In Summation

I meant to update while I was in California, but I was either too busy or too tired.

I then meant to update when I got back, but I was either writing or watching baseball.

And now it's a week later, so... alright, let's do this quickly. It was a very good, very busy trip. I flew into Oakland on Monday, where I was crashing with my editors. On Monday night, we took the BART into San Francisco and went to a Sierra gathering, where they showed footage of TimeShift and the lead producer dropped a considerable amount of f-bombs (so much so that people were talking about it the next day -- amusing).

On Tuesday, I headed back downtown (alone) to attend the Sierra Spring Event, where I played (or watched someone play) eight new games, a couple of which I can't really talk about yet (even though both were announced in the last couple days, apparently ahead of schedule). I feel very comfortable interacting with the developers and producers, even with titles that I'm not really knowledgeable about. Even though these people make the games, they're still gamers -- and they're intelligent gamers, so I'm completely comfortable and able to talk freely and ask questions without feeling weird about it.

Wednesday was going to be my off-day, and I planned on writing at least two previews, as well as catch up my notes. I had the morning and afternoon, thankfully, and I was able to write the TimeShift preview. However, later in the afternoon, Rainier told me that I'd be heading downtown to check out a couple arcade games at some bar. I thought he was completely full of shit, so I didn't get clean or anything. But he wasn't, and I had to quickly get ready and grab the BART and then take a cab to the bar. It wasn't really something I -had- to go to, but it was pretty much just an excuse for the various games writers covering these events to have free drinks and check out a couple arcade games from Namco Bandai. I don't really drink much these days, but I had a good time.

On Thursday, I headed back downtown for Capcom Gamers Day, which was a very large event. Unlike the Sierra Spring Event, where it was one-on-one sessions with the developers/producers, Gamers Day featured a three-hour presentation from the Capcom bigwigs and producers (like Keiji Inafune), and then we were let loose on the games (such as Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Treasure Island Z). We were all given a free copy of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law - Season One on DVD, as Capcom is apparently working on a game version of the show. I'm always down for swag.

And then I flew back on Friday. Since then, I've been writing everyday... finished five previews for WP and a review (probably my last) for Static. I probably have another ten previews left to write, so... it's going to be a long week-plus. But it's been a worthwhile experience, and I know that this kind of coverage will be a big help the next time a full-time position opens up.

I really want to be out there, but I can't afford it until I'm employed.