IGN Live
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Re: IGN Live
Posted by satchmo on Fri Oct 21st at 1:09am 2005


As part of my birthday present this year, my wife is taking me to this in the coming weekend.

Watching all my favorite games on the big screen must be a treat.



"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge



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Re: IGN Live
Posted by rs6 on Fri Oct 21st at 1:21am 2005


Nice.

Tell us how the Xbox 360 is.




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Re: IGN Live
Posted by satchmo on Fri Oct 21st at 5:04am 2005


I'll take pictures for sure, and I'll probably write about the experience in my blog (and also post it here).

I wonder whether it's possible to get people to play my custom HL1/HL2 maps there.



"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge



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Re: IGN Live
Posted by Dark|Killer on Fri Oct 21st at 11:04am 2005


Hey dude, you're so damn lucky, can you record a video and post it up here ??
If you can, that would be cool <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif">



.::Dark|Masta::. - One name. One legend.



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Re: IGN Live
Posted by satchmo on Fri Oct 21st at 5:01pm 2005


I don't have a camcorder, but I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.


"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge



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Re: IGN Live
Posted by satchmo on Mon Oct 24th at 4:38am 2005


*** Long text warning ***

Today will go down in history as one of my most memorable birthdays. My wife had made T-shirt for me for the event. It's a black T-shirt with the words "got pwnd?" in the back. I am so lucky to be spoiled by her.

She took me to IGN Live, a gaming convention in Anaheim. The anticipation had been building for days now, and as we neared the building, we could already spot nerds of all sizes spilling onto the street. It's a sight to behold. I've always felt a special kinship to those who take gaming as seriously as I do.

As soon as we entered the building, I spotted Lara Croft in her sexy little outfit. When we made our way inside the convention hall, more video game characters came to live. The costume contest really inspired these people to go all out to show off just how hard-core they are.

The attedants was an eclectic bunch. The front of the convention hall was dominated by skateboarders with their skating games. They even had an arena to let them let loose on their boards. There were numerous stations for F.E.A.R. fans to test their hands at deathmatches. Being a faithful Half-Life fan, I headed straight to the back of the room, where the Counter-Strike tournament was taking place.

Playing CS:S over the internet was one thing, but watching teams playing against each other was an entirely different experience. These seasoned fighters coordinated with each other with complex strategy that's simply unheard of over an anonymous network of strangers. It's like watching a professional live jazz band, with each member contributing to the team effort with virtuosity. It almost brought tear to my eyes.

As the competition whittled down the teams, I became attached to one particular team. They're called "One Eyed Zombler" or something strange like that. I had a chance to briefly chat with them, and I found out some of the members were from Sacramento, some from Arizona, and some from Southern California. They have played with each other as a team over the internet, but never met in person before. It's quite astonishing that they have such rapport with each other without ever meeting.

They were good, and their skills earned them a place to the final game. After a few rounds of DUST2, they tied the game with the other team. The final rounds were played on TRAIN. One of the team members had a stuffed cow on top of his monitor. I found out that it's a gift from his girlfriend, who is in Switzerland at the moment. Whenever he scored a kill, he would kiss it. At the beginning of each round, he would rub it for good luck. It's quite endearing.

As the combat wore on, the excitement mounted. The air turned electric with battle cries and dull booms of exploding grenades. Ultimately, they were eliminated from the final after an intense fight. They got their second place prizes, but it's not the same. There's no glory for the second best, and it's hard to watch their disappointment wash over their faces.

The coordinators handed out free stuff throughout the tournament, but I was intially hesitant to be aggressive at getting them. After watching the intense battle on screen, I was kicking and screaming with the best of them. My enthusiasm eventually won me a free Logitech headset with microphone. My wife also scored me a T-shirt. She later told me that she literally ripped the shirt from another person's hands. I was touched.

However, my wife was outraged by the outcome of the costume contest. Out of all the contestants, only one of them was male. The rest are mostly skimpily dresed girls flashing their assets. Some had impressively made outfit, but for some reason, the guy who dressed up as Link won. My wife thought for all sacrifice those girls made in exposing their body, they are much more deserving for the honor. I tend to agree. But I think the nerds ultimately sympathized with one of their own.

I also spotted the famed FragDolls at the Halo 2 booth. They kicked some serious ass with the other teams. Now I have a newfound repect for them. They deserve to be taken seriously, and they are not just eye candies for the gaming nerds.

After the convention, we went out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant. I couldn't have asked for a better day to celebrate my birthday.

-----

You can check out some pictures I took at my blog: http://www.livejournal.com/users/youngmd



"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge



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Re: IGN Live
Posted by ReNo on Mon Oct 24th at 12:12pm 2005


Sounds like you had a lotta fun mate, happy birthday <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif"> It certainly seems like you are one lucky guy <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">







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