I'm going to the MS E3 media briefing!

[Mike Kelehan]

Major Nelson had a contest where the winners get tickets to the Xbox 360 E3 media briefing, and I won. Since I live on the east coast, that means I'll be flying down, costing me about $300 $204 out of pocket. Fortunately, I've got a friend who lives 20 minutes from the show, so accommodations are no problem.

Since I'll be in town, though, does anyone know of any other game-related happenings coinciding with E3 that a non-industry schlub like myself could get into? I'd love to be able to go to the show proper or the Nintendo conference, but of course those doors are closed.

[crazyD]

You are paying $300 to fly down for a media briefing? And you don't even get proper E3 access? Sounds like a shitty prize.

[Mike Kelehan]

Originally Posted by crazyD

You are paying $300 to fly down for a media briefing? And you don't even get proper E3 access? Sounds like a shitty prize.

That depends on how much you enjoy these briefings. I enjoy them quite a bit. It's like going to a concert that's only put on once a year, and tickets can't be purchased.

[Jackel]

Awesome. Congrats on the Win Mike!! Be sure to coordinate with Psykoboy while you're there so we get maximum coverage of the event.

[Mike Kelehan]

Okay, so, I'll be in LA from Saturday evening until Monday night. Anything gaming-related going on?

[rifter]

Sorry man, been out of the gaming stuff for a while now... Gamespy used to throw some cool stuff. And... the promised lot has been gone for years. :-( All the fun of E3 is gone.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelehan

Okay, so, I'll be in LA from Saturday evening until Monday night. Anything gaming-related going on?

There is a King of Fighters XII Tournament on Saturday I think. Let me look through my invite stuff I've gotten. Not sure if that is press only or not, let me check.

Congrats by the way, not sure I'd fly there just for the presser though. You'd think MS would comp your flight tickets and get you a hotel room.

[Dark Prince]

Congrats on the contest win.

You know, if you haven't been to LA before, you could use this as a chance to get a mini-tour of LA outside of gaming related stuff. It's a shame its only tickets to the MS conference and not the entire show.

[AgtFox]

What time are you getting in Mike (you said evening)? KOF XII Tournament runs from noon-7pm.

Let me know ASAP and I'll try to get you in, you can PM me if you want. Funny thing is that it is co-hosted by Sony.

Outside of that I don't see anything major happening. Microsoft is the earliest presser and you're gone before Sony and Nintendo's on Tuesday.

[Psykoboy2]

Mike, there's a PlayStation blog meet up on Sunday that I was going to try and swing by to check out. It's open to anyone who can attend and it's from 6 to 8 at Mama's Hot Tamales - 2122 W. 7th St.

Wanna go?

[Iron Past]

Originally Posted by AgtFox

Congrats by the way, not sure I'd fly there just for the presser though. You'd think MS would comp your flight tickets and get you a hotel room.

Major Nelson was giving away 100 pairs of tickets, and was pretty clear that they wouldn't be able to comp anyone. That's pretty cool, though Mike! I assume you're going to the... what are they calling it, the tweet-up?

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by Iron Past

Major Nelson was giving away 100 pairs of tickets, and was pretty clear that they wouldn't be able to comp anyone. That's pretty cool, though Mike! I assume you're going to the... what are they calling it, the tweet-up?

Ah, didn't know it was 100 pairs of tickets. Been so busy trying to set up stuff for E3, do regular job and get game playing for reviews done that I never checked out the Major's site to actually see what it entailed.

We'd certainly like to help Mike get into stuff if we can though. Scott's idea is a great one.

[Iron Past]

Yeah, it's a shame they couldn't get E3 floor passes, though; maybe you can really suck up to him, Mike. And I wonder who the hell goes through his mail, cause whatever he says, he can't sift through the tons that he gets when he does something like this.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by Iron Past

Yeah, it's a shame they couldn't get E3 floor passes, though; maybe you can really suck up to him, Mike. And I wonder who the hell goes through his mail, cause whatever he says, he can't sift through the tons that he gets when he does something like this.

He may look through for names he knows, but I know many of us on staff have gotten replies back from him. Heck, the Major is the one that hooked Scott up for the MS briefing.

My guess is that he actually does go through his e-mail. I'll look, but was there a requirement of a specific subject on the e-mail for this? He can put a rule that moves it all into there and then he can extract all the e-mails and put it in a randomizer to get the winners.

UPDATE: Yep, it had a specific subject you had to put in...above is how he did it then.

[Mike Kelehan]

Originally Posted by Dark Prince

Congrats on the contest win.

You know, if you haven't been to LA before, you could use this as a chance to get a mini-tour of LA outside of gaming related stuff. It's a shame its only tickets to the MS conference and not the entire show.

I've been to LA a couple times before, and since I'm staying with a friend, he'll show me a few places for the couple days we've got.

Originally Posted by Psykoboy2

Mike, there's a PlayStation blog meet up on Sunday that I was going to try and swing by to check out. It's open to anyone who can attend and it's from 6 to 8 at Mama's Hot Tamales - 2122 W. 7th St.

Wanna go?

That sounds like it might be fun. We'll try to go.

Originally Posted by AgtFox

What time are you getting in Mike (you said evening)? KOF XII Tournament runs from noon-7pm.

Let me know ASAP and I'll try to get you in, you can PM me if you want. Funny thing is that it is co-hosted by Sony.

Outside of that I don't see anything major happening. Microsoft is the earliest presser and you're gone before Sony and Nintendo's on Tuesday.

I'll be getting in at 8:30, so I'll have to miss the KOF tournament. And yeah, I'm scheduled to leave on Monday... but if there were some magical way I could get into Nintendo's conference, or even the show proper, I could certainly change my departure date. I'm a freelance writer/editor by trade, and I've got a place to stay, so extending the trip would be no problem.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelehan

I'll be getting in at 8:30, so I'll have to miss the KOF tournament. And yeah, I'm scheduled to leave on Monday... but if there were some magical way I could get into Nintendo's conference, or even the show proper, I could certainly change my departure date. I'm a freelance writer/editor by trade, and I've got a place to stay, so extending the trip would be no problem.

Well, I don't know how Scott got into the Nintendo presser other than he was at the one last year with Nick (bapenguin).

Getting into the actual expo may be easy or hard. It depends on if they have tighter security than they did in 2006 (the last "big event" E3). Back then a lot of people were getting in with even ancillary connections to the industry on the spot.

[Psykoboy2]

Interestingly enough that Playstation Blog party will be giving away invites to Sony's Press conference. Might could get you in that way.

Also, I emailed direct to Larry...not the account he does giveaways with and gives out on his podcast so that probably had something to do with it.

[Mike Kelehan]

Originally Posted by Psykoboy2

Interestingly enough that Playstation Blog party will be giving away invites to Sony's Press conference. Might could get you in that way.

How very convenient! Thanks for the heads-up. Okay, now I just need to Metal Gear my way into the Nintendo conference, and I've got the trifecta.

[Psykoboy2]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelehan

How very convenient! Thanks for the heads-up. Okay, now I just need to Metal Gear my way into the Nintendo conference, and I've got the trifecta.

You really don't need to. I was iffy on attending theirs this year after the shit I sat through last year, but I'm giving them one more chance to win me over.

[crazyD]

Originally Posted by Psykoboy2

You really don't need to. I was iffy on attending theirs this year after the shit I sat through last year, but I'm giving them one more chance to win me over.

Great to see we're going to get some impartial coverage on this site.