Ryan MacDonald
Frank Adams
Dan Mihoerck
Homer Rabara
Takeshi Hiraoka
Jim Maybury
Tyler Winegarner
Justin Porter
Anthony Errisuriz

Last but not least, I wouldn't have been able to do any of the packaging without Charles Harrington's effort to round up boxes, packaging, and tape (difficult to get in the office!).

Feel free to use my blog to post your pics if you have any worth sharing of your game rooms or decorations.

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When I lived in Texas for a couple of years I also had the same problem at home because A/C was used about 8 out of 12 months a year. Much like there is heated handles for scooter and motorcycles, have any of you seen that many heated keyboards? If so, do you have any recommendations?

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Two other examples that just about everyone has problems with is giblets and id Software. I know this because I have talked to many gamers in person about the Quake series. People can't believe it's pronounced as jiblets. As for id software, people call them 'I.D. Software.' When they pronounced it that way it almost sounds like they are talking about a company that makes software for databases that involve identification cards or passports. teehee.

Are there any words you pronounce wrong or is this just something I have done all of my life?

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There are a few things that have been a little awkward with the camera angles, but the positives have outweighed this problem a great deal. I originally found myself going around in circles or trying to figure out how to place the camera in angles I wanted. I could not tell if it was related to playing MMOs or if it was a mouse sensitivity problem. The problem isn't there as much now that I have played for a couple of hours, but there are still occasions it will happen. Anyone else having this problem?

Although I do think the graphics aren't up to today's awesomeness, I have been craving a game like this for too long.... it really doesn't matter to me right now. In fact, I have to say Oblivion turned me off within the first hour because it lacked the gameplay that Baldur's Gate had. *shields herself from the rotten tomatoes you throw*

The cut scenes with the story so far have been interactive enough to allow me to enjoy every moment. I also like how much the blood splats on the characters after a fight. haha.

Here are some additional tidbits on what I've experienced so far. I tried to be vague to avoid having any spoilers for this blog.

Tuesday night [aka game release day!]

- Spent nearly 2 hours trying to find things to remove on my computer to make room for 20gb. I am sure removing World of Warcraft would have helped a great deal but I refused to reinstall it. During the time I went through files and programs on my computer I also watched ABC's new show called V.

- After my installation there was a message about my drivers being out of date, but I decided to ignore it. I already wasted so much time on making space on the PC. Prior to the deletion hunt I also cooked dinner and submitted homework. By the time I saw this error message I was anxious to play even if it crashed. During the story cut scene it did have a little problems but not enough to fix the driver problem right away.

- Spent an hour alone creating my Warrior. Part of it was figuring out the races and classes to determine who I would end up playing long term. I did apply my BG and BF2 experiences in this area to determine who I might have the most fun with. I ended up going for a human warrior because BG & BG2 used to have characters that were rogue to tamper with locked chests and doors. I spent some time on the tattoo on her face to make her look almost like rock star warrior with flaming red hair.

- I go through the first part talking to my father and his friend. Then, I realized it was almost 2am in the morning so I quit the game to get some rest only to wake up wanting to play. I was pretty anxious to get home yesterday too!

Wednesday night

- Updated my graphics card drivers.

- I had a chance to play a bit more last night. Sir Gilmore is teh hotness. I automatically grew a crush on him after a few conversations before and after the dog in the kitchen problem (is that vague enough not to spoil anything?).

- The difficult part about this game is how the prejudice against the elves is quite believable - so much that it bothers me. I don't like the way the humans treat the servants. I have to say I want to tell them off in the game for mistreating them, but there has been no option to yet.

- I am curious about what the Grey Warden is all about. I am currently at the point where I am doing a 'joining' quest with 3 warriors, which is where I saved the game last night because it was 2am in the morning. If I am not careful, I will be up until 6 or 8am, which would be bad! Late nights are best for the weekends.

- There seems to be a kind of softness about the way the warriors deal with me as a female in the game. They do not mistreat me for being a female warrior or act like I am another man in the game. It is almost as if they treat me better because I'm 'female' and 'human'. The warriors I am currently dealing are gentle with me and they seem to appreciate that I am female. They also jest about being female a little, but not too much where I am being criticized. Obviously, I haven't enjoyed any RPG in years, which means that I haven't played through every RPG to know if this happens in them. Feel free to share any games you have experienced this kind of interaction with female and male players. The role playing games I used to play either treated me like a man for being a woman warrior, or they mistreated me like I was wrong for being a female warrior.

- Alistair happened to remind me of a wrestler in the sense that he thought he was THE man. He started off like that but softened up a bit. At one point I told him that I looked forward to working with him. He responded with something on the lines of, "Huh. Oh, really? hmm..." I wondered if he thought I was flriting or if he thought I was being suspicious. The conversations with the other characters in the game are much like an interactive movie with your plot unfolding based on your own actions in the game. I heard about this kind of interaction happening with Mass Effect, but when I tried playing the game it didn't interest me (/hides).

