Gaming by GlossGreen

It may surprise you to learn that like 99.9995% of gamers, I was unable to attend E3 this year-or any year for that matter. I know what you are thinking; "How does an incredibly talented and superb blogger like GlossGreen not get an invite to the biggest gaming event of the year"? This is going to sound amazing, but, I'm not actually that important in the gaming industry. Not yet at least. But, no use crying over spilled milk (or no milk in this case).

E3 is definitely one of the most covered electronics oriented events in the world. Granted, it's not as grandiose as it used to be, but it still pulls in the crowds. Gone are the days of binge drinking and booth babes (well, maybe not the drinking part), the party atmosphere, and definitely a lot of the showmanship. I remember reading about my favorite writer's escapades in the latest issue of PSM or GamePro, days, if not weeks, after the actual events happened. Then something happened to change how I got my information. I discovered the internet. I have to be honest here, up until 2 years ago, I didn't even own a computer. My news access was limited to what I could find in print, but no more. Now with sites from all the major magazine publishers, plus independents like N4G, Kotaku, Hooked Gamers, and Ripten, I have all the news I need. Almost.

It's kinda funny sometimes. I happen to visit a site almost everyday, but I can still miss something. I did that today. My wife says I'm the most unobservant person she knows (next ot our daughter), and here, she is absolutely right. I regularly visit IGN for gaming new, plus I also post these blog posts there. What I didn't notice is one of the links right on the front page. On the left side, not too far down from the top, was a link to their Live Wire Show. I had no idea what that was, thankfully, now I know.


Live Wire is where IGN is broadcasting LIVE all the press conferences from E3. I know a few other sites are doing that, too, but Live Wire looks absolutely amazing. I just watched the first few minutes of Microsoft's press conference and I have to say that seeing all that live impressed the hell out of me, and of course, my inner fanboy. Instead of waiting for the written press coverage, or days for a video, I can see the whole thing live. I get to see what was-previously-only available for those people that could attend the show. We get to see the first looks, the hands-on demos, the secrets from out of left field that no one even thought about. All from the comfort of my couch.

Does this take the sting away from not being able to attend in person? I does a little-but only a little. One of these days, I will make it to the promised land. Either that or maybe I'll hit PAX one of these days instead. Until that time, back to Live Wire.

April 1st. As a gamer, this is the only day I dread all year long, well, other than my anniversary (I tend to lose track of the days and miss it, rush to buy a crappy gift, and have to put up with the results of my forgetting for months, but that's another story). It is this one day that all my fanboy hopes get raised, then hopelessly crushed as I learn the truth. I'm not really gullible, I'm just a gaming fan, like you.

See, April first is the day that all the game companies and media decide to taunt us gamers. These "jokes" tend to take the shape of your favorite childhood memory re-imagined for today just so you can get your hopes up. Of course, it's all fake, so on the first day of April expect to disbelieve all you read or see. Take this trailer from IGN, you know the one I'm talking about. Yes, I'm referring to the Legend of Zelda movie trailer. The thing about that damn trailer was that it looked pretty decent. Sure, it was obviously fake and had poor quality graphics, but it still sounds more interesting than a Halo movie. That one was just evil. Pure evil.

While a lot of sites had similar gut wrenching articles and videos similar to the Zelda movie trailer, I found some others that really got into the spirit of the day (and not in an evil, heart breaking way like IGN). Most sites did have a fake story or two like the unmentionable one above, but a couple of others went all out. Both Gamespot and Destructoid got a little more involved in honor of the day.

Gamespot's site remained identical to its regular format, but every story on the page was a fake. From the Rock Band PSP story to the Q & A with David Jaffe and even one about a preview of Half Life: Episode 3 with major spoilers. My favorite thing on the site though has to be the very civilized User Soapbox section. That was obviously a fraud. Since when are Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo fans that cordial to each other? I did happen to like the top 10 list at the bottom and the poll that gave away the joke. I wonder what the results were.

Now Destructoid went through some major revisions for the day. On April 1st, 2008 Foxtoid.com was born, and lasted for exactly one day. I thought overall that their effort was really well done and pretty funny to boot. I loved the videogame terrorists on the loose video. I'll never look at a certain iconic character the same way again. The Foxtoid site is history, but the stories are still there. Here's the first story that was posted for the day. I'd describe it, but I don't want to spoil the satire.

Those sites are all well and good, but my absolute favorite gag of the day has to be from Blizzard. Yes, even those respectable people at Blizzard decided to get into the fun. First up was an announcement and trailer for an upcoming game...for the Atari 2600, and that's all I'll say about that. They also had an addition to their latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. This new feature is the inclusion of a new class. A bard class to be exact. Now what makes this bard different from all others is the ability to play an axe (axe as in guitar not forestry equipment) to defeat your enemies. I could actually see this type of thing being possible and a really successful addition to WoW, but it'll never happen. Just keep dreaming people, and get some sun.

With the exception of a couple of articles that were just plain mean to my fanboy tendencies, the day was a pretty good success. I think next year (if I'm still writing this darn thing) maybe I'll join in the fun. I can take a joke, really. Wait, I do have a late joke for this year though, and here it is...