On Sunday, September 23, 2old2play had the opportunity to spend some time with 16 other industry wide gamers/journalists when we were flown out to Seattle by Microsoft to pre-play and ultimately help launch Bungie’s latest and greatest game, Halo 3.
The chosen included some of the known and not so known members of the gaming industry/community including Vicious696, JVB, Foo Mo Jive, AceAttorney, FinsterDexter, Knuckles Dawson, kiki kat, MechAngel, TTL Dweezle, Louis Wu, GalleonEB, Gui J, Blackwolf, BAPenguin, Myles, and Steve519. While I’m sure not all of you know who each member is, I’m sure you at least know of the site names Evil Avatar, HBO, Podtactular, and Gamerscore Blog to name a few. Lucky for me, 2old2play was on that list as well.
All attendees to the Halo 3 Community Lock-in, as it was rightfully titled, got the chance to meet up the night before the events for some good old fashion bar time in the hotel lobby. Like everything else on the trip, Microsoft footed the bill for the alcohol and food while long time fans and admirers got to meet each other for the first time and break the ice with some heavy quantities of spirits and *butterballs.
After about 2 hours of trying to order one Amstel Light I finally settled into the nights conversation as we all discussed everything from games to the industry at large. The organizers of the event and Gamerscore Blog writers, Chris Paladino and Tony Hynes, were gracious enough to stay up with our crew till the wee hours of the night as we finally prepped for our bus ride to Microsoft Studios in the morning. Lucky for them, a large group of us were still a bit jet lagged so only the hard core remained after closing down the bar.
Microsoft Studios
Around 8:00 A.M. we all shuffled into the lobby to await our ride to Microsoft Studios for some heavy pre-release Halo 3 “testing”. Considering the night before you would be surprised to see just how chipper 17 gamers can be at 8am with a hangover when they know gaming is on the horizon. Even with last nights drinking, most of us got out our cameras and notepads as we prepared for full game journalist mode.
When we arrived at the studio we were greeted by Tony Hynes for some pre-event rules and information about Microsoft Studio. We were told not to travel too far outside of our conference rooms without letting them know and to please refrain from taking pictures of the MS office areas. Naturally this was said just as I snapped two photos of the surrounding offices and cubicles. I will say, the journalist in me did search for the underground lair in which Microsoft plans world domination, but with my limited time I didn’t find much.
After a short walk through of some offices, design rooms and the Microsoft kitchen (were all employees drink for free), we finally headed into the conference room. The room was divided by a long table filled with flat screen TVs, Xbox 360 Elites and Halo 3. Eight stations in total made up the space along with 5.1 headsets for each 360. It was here that we were all told attendees would be split into two groups with one group headed to a new conference room. The idea was that each room could connect with each other over Microsoft’s own office LAN so that people could compete or play campaign for the next 12 hours straight.
Of course before this happened we were all told to find our chairs and by locating our swag bag labeled with our gamer tags. I’m not going to get to into what was in the bag, but I did receive a really kick ass custom Halo 3 hoodie and other goodies you can see in the photo gallery. Let’s just say I won’t be treating my gear like Gizmodo did in their Halo 3 Swag Bag toss off.
Once we got settled into our rooms the gaming commenced almost instantaneously. We were told the first couple hours would be secured for campaign mode only, but they quickly found many of us didn’t want to spoil the surprise without our other fellow gamers around to share in the fun. Plus, only a select few of us actually thought to bring out memory cards so any progress made would quickly have to be re-done once we got home. So, after a short while the majority of us abandoned the campaign and moved directly to multiplayer.
While I won’t get into the actual game play, since the game has already been reviewed about 8 million times and is currently being played but the majority of 2old2play, I will say that the group dynamic created some of the greatest LAN moments in my recent memory. Microsoft had pre-created names for each box so that no one would really know what character was who. The blue room was Brute 1-8 while the red room had Spartan 1-8. This allowed the hardcore and beginners to co-mingle without fear of ridicule or over stroked egos. Of course, trash talk ensued as both rooms communicated with each other over an office conference phone (no I’m not kidding), but it was all good natured and fun.
