Last week, I attended one of the biggest gaming industry shows around: Electronic Entertainment Expo (or E3 as its commonly called) in Los Angeles, California. My company generously sent me and my coworkers to attend the 3 day event. Luckily, I didn’t have booth duty, so I was free to explore…And explore I did!

Oh hi.

E3 is held each year in the Los Angeles Convention Center. When June rolls around, the massive building is transformed into a mecca for gaming industry news. News about the latest and greatest games are touted by their respective publishers and studios. However, this year it was all about the new gen console war between Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4.

These are the exteriors of both Xbox and PlayStation booths. There is a small hallway between the two exhibits and each outside wall prominently displays the company’s product.

I had a chance to check out the Xbox and PlayStation booths during my run at E3. While I definitely lean a bit towards one side, I still plan to obtain both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4. With that being said, I was pretty darn impressed by both companies’ showings at E3. Daaaammmnn!

I’m a pretty big car fan, so of course I was drawn to both Forza and Gran Turismo. I had a chance to play Gran Turismo and score some swag. Both games prominently displayed cars in the showroom — a McLaren MP4-12c for Forza and (I think) a Chevy Corvette ZR1.

I’m definitely more of a McLaren girl than a ‘Vette girl. Gran Turismo also had a beautiful Nissan GT-R outside. Ahhhh so pretty! Drool…

I think I got a sunburn while waiting in line to play the GT Academy thing. Ow.

While I definitely didn’t get to play everything the convention had to offer, I did manage to play a few games: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, Company of Heroes 2, Diablo III (console), The Last of Us (I TOTALLY FAIL AT THIS GAME, BTW), Gran Turismo 5,  Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden 2, Halo: Spartan Assault (mobile), and few others.

Image on the right was taken from the official Diablo Facebook. Check out my sick nerd posture. Agggghhh.

During the convention, my coworker and I wandered around aimlessly through the two halls. I probably got lost at least 3 – 4 times in the West Hall alone because I’m terrible with directions. But, this meant I had some time to check out the awesome booth set-ups!

Ubisoft Booth 
Konami Booth

Square Enix Booth

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to take photos of every single booth I visited during the convention. I did manage to get quite a bit of swag from most booths though. Hooray for shirts I can never wear! (they were all given to my boyfriend haha).

I did see some very familiar faces at both the Activision-Blizzard booth and the PlayStation booth:

Hey, where have I seen you before?

I will say that Activision-Blizzard had a very impressive booth. There was a large panoramic screen which surrounded a nicely carpeted stage. This wasn’t any ordinary stage though… The stage rumbled! During the trailers, there was coordinated shaking, mists, and FIRE. Yes, pyrotechnics!

Can you install this into my living room? Thanks.

If you haven’t noticed, I like Diablo. I like Diablo so much that I went back to the booth to play Diablo III on console about 5 times. It was a blast! I even dragged a few coworkers along with me (two of which have never played Diablo before) and they enjoyed their 15 minutes of game play. I was handsomely reward with this lovely and legendary gift:

Diablo III PlayStation skin. Apply directly to forehead. 

Of course, I tweeted that picture instantly because I was so proud of my Diablo-ness. I am a dork. During my Diablo runs, I managed to briefly meet up with Community Manager Vaeflare! She’s a total sweetheart, if you didn’t know already. 😀 We had a brief nerd out/community manager bromance session before I returned to wandering.

While I enjoyed walking around E3 for hours, I couldn’t have done it on an empty stomach… Luckily, there were many places to enjoy food in and around the convention center. So, I indulged as much as I could!

Chicken Gyro Sliders and a Watermelon Cooler from George’s Greek Truck

Sushi from Lotus

I had a few sushi rolls at Lotus as well, but I forgot to take pictures of them. Whoops.

Lobster sandwich and Lobster bisque from The Palms

Fried Calamari and Seared Ahi Tuna from Rock’n Fish

I’m surprised I didn’t immediately food coma from eating so much in LA! 😀 Well, I did a lot of walking at the convention, so I probably burned some calories.

E3 is about the games in the morning, but at night, it’s about the parties. Bottomless drinks, loud music, bright lights, and tons and tons of dancing… Sometimes these industry parties seem more like raves than simple industry mixers. But what can I say? Nerds know how to party. 😛

Gamesradar / Future US at the Conga Room

Wargaming at Exchange L.A.

I’m not a big drinker, but I do enjoy going to gaming parties and having a good time. The Wargaming party actually had a claw machine where you could win swag.

I tried several times, but I didn’t win anything. Someone did manage to get lucky and hook the claw through one of the canteens. A roar of cheers and clapping erupted from the crowd as the canteen slowly made its way to the exit. It was pretty insane watching a group of adults freaking out over a simple claw machine!

All and all, E3 was a pretty fun time (and a good excuse to be out of the office for once!). It’s nice knowing what other gaming companies are up to and it’s nice to see them finally showcase their hard work. Unfortunately, E3 is typically industry only, so a lot of gaming fans don’t get a chance to see what’s behind the doors of the LA Convention Center.

E3 is definitely more geared towards marketing and PR, so it’s a lot less gamer-focused than other conventions such as PAX. Regardless, I still had fun collecting swag from various booths. If you get a chance to go to E3, I highly recommend that you go for the sake of the experience. Just wear comfortable shoes because you’ll be doing a lot of walking!