
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AARDVARK