E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo. It is an industry only gathering of video game developers and distributors held annually where everyone gets to show off their latest wares. I've been able to go the last 4 years, and it always gets better. Here is a brief rundown of my trip this year.

Day 1: Parking - $10 for the lot across from the convention center.

Kim and I arrived at the Los Angeles Convention Center at around 10:30am. After standing in three different lines, we finally found the line for people who had guest passes. We had been warned that security would be really tight this year, and we would have to produce several forms of identification, proof of industry employment, etc. After glancing at my out-of-state driver's license, the lady checking the passes sent me over to create my own E3 badge. After creating my badge and giving myself the position of 'Writer' for Disney, I got my badge holder which explicitly stated 'Exhibitions Only', marking me as the lowest form of E3 attendee.

Our first day was spent wandering around seeing what was being offered this year. The games were broken up by company as opposed to by console as has been the case in previous years. We walked through Blizzard and saw Warcraft III *again* and World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft looks really good, but those games can look really really good and still suck. I'll reserve judgement until I've played it for a few hours. I am looking forward to it, though.

We went by the Eidos booth and were trampled by people trying to get their picture taken with the new Lara Croft model. I also got in trouble for taping Hitman 2, which looked pretty cool. I hear they put mid-mission saves in this one, which was the biggest problem with the first one. Kim was unsuccessful in either stealing a Hitman 2 shirt for me, or coaxing one out of the guy guarding them. Oh well, they were not that cool anyway. Eventually, we found our way into the Microsoft / Xbox section where we got to see a lot of stuff that I didn't really care about. There was some cool looking games in there, but I'm a PC gamer at heart. Console games are for renting. I do recall thinking that Age of Mythology and Asheron's Call 2 both looked pretty good. Lunch was next.

After spending $22 and an hour in line for two hamburger meals, we decided to head over to the other hall and check out the Sony and Nintendo booths. We stopped at Tecmo to gaze at the honeys, and watch a bit of video, and we wandered around the Sony booth and watched a lot of third-person action games that were mildly interesting, but I never really found anything that would hold Kim's interest. So we headed back to the other hall where we realized we had missed an entire section. This section being where the elusive Sony Online Entertainment booth was, where they were showing off EverQuest II and Star Wars Galaxies. SOE was apparently running the Skybar of E3, because they had a velvet rope, a bouncer, and a long line of people out front trying desperately to get in. Needless to say, we did not get in either. We browsed the other half, and saw Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and some other console stuff. I did get to play Tron 2.0, though. That could be a sweet game.

We finally found the Doom III theater. We were about finished, so we jumped into the line and waited about 45 minutes to see the Doom III demonstration. It was very very impressive. They are leaning towards a survival horror type of game rather than a monster fest game. The lighting and the sound really sells it, though. This will be the engine to change PC gaming.

Day 2: $20 for lot across from convention center, $7 for one 3 blocks away.

Thursday I had to go in solo because Kim opted to go to work. However, I was armed with enough forged documents to get myself a Media badge holder, granting me a higher level of respect and access. For instance, I walked up to the Westwood theater where they were showing Command and Conquer: Generals and Earth and Beyond demos. Motioning to the line of about 100 people, I asked the girl, "Does media have to wait in this line?" She smiled and said, "Of course not. We'll get you in the next show. I'm <some name> and here is my card." I was then introduced to the development team and offered a beverage. It was sweet. Earth and Beyond is Westwood's space based online role-playing game. The movie was very impressive, and I was given a couple of beta discs after it. I've been playing it the last few days, and it has some serious promise.

Now Generals will definitely be a good game. Think Red Alert 2 without all the sci-fi and in a beautiful 3D engine. Helicopters flying over trees make the trees sway, the water ripples, and the nuclear explosion blows out with a ring of destruction affecting everything in its radius. I'm really going to like this game. I'm getting tired of 2D games. I used to think that RTS could get away with 2D, but after playing Empire Earth and Warcraft III, I've decided that 2D is dead. My apologies to Star Wars Battlegrounds, but it does look a little dated compared to Generals.

The rest of my day was spent doing more wandering in the areas that peaked my interest on Day 1. I did see some celebrities, though. I saw Mr. T in the Rocky section, I saw John Carpenter signing posters for The Thing game, and I literally bumped into Tony Hawk on his way to skate the half-pipe and hype Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. I also saw John Romero and Stevie Case standing in a corner alone. I wonder what it feels like to be single-handedly responsible for a company closing. Even with the power of my Media badge, I was still unable to get into the Sony booth.

Day 3: $20 for lot across from convention center ($25 when I left), $10 for one 3 blocks away ($15 when I left)

Friday I went in kind of late and was, once again, turned down at the Sony booth. It was a lost cause. Friday was the last day of E3 and a short day. I was only there for about 4 hours. I met up with Mike Pusateri and we wandered around the PC area for a bit. We watched a bit of the Dark Age of Camelot expansion, and Mike talked to a guy I didn't recognize for a bit about the game. Walking away, he turned to me and said, "Dude, that was Lum the Mad. Lum the Mad knows me!" He was very pleased. I remember Lum the Mad from my days as an EQer, but I had never met him. We ended up at the Return to Castle Wolfenstein Game of the Year Edition display, and were shown some the features of the upcoming expansion. It should add quite a bit to the multiplayer experience.

I left Friday with the knowledge that I had seen what I came to see...despite being turned away at the damned Sony Online Entertainment booth several times. Another good year at E3.