- Addition thanks to Joesocwork's comment reminding me about the excitement I had when I had a few players join my party last night. Once I finally got to exploring I forgot how much I missed this style of gameplay. I liked being able to play other characters, but Dragon Age Origins adds some interesting elements because I can change the combat style and a couple of other things about how the players will react in my party. I would also compare it to my experience with World of Warcraft as a hunter. I never feel like I am alone in combat because I have the pet. In this game I normally have a couple of people in my party to help out.

I look forward to sharing more thoughts if anyone else is interested in my Dragon Age Origins journey! If I have any spoilers next time I'll be sure to hide them.

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If I get some time I'll share my stories about my experience with the game versus the Baldur's Gate games I have adored.

*chants* Old school Baldur's Gate fans unite! */chants*

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With this week's course materials, I read some information about there being cultural simulations, which is required training for those who plan to relocate to another country. Do any of you know of any interactive cultural simulations; either a free java game or simply a retail game that also has some of these elements that involve dealing with other cutural behaviors or methods?

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Some old files I had with wallpaper is located on my old fan site located here. Each of the navigation menus also have some different logos I made when the game was released years ago. I'm sure the Beyond Good & Evil gamespace has images too.

Since I have so little time with work and evening/weekend school to create my own image kit, would someone create a signature that says to vote for her in the game heroes feature? You know, she does have a fierce opponent!

The best signature [follow the campaign rules] will receive a t-shirt and some other little schwag items I can send you!

UPDATE: Still looking for some Jade signatures! Have one so far (haven't checked link yet), but I'll continue to accept them until 4pm PT today. Any kind of border or bevel would be pretty awesome on the edges! You could also do a silhouette of her although she has some awesome green eyes!

UPDATE 2: Thanks for making the image kits! I'll showcase everyone's (any anyone else who makes any later in the submission thread) in a future blog post. As for the winner, it was whitemute and ClayMeow because I had a hard time choosing! Congrats.

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To give you a little history about my friend's daughter her mom used to be pretty big into Quake 3 Rocket Arena and was a skilled player at rail in particular (hard weapon to master). She also used to do some gamecasting (play by play for tournament matches) for Quake 3. When her daughter (the one you'll see doing most of the sound affects) was almost 2 years old she would often quote the Quake 3 timer. So, picture a baby stating 3, 2, 1 FIGHT! in baby talk.

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I figured out that G.I. Joe was a root that caused me to get big into the Command & Conquer series in the late 90s. I loved that original game with so much passion, I knew most multiplayer mode strategies like the helicopter rush, nod bike rush and the terms used such as No HT. There was a huge community on the Mplayer multiplayer service; naturally I learned a lot of what I knew from those who played the game competitively. There's more of a rich history about the discrimination I faced as a female gamer at that time, but I will save that story for another day.

This weekend I created a silly video where I interview myself. I dressed up as a blonde host and interviewed my real self. Figured that if there is anything you all should consider is this... when you love something so much, consider the reasons behind that passion. There might be more to it than you may think. Being passionate about certain game genres comes from somewhere, and it is highly likely something to do with your past.

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Share your thoughts! Especially in regards to the Soapbox and what you'd like to read more about.

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I find users confused about how the Soapbox feature works;the two that come up the most frequently include:

- Why are some users featured more frequently than the next user?

- How do I get added.

Many inactive blog writers were removed earlier this year, but we still have roughly around 80 users in the SoapBox rotation. So, the next time you wonder about why certain users are featured and others are not, consider checking other GameSpot member profiles to see if they have the soapbox emblem. Ask them when they plan to create another editorial.

Soapbox Emblem

If you find that a specific user should no longer be featured you are welcome to send me a PM about it. I'll get to it at my earliest convenience.

Lastly, if you want to be featured in the Soapbox know that the opportunity should always be considered a temporary status. GameSpot Staff may remove or add users at any time. Posting one amazing editorial blog may get you noticed, but having a history posting editorial blogs also gets them noticed.

I have provided some areas to consider before you end up flagging your blog with the 'editorial' drop down, which willl be reviewed by GameSpot staff.

- Always write your blog articles with good enough grammar and mechanics. Don't forget to use spell check and grammar programs as they provide better comprehension among all of the GameSpot members.

- Do answer your own questions through research and thought. Remember, your audience (GameSpot friends and readers) are pretty savvy about these games so consider their knowledge when you write your editorial.

- Don't forget to explain to the non-gamer at times. There are some newer registrants that may not understand the gaming industry like the next person. Occasionally explain terms if you happen to think it is not broad knowledge to everyone.

- Colored text or fancy fonts is a no-no. Why? They distract the reader. Consider using bolded fonts or italics when absolutely needed. All caps is obviously not helpful unless you are yelling in your blog. Who wants comments of users asking you about why you are yelling at them though?

