Tuesday, July 10, 2012

FFZ - Freelancer Fun Zone




Let’s start with a new thing. The name of this column is on longer Unemployment Fun Zone. We have now made the switch to Freelancer Fun Zone. Now all our events will be 15% less fun, however you will still get the best in free and cheap entertainment southern California has to offer. Including at the end of this column, five ways to get into E3.

After a one-year hiatus, yours truly was back in the saddle last week hobnobbing with celebrities and getting pushed around by foreign media just like it always was. E3 itself felt like a rebuilding year for the New York Yankees, there is still some talent there but nowhere near World Series level, in fact it seems as though 2012 will be a stale year for gaming.

For the remainder of 2012, Playstation and Xbox will most likely be relying on Black Ops 2 for driving sales, while Nintendo Wii U will try to capture the magic the Wii had at launch. Yes there is a Halo on the way but in all honesty it doesn’t feel fresh just updated.

Look ahead at 2013, Gears of War and Bioshock both have new games, Playstation will try to copy Nintendo’s Smash Bros with Playstation All Stars Battle Royal.

Only three games at the entire show caught my attention, Ubisoft’s Watch Dog looks bold. Finally, a game where machines talk to me and I can talk right back, seems as if it was right out of a science fiction story.  Though not being a fighting game fan, Injustice from the makers of Mortal Kombat caught me like a Liu Kang fireball.  The game has an instant appeal to comic fans, during the demo I caught a glimpse of Superman tossing Flash into the atmosphere and spiking him back down to the pavement. Injustice definitely earns a penned in spot on my want list. Best of show went to Naughty Dog studio’s The Last Of Us. A post apocalyptic thrill ride combining intense action with very good character driven story telling = innovation.

Ok now that the show is over you might be asking, how do I get into one of these industry only shows?
There are many different ways to get in that won’t get you arrested or ripped off by craigslist:

1)   Work for the industry in any capacity, while retail attendees are being denied there are still hundreds of positions that qualify, even career college students can go.
2)   Xbox live has contest for guest passes to the show, see Xbox live for details next year
3)   Most of the people at the booths do not work for the companies directly. Models, brand ambassadors, and people willing to dress up in costumes are hired weeks before the show every year, check casting sites and craigslist.
4)   Start a media channel in a blog and you tube, there were so many media badges with names I’ve never heard of it made me nauseous. One group of foreigners was filming an interview with an Iphone.
5)   Goes with number 1, freelance in any capacity for the companies and make friends. These companies have hundreds of guest passes for people they work with throughout the year.
There it is E32012 in five minutes. Next year, I’ll be getting an additional twenty people into the show be sure to tune into the blog for details. 
- David

No comments: