Yesterday I was fortunate enough attend the Microsoft Press Briefing. In all of my years attending E3, I have yet to attend a Press Briefing. My curiosity was piqued as I wanted to know the experience of and the wheels to asphalt experience of the event.
I will be posting my "review" of the conference and my personal experience. Stay tuned here in the next few hours while I get ready to head to my hotel where I shall post the final words. Thanks!
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Late last month, I was granted an opportunity to attend the Xbox Press Briefing. As I have mentioned, I have never attended a Press Briefing. I've done a bit during my years attending E3, but due to a litany of issues, attending a Press Briefing is not among them. Now, it's not a secret that while I do enjoy all consoles thoroughly, I have a special affinity for Microsoft's Xbox Brand. I'd be happy to discuss why that is in some future post, but being granted this particular opportunity was of interest to me.
My mental state while approaching the event however was not that of excitement; It was that of apathy. What would Microsoft show of interest? Would the other attendants be uninteresting? Could I ever get over the disappointment of Scalebound's cancellation (the answer to that is a "No.") I planned my day to seek these answers.
When I arrived, I already saw a line. Two hours earlier than the doors were expected to open and already there were two robust lines, one for two separate groups. My group, the "X" group, was relegated to be used by those 1000 (1K) winners of this opportunity. 1000 individuals would win and they could come from anywhere in the world. My immediate observation however was that they were not the kids who "had sex with my mom." Turns out, in public, this group wasn't very talkative. Outside of being solicited by random photographers of the event to yell and screen, I saw few interactions. Anyone who knows me however knows that the more quiet and awkward a situation, the more I cannot keep my inner monologue to myself (sorry to those people who genuinely love watching terrible movies I am attending... I convince myself "you're better off with MY entertainment.")
With one rather large outburst from the front of the line for some photographs and then a quick wave of quiet after they were asked to bark, I remarked rather loudly, "Everyone, no need to be concerned. There has NOT been an outbreak of Tourettes patients invited to this event... and no, there would be no problems if there was! These are just excited people to be here!"
Some people reacted with a form of fear that they could be associated with the likes of me. Fortunately, a few more laughed out loud, made eye contact, and began chatting with me. As it turns out, that net to cast individuals from all over most certainly stretched the length of the United States. The small group of people I stood amongst did not know one another. They however were both foreign and familiar to one another in a great many ways.
One woman was from Georgia, a librarian by day and mother and wife by evening. She streams before work and lets her VODS speak for her interactions. Latest: She is planning on finishing Arkham Knight on stream, which she does prior to every morning at 7AM.
Another woman was from Texas. A top tier individual from a fairly famous Southern Eatery (name withheld for her privacy) that graduated culinary school a great many years ago and was decked head to toe with Mass Effect attire. A 20 year PlayStation fan who converted over to the Xbox Nation.
A random gentleman ALSO from Georgia who lived in the North, who shared a like of smoking with the Texan and shared a state, but not a living experience, with our new friends.
This small sector was varied, and yet very familiar. It just took a spark to start the conversation and each had a world of information to share. Each very interesting and entertaining. They were quite polite at my rather robust and raunchy observations. I had asked what everyone was excited for and to be honest... they were just pleased as punch to be present for the event they had only witnessed once a year for the past few years.
The time in the line disappeared. While I couldn't see or hear too many conversations around me, our conversation was infectious enough it did spawn several satellite conversations that pushed through the group. The nervousness and uneasiness melted away as people started to realize they were all an enigma to the person beside them and yet familiar.
I was pleased to find that the community vibe, while muffled at first, could find a voice like it had on Xbox so many years ago.
When we were finally allowed it and the media and FanFest winners had been seated, there was quite a surge of energy. All the lines walked briskly, chatting with their new and emerging neighbors with excitement. "Halo else!" "I hope they show a Gears!" "Forza Horizon baby!" All these things were heard as we scuttled to our security checkpoint.
When it finally came time to watch the show, my new Georgian Librarian followed me in. As someone who had attended E3 and somehow a Californian Ambassador (I'm from SD, not LA), It was quite interesting an example of "blind leading the blind" but I think I performed it well. We sat on the far left of the auditorium after going through our security and we awaited the show, which didn't take long to commence.
I will not go into the specific play by play of the event. There were several very key moments which I think had great meaning.
When the opening of the show began with the as yet unknown "Halo Infinite", the crowd exploded with the force of a Plasma Grenade when they saw the drop of Master Chief's helmet.
When the first glances at Maclaren's logo rumble across the landscape of Britain, the realization of a new Horizon (what would have been expected to most) created such a discord of excitement that you could hear hi-5s across the audience.
The appearance of Todd Howard only meant one thing, and the crowd was hungry for it. Having information FIRST about Fallout 76 had the audience feeling like the world was on fire... just for them.
When the end of the show hit, and the system was "hacked", the roar of applause at seeing the logo for Cyberpunk 2077 had people nearly willing to rush out and augment themselves to get a touch of the game first.
Each of these moments erupted the audience into a fervor and frenzy. They appreciated the ability to be there. Even I, who has been somewhat desensitized to the functions of E3 as it has been mired with the integration of the population, was taken aback by several of the moments. I could get caught up in the electricity of the event and looked around to see many others excitedly participating in the power unleashed by their neighbors.
I'm not entirely sure my want for the products on the screen is any higher having participated in the event, but I can say the experience was better than I expected. I left feeling happy that so many did get to experience this portion of the event and feeling like they belong. While I may still not be a fan of the average participation in E3 for a whole slough of reasons we can discuss at a later date, I will say that events like this are most certainly to be appreciated by the fans and is definitely a step in a positive direction.
Tomorrow, I hope to deliver more insight and personal experience of the first days of E3 2018. Wish me luck!
