Like holding water in a sieve
So Monday I fly out to take in the sights and sounds of E3, the world's biggest trade show dedicated to video and computer games. As usual, I am sick to my stomach about it.
I've done the show before, and I've always found it to be brutally overwhelming. I don't usually get involved too much in post-show parties, mainly because I don't rank high enough up the food chain. As a Mac journalist, no one except the edutainment companies is really interested in speaking with me, and they don't usually throw mad parties, obviously. Even the PC companies keep it pretty low-key -- most of the revenue from this industry is generated by the console companies -- Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, as well as the hundreds of game publishers, accessory manufacturers and other hangers-on that make their living feeding off them like remoras on sharks.
For whatever reason -- travelling westward three hours; being exposed to the high-energy stimulation of video games for three days continuously; and so on -- I always feel physically, mentally and spiritually tapped out by the end of the week.
My other problem with E3 is that I usually get brutally sick in LA. I like to blame it on my friend John Han's hospitality, and it's true that he did get me sick once. But the real truth of the matter is that I don't travel well. I'm a creature of habit, and pulling me from my mole-like, Hot Pockets-nourished existence in my basement office often has negative repercussions: Physical ailments, digestive problems, and just general discomfort.
It's not a hard burden to bear, I admit. For someone who loves games as much as I do, E3 is like a trip to Mecca. You get the first glance at the stuff that's going to make headlines throughout the next year. Games, accessories, the latest in technology. It's fabulous.
Traveling alone to cover the event as I do, however, is totally terrifying. So much stuff happens in such a compressed period of time that it's virtually impossible for one person to assimilate anything more than a fragment of what actually happens during the show. In the days and weeks following E3, my game-savvy friends will ask me what I think of this or that, and I'll inevitably be numbed and desperately disappointed with the fact that I have absolutely no idea what they're talking about, because I never made it to that vendor's booth.
One of these days, I'll get my shit together.
Comments
I should be all moved into my new condo by E3 if you need a place to crash or just want to chill and maybe get some food. If not see ya there.
blackfly@mac.com
Posted by: BlackFly | May 9, 2003 04:16 PM