E for All Expo Coverage

Wow, what an event. I went to this show on Sunday, the last day. They say 18,000 people attended - those people must have been there on the other days cause there was room to bust out some cardboard and head spin to your hearts content. Being a public event, there were all kinds of gamers like this nice old lady. But don't let her looks deceive you - she pownd me at Air Sea Battle 2k8. I think the wrist brace is for cheaters... and this joystick sucks!

There was a very nice mural on the ground as you came in. It was actually on some sort of canvas that was laying on the ground. Really huge and protected by 6 security guards. The girl who painted it was standing nearby and told me it took 5 days to paint. Michelangelo with Playstion controller in hand. I wish it was 1978 again - I'd soooo have that pained on the side of my van with a 2600 controller.

The Super Crowded Registration Lines

As far as amenities, eForAll pulled out all the stops! There was a Gamer Lounge! Those were the most excited 4 individuals I've ever seen.

Now, just in case you felt the burning need to purchase some merchandise with the eForAll logo on it, there were several kiosks FULL of deals but few customers. Get 'em while they're hot! Yeah, I need some eForAll Flip Flops NOW!




Before we get carried away with the big booths let's check out some of the smaller, independent vendors:

Two girls who could not articulate to me what the hell they were selling. It had something to do with partying and their water bottle was not for sale.

This nice lady was a Jazz musician who wanted to write video game music. Okay.... She was totally disorganized and was just setting up her booth, er, table at noon. Frazzled. Maybe a little loopy, but very nice.

















Pro-Gamer Magazine Lady afraid to take a picture.




This guy was selling some crazy-ass flight controller setups. No Steel Battalion but still impressive.





My Favorite vendor by far was the guy selling hand painted mimo USB flash drives. Well made, very creative and well worth the price.






Here are some other highlights:

Pac-Man Says "Relax, you don't look like a complete jackass"

I met these "Pro-Gamers" and checked out their tour bus. Nice guys (and a girl). There was a ironic"No Drugs or Firearms Allowed" sign inside the bus. They told me the frag dolls are "just for show". You're breaking my heart guys...

Speaking of Frag Dolls... I asked her if I could take her picture and she turned away. So sad.

There were some other famous people there (Did I really say famous???) that you might recognize.

I'm pretty sure this guy was a contestant on American Idol. He was working the MLG booth, er, table thing. He said times were hard. Could no longer sing for his supper. Ok, I totally made that up - but he looks like that dude.

Ok, and this is the dude who used to have that show on G4 with Tommy T. What was it called? Oh yeah, "Bitching about how much you love Tron". Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was the name of it. He told me they are still on in Canada and looking for a US distributor.

Now this was a great picture. "Whip Set? Hellll No Muthafucka!"

Finally, here are the rest -

Terrible picture, but these folks are enjoying the casual gaming phenomenon known as Wii Sports.

These guys were very nice and seemed sincere, but seriously... gamer's rights? Don't you guys have to look at yourselves in the morning? They had like 8 tables surrounding them. NO ONE was interested. After talking with them I think that N64 Superman class action lawsuit just might have wings.

My mom told me to never pick up hitchhikers.

What you are looking at here is the worlds laziest DJ. Seriously, I go upstairs at the Game Trailers booth and ask this guy if he can pose for a super scratchin' Electric Boogaloo, Krush Goove, Gleaming the Cube kind of pic. He's bellyachin' because he had to get up from his chair. C'mon...

Gum Sample Booth Babes

Hey Konami... we know what your fucking game looks like, we know what it looks like when people are playing it, so why all the dramatic bullshit????

I was interested in this item. Giant NES pad. Problem is that I didn't know if you could attach it to any console. I waited for the dude running the booth, er, table to answer my question but he was running his mouth with some other people. I got impatient. I don't have one.

So I put on my green parka with patches of all my fav mediocre yet totally underground indie games sewn all over the arms before I entered the Indiecade section. Flash snobbery at its best. Refreshingly, I met a very nice guy from MIT who was a good sport and gave me some insight into why 2nd Life sucks ass.

Q. How do you know when you are too old to be going to this shit?

A. (see 12 year olds kicking your ass in Halo3 below)

OMG, the Intel Process or so Rad!!!!!! This dude on the right kept showing the crowd his ass crack. Seriously, pull up your pants!

This is where the magic happens...

I am getting tired of the retro re-makes. All I can say is that it better be easier to maneuver that giant scrotum up and down the ladders this generation... Hey King Features - changed Brutus to Bluto and didn't think I'd fuckin' notice!!! Been haunting me since age 6 damnit!!!

Nintendo had some nice looking gals on the floor.

Nintendoville

The GH3 stations had the same demo you can download from XBL. This guy had this sticker on his forehead the entire time I was there. You think Slash can do that???? Well do ya????

"Mom, I got a job in L.A. !!!"

New Sam and Max. Sorry, can't get into it this time round.

So the big thing was 'Virtual Worlds". Everyone and their Mom were making one that won't be out for a zillion years. This one has dinosaurs that you kill for money. There was also one that looked like Axe Body Spray. Oh, and a bunch of guys making, "Avatar" the virtual world. I told them that people might get confused by the cartoon or James Cameron film. They hadn't considered that.

I don't know if these are officially licensed or not...

Someone tell me what this is supposed to be.

So that's it. Would have been better if Sony and Microsoft had attended. Definitely not worth the price of admission. Seeing Super Mario Galaxy was kind of nice though.