Back in 2009, I made up a fake company to get a free magazine… ended up getting invited to E3. Never went, never told anyone until now

Yeah, so back in 2009, I wanted a free subscription to a gaming magazine, so I created a fake company called “Game Interactive.” Totally forgot about it until months later when I got an official invite to E3.

I never actually went, and I never told anyone about it… until now.

You should’ve gone to E3, man.

Kai said:
You should’ve gone to E3, man.

I actually went that year. It was decent.

Eli said:

Kai said:
You should’ve gone to E3, man.

I actually went that year. It was decent.

E3 was legendary before they changed it to that weird conference-only setup. 2000 was peak E3—Sega, Sony, and Nintendo all competing, good times.

@Sam
Yeah, I went that year too! EA’s setup was insane. Also got to see SimCity 4 before release. I worked as a bartender near Pasadena, and a lot of game devs were my regulars, so I lucked out.

@Sam
I went a few times around then. The craziest moment for me was seeing the first Half-Life 2 demo. Valve’s booth was so packed they started renting out a hotel room nearby to run private sessions. They even gave out hats!

@Porter
Classic Valve, always giving out hats. :tophat:

@Porter
Just grab a new one when they finally drop Half-Life 3 :wink:

@Porter
Wait, are you sure this was for Half-Life? Sounds kinda sketchy :joy:

@Sam
We’ll never have another event like that again.

@Sam
I went every year from 1998 to 2002. E3 1999 with the Dreamcast was unreal.

@Sam
Wait, what’s the ‘hangar thing’ you mentioned?

Cove said:
@Sam
Wait, what’s the ‘hangar thing’ you mentioned?

Mid-2000s, they tried to make E3 more ‘professional’ by shrinking it down to small industry meetings in a hangar in Santa Monica. It was a disaster. They eventually moved back to the convention center, but it never felt the same after that.

Eli said:

Kai said:
You should’ve gone to E3, man.

I actually went that year. It was decent.

E3 2009 was STACKED:

  • Left 4 Dead 2
  • Assassin’s Creed 2
  • Modern Warfare 2
  • Batman: Arkham Asylum
  • Borderlands 1
  • Resident Evil 5
  • Halo 3: ODST
  • Mirror’s Edge
  • Street Fighter IV
  • Dragon Age: Origins
  • Bayonetta
  • Minecraft (before it blew up!)

If there was ever a year to go, that was it.

@Shane
Hard to find a conference that stacked these days. All the new showcases just have a handful of decent games and a ton of filler.

Remi said:
@Shane
Hard to find a conference that stacked these days. All the new showcases just have a handful of decent games and a ton of filler.

Yeah, back then, the people making games actually cared. Now it’s all about maximizing profit and cranking out soulless live-service garbage.

@Dakota
Also, games took 3-4 years to develop back then. Now? It’s like 6-10 years, and they still feel unfinished. The industry shot itself in the foot by focusing too much on making everything bigger instead of better.

Remi said:
@Shane
Hard to find a conference that stacked these days. All the new showcases just have a handful of decent games and a ton of filler.

Holy crap, that was a crazy year for gaming.

@Kingsley
Fallout 3 had just dropped in 2008 too.

Kai said:
You should’ve gone to E3, man.

Bro, you faked a company to get a free magazine subscription. You probably couldn’t even afford a plane ticket, let alone a hotel in LA during E3.