E3 - Day 2 Recap
The second day of the E3 Expo exhibits was a bit disappointing. All I had left to cover was Kentia hall, which, as I discovered was basically the basement of the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC).
And it was to there that lesser known companies were relegated.
The companies in the LACC Dungeon seemed to be a blend of foreign software developers (Asian and Russian for the most part), smaller distributors of video game software and hardware, companies which specialized in DVD and CD media repair (I never realized there were so many of them!), alternative game controller makers, and a few random entities thrown in between.
Among the alternative game controllers was a mouse replacement which looks like a handgun - once I figured out where all the mouse button equivalents were in the demo FPS they had set up, it was pretty easy to use, and certainly more intuitive than a mouse. Company is MonsterGecko and the product is known by the innovative name of “PistolMouse”. Just make sure you don’t pack it in your carry on if you’re planning on flying.
Speaking of fake weapons resulting in one’s arrest at TSA airport check points, THQ was giving out toy hand grenades in support of their forthcoming title, Company of Heroes.
If you pull the tab on the top it causes the hand grenade to rumble. I asked the booth staff about the wisdom of handing out toy weapons in this age of excess paranoia at airports, and they just laughed it off. In face, I was told that the THQ media rep had one in his carry on and the TSA staff, once they realized it was a toy, let him keep it. The TSA folks I’ve dealt with in the past haven’t seemed quite as lenient. So, erring in favor of safety and wanting to avoid potential incarceration, I think I’ll be leaving this little baby for the maid at the hotel to clean up.
I’ll be adding more E3 and video game related commentary here in the coming days as I work my way through my notes from the show. Of course, some of my more in depth work will show up as articles in Monday’s TechWatch.
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