This week, I spent a few days in Los Angeles, California. I was here to attend the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo - known commonly as E3.
This is the biggest event of the year for the video game industry. It's a trade show for over 50,000 visitors, with exhibits and displays that are unrivaled in other trade shows. I've been attending E3 for over 20 years. It's quite a show.
I arrived in LA by traveling to the Burbank Airport. Having lived in LA for several years, I do everything in my power to avoid the LAX airport. Burbank is a much smaller airport and that means less crowds, easier access to rental cars, and you can arrive directly on the tarmac:
For my rental car, I was treated to a Prius Hybrid - I've never really driven a hyrid for an extended period of time. It takes some getting used to - the quiet, the engine not turning over, etc.
Since my luggage from my previous flight was still en route to Austin (long story), I had to stop by a store for some cables and electrical adapters. I chose Fry's Electronics, one of the best gadget stores in the West. Each one has a unique personality. This one is all about a 1950s UFO invasion movie:
The next day was the big show. It's held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I feel like I know this place pretty well, as this is the 22nd or 23rd version of this show that I've been to ; )
The place was packed - a lot of the press and industry folks get really excited to see all the upcoming games. The line to get in was long...but there was real excitement in the air:
Inside the show, you have several massive expo show floors with sprawling, colorful booths dedicated to each game publishers. It's really an assault on all of your senses with the video, lights and sound for each game:
At the Warner Brothers booth, the Lego games were front-and-center. They had the Lego Dimensions (like Disney Infinity), as well as a new Lego Worlds game - which reminded me of Minecraft...a lot.
They also had a new Lego Star Wars game for the Force Awakens movie...which came with this awesome Lego statue:
Nearby, was the Bethesda booth. It was massive - with giant walls that enclosed all of the displays and exhibits inside a dark area. Here's just a snippet of what they showed inside:
I also went to the Square-Enix booth. This is one of the largest Japanese game publishers, and their booth was also huge. They had a giant video wall that showcased quite a few games:
Another big game publisher is Ubisoft - they make the Just Dance games, as well as many others. This is their 30th anniversary, and the booth was extraordinary:
They even had an area to show the game Steep - it's a multiplayer winter sports game, that allows dozens of players to ski and snowboard on the same mountain, at the same time. This will be an interesting experiment:
My friends at Samsung also had a booth for the first time. They were showing the Galaxy S7 phone, as well as some of the latest games to take advantage of technology called "Vulkan". Essentially, it's a way to display graphics faster than ever. We've been working with Samsung on this for a while.
Also in their booth, they were showcasing virtual reality - including a virtual roller coaster and a virtual experience with skateboards:
Surprisingly, several of the largest publishers didn't have booths at this year's event. With the cost of some of these reaching $6 to 8 million dollars, I can understand why. They have their own, separate, event. This created a strange sensation at E3 - open space. I've never seen that before. It was eerie:
The rest of the expo hall was still filled with lights, video and audio...to keep everyone distracted, or engaged ; )
Another publisher created a two-story booth. It looked like a city block taken right out of New Orleans. One of their newest games is set there. They even had a live New Orleans jazz band inside:
For lunch, I headed to a nearby deli. This is one of the top "old-school" delis in all of LA - Langers. I ordered their famous #29 - a pastrami sandwich on rye bread. It was...delicious:
That's it for part 1...I didn't realize just how many pictures and videos I actually recorded ; )
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