Final Thoughts From E For All

I didn't really know what to expect from E For All today. I knew it wasn't going to get the support or the crowd that PAX got. It was a Friday, so I'm sure a lot of people had work or school.

I have to say, I was a bit disappointed by the game turnout. The only real games that were shown here was Gears of War 2, Far Cry 2, and End War. Everything else was already out. You had a lot of Rock Band and Guitar Hero going on, which honestly is getting kinda annoying. There were also a lot of kiosks with games already out like Madden and Braid.

I don't know what is in store for E For All in the future. Davethezombie told me it was smaller than last year. Just by walking around the convention center, there was a lot of unused space. It was far more spacious than PAX, but that may have been because of the lack of people. The worst thing in the show had to have been the Target "booth" in the center of the show room. It was basically just a retail video game store sitting in the middle of everything. I don't understand the point of having a store in the middle of a convention you pay money to get into, just so you can buy games at the regular price as they are out on the street.

I did get to meet and talk to a few tournament players, like Triforce, Kuubu, and Justin Wong. But the highlight of the day had to be when I met Steve Wiebe. He's just like he is in the movie. He's kind of a shy guy and doesn't really talk too much. He just kind of does his thing. I was actually at the All Games Booth today when he broke 1 Million points in Donkey Kong and reached the kill screen, so hopefully he'll have a good weekend and take back the record. If there's one thing I'd like to say to him it's that, "With or without the record, I think he's a great guy and a good role model for people to look up to." I think he's taken a lot of crap from people, but he's always been a classy guy and sometimes maybe too nice or a guy. During the show today, I saw a show host (who I won't mention) and Walter Day (From Twin Galaxies) go back and forth calling Steve by the name Billy for half an hour. I'm not sure if anyone found it funny, but I found it a little sick. I have no problem with Walter Day and I've heard that he's a great wonderful guy. But honestly, he comes off to me as a little bit of a Billy Mitchell worshipper, and I truely believe, as nice as he is, that he would not be very happy if Steve Wiebe took back the Donkey Kong Record.

In the end, the most fun I had today was hanging out at the All Games booth. They're a bunch of fun people set up like a family and I enjoyed talking to every one there. I'd like to thank all of them for their hospitality today. Thanks April, Norman, Mandy, Ted, Jessica, Patra and Derrick.
I hope to be able to keep in contact with them and possibly meet up at one of the future events. Also thanks to DavetheZombie for meeting up with me today. I think he was a little intimidated by how tall I was in person. Brad is taller, by the way.

I'm off to San Francisco tomorrow for a wedding,
David