Each match was created by Microsoft and varied from the extremely bizarre, like Hammers on Sandtrap, to team based games like Single Flag on Narrows. Top placers in each round were put on the blackboard and awarded prizes for different stats like most kills, most deaths, most head shots, etc. The rest of the 12 hours was nothing but good food, good company, and a hell of a lot of Game Fuel (which I don’t suggest ever trying).
The Best Buy Launch
At around 9:00 P.M. we were told it was time to pack things up and get on the bus to head to the Best Buy in Bellevue. It was here that we would conclude our night in one of the biggest game launch parties I have ever been a part of.
Each person was given a bag-o-swag to hand out to the rabid fans waiting in line; some of which had been there as early as 2:00 P.M. the day before! At right around 9:15 our tour bus was met with a sea of people and what can only be described as a circus. Pictures can’t even describe the scene and I suggest you all check out on10’s video coverage to see just how crazy things were.
As we departed from the bus we were met by a sea of people (most likely because they thought we were Bungie) as we fought them back by throwing swag into the crowds behind them. Shortly after the chaos subsided, we were able to get a glimpse of the hundreds of gamers lined up around the entire Best Buy and nearby Home Depot. The other Microsoft hype masters in attendance kept the crowd going with chants of Halo 3 along with guys in Master Chief Suits.
To kick things off a group from the Seattle Mariners stopped by and we were escorted into the Best Buy to play one on one against some members of the team. Microsoft was kind enough to allow me to bring BCkinetic, an old friend, long time member, and current Seattle resident into the party so he could team up with me against some baseball pros. Obviously, these guys were not FPS fanatics as 2old2play made short work of them in a matter of minutes. Admittedly, both athletes told me neither was really into FPS and had never played the Halo series before. But hey, a win is a win right?
Once we wrapped up our little press moment with the Mariners we were led back outside where all star football legend Warren Moon was waiting to greet people in line with autographs and photos. At this point I pretty much figured anything could happen since it seemed like anybody and everybody was at this event. Oddly enough, the cameos were far from over.
About an hour after our arrival we were finally greeted by Bungie Studios as the crew came in on the same tour buses we arrived in. The crowed immediately went into an uproar as people in line left their spots to thank each and every member of the team. Ironically, Sketch and other familiar faces from Bungie had been there the entire time as us, but I suppose no one notices unless you get off a giant tour bus.
The highlight for me was getting the opportunity to meet Jen Taylor -- better known as the voice of Cortana along with Halo music composer Marty O'Donnell. As a gamer, I had always been a fan of the music behind Halo and as a journalist it was a great opportunity to final meet the man behind the sound. As for the rest of Bungie, it seemed like everyone from the team, besides Frankie who was at the New York Launch, was there. We spent the rest of the pre-launch time chatting it up with the team and awaiting the final hour of Halo’s release.
At around midnight just when we thought there could be no more surprises left, the Best Buy doors opened up and out walked the big B himself, Bill Gates. The majority of us were told that he would be making an appearance, but I think most of us didn’t believe we would see Bill out at 12 A.M. on a Monday; especially not at a Best Buy. Yet there he was clothed in the same custom Halo 3 hoodie that we all had just received earlier that day. He was nice enough to go around to all the people in line and shake some hands until he finally walked into the Best Buy with the first few in line to sign some copies. I suppose not even Halo 3 can be fully hyped without a little Bill Gates.
Once the line got moving the rest of the time was spent talking to the Bungie crew while they signed some copies of Halo 3 and the occasional body part. Not soon after the party started to whined down and the rest of us headed back to the hotel. For some, the next day was a long trip back to their offices and homes to write reviews. For this gamer, my week had only begun as I spent the next few days hanging out in Seattle with BC and a fresh copy of Halo 3.
Overall, it was a fantastic trip and a great opportunity for smaller sites like ours and others to meet the PR side of Microsoft. It is not very often that communities and journalists such as myself get a chance to bask in the hype that is game promotion, so for that I would just like to say thank you to Microsoft. It’s nice to know that we are noticed and not all swag goes to the big guys. Until the next big event.
*video footage by BAPenguin from Evil Avatar
If you want to see all the photos, head on over to our Flickr photo account page and take a look at the entire trip!
