E3 in 2011

A review and roundup of E3 in Los Angeles

By John Haley

If you`re up for stimulating action, then E3 2011 was the place to be. With 50,000 people likely to have been at this year's show it was the most action packed days of the year, well at least for me... and about 49,999 other attendees.  It's a bit much to keep up with minute to minute, but here's a glimpse into what my days were like at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this year.

Just as the conferences had the exciting news for what`s to come, I happened to catch up with the people at Jagex Games Studio (www.jagex.com) to hear what they`ve been working on.

With their crew of people traveling all the way from London, they offered a special event where you can get a better look at Transformers Universe, a new game which will release in 2012 and lets you customize your own Autobot or Decepticon. The environment was perfect for socializing and bumping into the great people at Jagex. I was lucky enough to meet one of the Senior Animators for this game, and the Senior Concept Artist, along with a few other friendly faces.


 
As I was finally on my way to the Expo, I was getting even more excited. After hearing all the news article about what was going to be showing, and thinking about all the hottest games I`ll get to see, and some which I`ll get to play. I was excited. To top it off, THQ: Saints Row 3 was offering complimentary parking for the first 500 cars, and if you felt like getting a car was too, they were giving free bikini car washes. I just happened to see a Los Angeles Police car driving around the car lot, which of course I asked if they were gonna get a car wash, yet of course I`m sure they were just keeping the lot safe.





Making my way into the actual convention center was already a bit of madness, and I was there little over an hour before the exhibit doors opened. This of course seems to happen every year, but it also is a great way to make a few new friends and share things your have heard or learn something you haven`t heard about yet.

But of course I had to go pick up my badge, which was a seamless process. I didn`t even have to print the email out, which felt nice to save a tree. The scanner was able to read the barcode right from my iPhone screen. MAGIC! Flashed my ID to the lady to prove who I was, and I was set.