After two days of the kind of luck at the tables that can only be obtained by not having your head in the game or a Gypsy curse, I landed at LAX in desperate need of a "win," so I wasted no time in getting out to the event. After dropping off my luggage and retrieving my wristbands from my mailbox, I picked up my partner in crime and lunch and began my trek to the desert.
The invite had stated that the grounds were opening at noon and cautioned about not arriving sooner, however, we would come to find out that the event itself didn't open up until 5:00 PM and even then, the hanger doors would open two hours after that. This was a surprise to many who were already standing in line for entry into the event when I arrived around 3:00 PM on Sunday afternoon… all details that were left off out of the various emails and websites detailing the event. What they did mention was obviously the cause of the delayed entry, a very high level of security, such as matching IDs to wristband bar codes and guests needing to enter with the registered entrant and so forth. As we would see, while this level of security was used in the beginning, it would eventually fall by the wayside. But now, fully informed of the wait ahead of us, my sidekick and I found a place in line and waited for entry.
While we were waiting, Becky walked the length of the crowd and returned with reports of various combinations of multi-shirt layering, a count on handheld gaming devices by company, and a detailed report on how the women in attendance were dressed (mostly like the guys, but more colorful and with better shoes). She was also able to snag a couple of different schedule cards for when we could get in line to buy our consoles the next day. However, no matter what time you made your purchase, you weren't getting the actual box until 9:00 PM on Monday night.
Eventually, we made our way to the entry gate. The aforementioned Gestapo level of security had been reduced slightly, which made for what was sure to be a faster entry into the event. However, this didn't matter as much now since there were still two hours to wait before the actual opening of the event… two hours of watching the sun set into the desert sands and realizing why we needed to dress warmly as it got cold with a quickness you only see in movies about Mars.
Microsoft did manage to keep us mostly entertained and comfortable with a DJ spinning tracks high atop a large tower next to a light show of various logos shown on the hanger doors while the early arrivals positioned themselves on marshmallow-like bean bag chairs at the front of the line. Luckily enough, the food lines and beer garden were open for business, as Becky was getting hungry, and if you don't feed her on time, she's been known to pick a weak gamer from the herd and eat him in front of you… I saw it once after a night of clubbing, it's not pretty.
Eventually, the music died down and the voices of Microsoft's Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA Architect J. Allard, and Corporate Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Publishing Peter Moore crackled over the speakers to welcome the crowd to the event and gave the signal to open the hanger doors. Bright white and green lights poured from the opening and revealed an entire hanger full of gamer heaven.
Like treasure hunters walking towards El Dorado, the crowd of gamers made their way through the hanger doors and towards the collection of low tables and bean bags featuring all the available launch games for the Xbox 360, which would arrive just 26 hours from now. Unfortunately, the later than anticipated start time would put a kink in my plans since, as I was arriving in Los Angeles, I received an "I'm in town, have dinner with me" phone call from your favorite search marketing columnist, Kevin Ryan. After losing all that cash to the Wynn Empire that weekend, I'd take all the free meals I could get, however this meant that I would need to cut night one short.
<PREV NEXT: Day Two: Fast Cars, Bloodshed and Krumping>
