Los Angeles, CA - Part 1

Greetings from Los Angeles, California! 

I'm here this week to attend a trade show/conference called E3. This is the biggest event of the year for the video game industry. It's a circus of massive booths, lights, noise, video screens and people. The booths of the larger companies are about 15,000 square feet (this is down from 45,000 from a few years ago). The attendance is estimated at about 40,000 people - so I'm fighting through lots of crowds. All of the major video game publishers come here to show upcoming games to press and retail buyers.

The show takes over the Los Angeles Convention Center - located right next to the Staples Arena in downtown LA. This is all going on at the same time as the NBA Finals - which LA is a part of this year (to my horror and disgust).

Outside the LA Convention Center

Needless to say, it's a crazy atmosphere at E3 with lots and lots and lots of game companies trying to grab your attention. The sheer noise level is overwhelming. I've been going to E3 for about 15 years now. I've had a chance to bring my son, daughter and wife to this show over the years. For teen-agers, it's quite the dream-come-true. For my wife, I really wanted her to understand the crazy business that I'm in.

Each year, the largest booths belong to Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft - not a big surprise. They're each trying to convince people that they have the biggest and the best to offer. Over the years, I've seen the introduction of the PlayStation, the Xbox, and most recently - the Wii. It's fun to see what will be coming out over the next 6 to 9 months. Over the next couple of days, I'll try to grab some pictures and explain what I see.

The show takes place over 3 days - I remember what it was like to work in a booth for 3 days, standing on your feet for 10 hours a day, answering questions about a game or game system from anyone that would walk up and ask. Because you're in LA, and because video games have become such a large part of the entertainment industry - you get a few celebrities at E3. I've bumped into a few - Steven Spielberg, Snoop Dogg, Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne, Vin Diesel, Magic Johnson, Tony Hawk, Tom Hanks, Paris Hilton, Stan Lee...you get the idea.

Aside from walking the show floor all day, another big part of E3 (as with other trade shows), are the parties and dinners at night. They range from strictly business to strictly ridiculous. I've attended small dinners to discuss specific business deals. I've attended parties thrown at the Kodak Theater (Academy Awards), Universal Studios and Playboy Mansion. By far the most amazing party remains the annual Sony party. A coveted ticket, they hold it on one of their movie studio lots - with thousands in attendance. They usually have a "big name" musical act pefform. I've seen the Foo Fighters, OutKast, Black Eyed Peas and Missy Elliot.  I can't even imagine the money that's spent on these parties. It does mean that this adds up to a very long day.  I remember when I had enough energy to stay up all night, going to parties and then dancing into the wee hours of the morning.  That's simply not the case anymore, but I still manage to have a great deal of fun - in the middle of all the work ; )

Microsoft has already held their press conference for this year, and had surviving members of the Beatles on stage to show the next version of Rock Band:

Even Steven Spielberg was there to talk about a new camera for the Xbox 360 that will read all of your movements and gestures, to control games without a game controller.  It's going to be a great week.

More pictures tomorrow, as I try to find time - in-between my meetings - to get snapshots of the show floor....