Alameda, California (updated)

This week, I'm in Alameda, California. This is a city in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm here for two reasons. I'm sure that it comes as no surprise that both events are related to video games ; ) First, I'm here to participate in a series of press conferences for my company, as we announce some new technology products. The second reason for my visit, is to attend the 10-year reunion of the release of the Sega Dreamcast videogame console.

I worked at Sega from 1997 to 2001. It was one of the best jobs I've ever had. The team that I worked with was one of the best...ever. The fact that over 60 people showed up to an "unofficial" reunion is testament to the commitment that they all showed while we worked on that product. I even saved my Sega "letterman" jacket - tucked away in the back of my closet. I had a great time catching up with friends and former employees of mine:

There wasn't enough time to talk with everyone, but I really enjoyed the stroll down memory lane. I can't believe it's been 10 years...what were YOU doing 10 years ago?

No visit to California is complete without a little stop at a burger joint called "In N' Out":

Mmmmm....don't forget to ask for "grilled onions"

The biggest part of my time in the Bay Area was for the official launch of AMD's next-generation graphics cards. We held a series of press conferences on board the U.S.S. Hornet - a retired aircraft carrier:

Yeah, I spent two solid days on a freakin' aircraft carrier. It just doesn't get any better than this for a guy - jet fighter aircraft, video games, high-end PCs, Apollo 11, and an aircraft carrier.

Here are a couple of shots from the flight deck. The view of San Francisco was breath-taking.

The cel reception was really good on the flight deck - not so much inside the ship

If I would have taken this with a normal camera, you could see the Oakland Temple just to the left of the aircraft ; )

We took over all of the hanger bays inside the carrier. To say that the area was huge - would be a huge understatement. You may not know that the U.S.S. Hornet was the aircraft carrier that retrieved the astronauts from the Apollo 11 mission - as they returned from the first mission that landed on the Moon:

Here are a couple of pictures from our set-up:

For the main press conference area, we had three gargantuan video screens - all of them were running from a single, every-day PC:

The chairs should give you some idea of how big they were

I had a chance to play a few games on this massive three-screen set-up. Pure nirvana...mixed with a little motion-sickness ; ) The screens filled most of my peripheral vision, so it was easy to get sick. This happened when we played a "flight simulator" game...complete with barrel-rolls! Here is a short clip of us playing a driving game:

In the morning, I had the chance to address general business press (BBC, Wall St. Journal, etc). We unveiled a new technology that will let you connect up to 6 screens to your computer. I know, I know...who has six screens? Well, the possibility is there. Here are some shots from my part of the presentation (just to prove that I was working):

That's my boss' boss, standing next to me - along with our Chief Marketing Officer

That's me, introducing some new laptops

We showed Google Earth running on 3 screens, in a "living room" environment. We even showed a single computer connected to 24 screens:

Look how well you could teach your kids about geography ; )

24 screens from one computer

A little overkill, but the press sure ate it up! We even had a three-screen configuration attached to a driving simulator, to really feel like you were driving in a race car:

In the afternoon, we held a 5 hour session with the technical PC press. I was able to show off some of the latest graphics technology and some games that take advantage of that. Some great, great stuff. In the evening, you could walk to the stern of the ship and see the sun setting over San Francisco:

I loved my time in the Bay Area...as I usually do. The weather was fantastic and it brought back memories of when I grew up in this area. I'll never forget spending an hour in the U.S.S. Hornet "pilot briefing room" - doing my best Top Gun impression. What a great time!!