E3 2005

115 wins - 0 losses

E3 as usual was held in Downtown Los Angeles. I enjoy playing at E3 because I am on my home turf. I get up from my bed in the morning, get ready, jump in my car and drive over to the convention center to play… I like playing in different cities, but I also like the familiarity of my surroundings. When I am in a different town for gaming, it is exciting to explore the city, roam around looking at things I would not otherwise get to see. E3 is the only large show that takes place in Los Angeles, so this is my one chance usually to play locally at such a large venue.

This year I was playing in Kentia Hall for iGames, LTB Audio and S3 Graphics. On the first day of E3 I also played a half day show for Yahoo games in the West Hall of the conference. I like long shows. The more days you have to play the more accustomed you get to your surroundings and the daily routine of playing. I get more comfortable and warmed up. By the time day three rolls around I literally feel at home in my chair across from my opponents.

Day 1:

I arrived at the show in the morning. I was a little nervous about my upcoming matches. The “Yahoo Games Extreme Makeover” booth was my first stop over of the day. Yahoo Games invited three groups of FPS professionals to participate in their E3 gaming make over and to take on all challengers in the booth. I was booked for Day 1 as the DOOM III player. The matches went well, the set up was good. I took on one challenger after another. Before I knew it my time was up. So far my record for day one was flawless.

After a quick bite to eat I headed over to my home for the next three days, Kentia hall, Booth #7604. I quickly set up, there was already a line of challengers booked for the next several hours. Now it had really began… I sat down put my headphones on… I got the usual adrenalin rush. 1, 2, 3 matches are done… The rest of the day went smoothly. Before I knew it day one was over. I played the last match, won it to 6-9 and it was time to unplug my mouse and keyboard and head home. Home sweet home…

Day 2:

Challengers were eager to try their luck. There were strong players, there were eager and nervous players… There were players who knew they would lose, and of course there were players that wanted to win… The day progressed and went by quickly. Matches, Countdown… 3, 2, 1, 0… Frag limit hit, Handshake, Good game. Next match, Countdown… It was time for a short lunch break. After lunch I took my seat again, headphones went on and there were more matches. The show floor was soon closing and I was finishing up my last matches of the day still undefeated. Final match… Final score 6-0. Day two was over. Whew... By this time I am relaxed and completely in the groove of things. I enjoy talking to people that stop by, I give suggestions to players after our match on how to improve their game. Really good times, it is great to be playing in person against people. It is such a unique feeling.

Day 3:

I arrived at the floor. I had an interview scheduled before my matches. Kyndra, the reporter and I met up. We walked around to find a dark corner to chat for a bit. We finished up the interview and I headed back to my station to take my seat and began the first match of the last day of E3. The matches ran smoothly. As the day progressed I kept my stand… One player went down after another. This is the last day… If I held out this long undefeated, I sure want to try and go for a perfect record! Matches, Countdown… 3, 2, 1, 0… Frag limit hit, Handshake, Good game. Next match, Countdown… It was time for a short lunch break. I got something to eat and I picked up where I left off. More matches… More opponents eager to see if they can beat me, just once… The afternoon came and went… The show floor was going to close in a half an hour. I still had time for a few more matches as there was a half an hour left… I finished up a match and I got a second to relax. I take my headphones off and I look over to my right. There is a huge, lit birthday cake coming towards me (No, not an E3 prop, an actual birthday cake!) followed by a flock of balloons in the air. I was really surprised! The third and final day of E3, May 20th, was my birthday. It did not cross my mind that the people at the booth would get me a birthday cake at the show! You sometimes see people being “very surprised” as their birthday cake is being presented to them… Yeah, like you “forgot” that it was your birthday…. However the appearance of this cake was very unexpected and I was very surprised. The cake arrived and stopped in front of me. I took a deep breath and blew out the candles!! My opponents, spectators, organizers at our booth and even people from other booths around us had as much cake as they could eat. (I know, it was a large cake.) I was presented with a gift from the owner of LTB, their first headphones with an amplifier. (Wow) It was fun to carry the large array of balloons to the car after the event. (I took some nice video of it outside.) That was the end of day three, the last day of E3 2005. It was fun, fast and certainly the sweetest show I have played to date. (The sugar rush from the cake was a large contributor.) Driving home with my girlfriend after the show was interesting due to the balloons flapping around over the back seat, but actually my birthday had just began… ;)