So I'm not really allowed to discuss which company I work for unless I state that the opinions written herein are those of me and not my company and should be taken as such, and not indicative of the company's stance on anything specific.
Anyway, we've been in Vegas since Sunday (I've been here a little longer, Friday, infact) and we've had sessions and things discussed with us from all the major game developers. On this trip, I learned of updates and innovations happening to my company, bashings of the wannabes attempting to do the same thing my company does, and a classroom where I won an award for top 3 performance in a specified area. All in all, it's the greatest "RAH RAH RAH" moment our company has, and developers and game studios not only understand this, but they tend to "give us the hookup," if you will.
Last year, Microsoft blew us away by offering all of us Kinect, as well as Halo, Fable, another game, 3 months of Xbox Live and the new style controller. This year, Microsoft came again, fully prepared to kick ass and take names, offering all of us: Forza 4, Gears of War 3, and then some Kinect games, Dance Central 2, Kinect Sports 2, and a new game called Gunstringer, as well as a new bluetooth headset and 12 months of Xbox Live. This was actually the first full night of the show, which was pretty awesome. In Microsoft's training room session (the other was a Keynote Speech), I ended up winning the Gears of War 3 Limited Edition 360 Console, which is fucking amazing. So Microsoft knows they want to kick ass and take names and they threw that at us.
Earlier on the first day, Activision came out and had Will Arnett discuss Modern Warfare 3, and our company set a goal for how many copies we will presell. IF we hit that goal, they will not only GIVE us a copy of the game, but their "Elite" Call of Duty service...FOR LIFE...so no paying for it on a yearly basis, etc. Wow.
Not to be outdone by Activision, Nintendo brought Kevin Periera from G4 with them, and in their training session, I shared a long (and awkward) embrace/hug with him, that was even remembered after the fact by the VP of Marketing for Nintendo. But Nintendo came primed to tell us that they had limited edition poker sets to give out, and a limited Edition GOLD controller/Zelda game for the 25th anniversary. I was a little shocked that they only went with one game offered to us as they seem to be not offering nearly as much, which is a little odd, because they used to be the ones that blew us away.
Now Sony came to bat with the offer of Uncharted 3 and 3 months of Playstation Plus service...but I will give Sony a pass, because they did begin their EXPERT RLS program, that allows me to get a prize package worth about $250. Although mine still hasn't shipped, meaning I'm going to have to have a discussion with my rep about that, since it still hasn't shipped.
EA had already given us a copy of Madden, which was very nice of them as while I didn't intend to buy it, we were not there for our launch of the game, which kinda through some things for a loop. They came out and shows us this little game called BATTLEFIELD 3...then they offered us an EARLY Beta to play it before everyone else...and finally...not to be outdone by COD...a free copy of the game, without any GOAL setting.
We were also given a copy of Monster Tale, as we set a Guiness book of World Records well...record, by breaking the record for most people having a handheld gaming party. They never announced the final numbers, but the DID let us know we DID break it.
Other highlights of the show (I already stated winning the Xbox 360), were I'm also getting copies of Rage, Dead Island, Batman, and I think there may be one or two I forgot. I think the final number came in at 15 games, 2 services, one bluetooth headset, and the Limited Edition Console (for me only, LOL).
As fun as this sounds, we held our breakout with our region, and while I felt pumped up by it, I couldn't help but think we were getting beaten up AS we were given some praise. It's okay, I understand and am successful so I'll keep trucking and work on my hiring for the holidays while keeping the store clean.
Oh, I also got to see Mark Hammill, who came out to discuss the Batman Arkham City game, and got to see NEVER before seen footage of...a game not shown at E3...MAX PAYNE 3! Rockstar doesn't even have a game coming out this year, but for the second straight year, came out and showed us something almost a year away, but it looked absolutely fabulous.
Anyway guys, I'm still in Vegas, will be back LATTTTE Friday night and back to work without a day off until I think Thursday, as I want next weekend off for the Michigan/Notre Dame game.
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