- One editorial is grand, but having a history of posting them is also considered by Staff. The reason for this is because we want to be sure someone is going to update their blog with an editorial at least once every few months. We realize that it can take weeks of research, but not updating with an editorial blog after a year may have the user's Soapbox status expire.

That should get you all started!

Lastly, if you don't want your blogs to be reviewed by GameSpot staff do not flag your blogs under the editorial drop down. Thanks for reading.

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You will also need to tell me why you should receive it compared to the next GameSpot member. How much did you watch our live shows back then? How long have you been a registrant? How many posts do you have? What GameSpot profile level are you? How often do you make blogs or post in the forums?

Doesn't have to be an essay, just answering one of those questions or explaining your background in some way is fine.

UPDATE at 3:32pm on 7/17: Everyone who has contacted me have had their packages sent out. I no longer have any 2004 DVDs, but I do have about 20 more E3 2003 DVDs with another older GS DVD to hand out. Continue to send your emails through out the weekend. I'll ship out the remainder of packages early next week.

UPDATE at 4:13pm on 7/20: I miscalculated. I think I had 30 more and so I sent out about 11 packages this morning. I still have about 20 more packages so feel free to send the request through PM or email.

UPDATE at 9:17am on 7/21: Reteesh posted a picture of the DVDs he received. That shows 2 of the 4. The thumbnail for the DVD picture seems to be bugged at the moment though.

UPDATE at 11:14am on 7/23: Some of you are getting fancy at showing off your DVDs! Check out DaNuTz- and elektrixxx's photography madskillz!

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UPDATE: They are all gone!

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----------

On Thursday morning I got up at 5am because I went to bed at 9pm. I headed out to the booth early after having breakfast with Guy, Ashley and Sophia. The purpose of getting to the booth early was to ask some editors and staff about how their E3 is gong for them and what they had to do before E3 was over on the last day. Check out the four part series I did on the last day!

Video 1
- Last day the four of us went to eat at the hotel because we had the same breakfast every day at the GameSpot E3 booth.
- Guy shared a few things he planned to do for the day.
- This was Ashley's first E3.
- I show the food we've had every single morning.
- Tyler talks briefly about the Splash Damage's Brink game.
- Marco from the data team shares his experience about how E3 is going.
- Kayvan from movietome.com talks about his experience of the show.

Video 2
- Homer loves Mass Effect; shares a comparison of 2005 booth versus 2009 GameSpot booth, and is not interested in the Old Republic game. I tell him to talk to the hand.
- I ask Brian about his thoughts on future Sports MMOs
- Shaun loses his witty super powers early in the morning. It's so extremely rare to see him like this so be kind to him!

Video 3
- Tor shares his thoughts about how well it went this year.
- Dan and Laura from GS AU talk briefly about how their E3 went. IT was Laura's first year!
- A super tired Justin Calvert shares his thoughts about this year and games he needed to play before the show ended.
- Kim Cuartero from the data team talks about tennis and skateboarding
- Kevin VanOrd talked about games that were missing on the show floor and more!
- Chris Watters' shares his experience of the show and there is a clip of a segment he hosted.

Video 4
- Giancarlo has returned to GameSpot! He talks about his history with E3 and we welcome him back to the team! It's so great to have someone who shares the same love of gaming, but also has a history with GameSpot and E3.

- Ryan MacDonald explains how E3 went as the primary host for the show. He could have had much more sleep, but rarely did early into the show. He also thanks the team for all of their effort this year.

- A quick circle around the GameSpot stage.

---------------------------------------

Here's my best of E3 list!

Games, Games, Games
Best trailer: The Old Republic
Best press conference: Microsoft
Most intriguing: Singularity
Most edgy: Brutal Legend (come on, there is a hot rod!)
The best of rhythm games: DJ Hero
Most fun looking: Spyborgs
A game that made me believe in rocket/jet packs again: DarkVoid

Guests on the E3 stage show!
Majority of the guests were uber neat to deal with during the preparation of getting them ready for the stage show. Here are some that I stamp as teh awesome!

- Randy Pitchford was on stage for Gearbox's Borderlands game. He was one of the most energetic of the guests that were on the show; behind scenes and on screen. Super cool guy.

- Peter Sokal was on stage for id Software's Wolfenstein game. He seemed the most familiar. I thought I knew him for some reason, but it may be because he reminds me of how Rich Gallup was when I first met him.

- Most of the Harmonix crew for the Beatles game were all pretty awesome, including Alex Navarro. I've seen Alex so much over the past year, it is almost like he's still working with us. lol.

- Daryl Allison who talked about Spyborgs was a gentleman behind scenes and looked a bit like Greg Kasavin

- Ray Muzyka was a cool guy to talk to! While he was waiting to get on the stage for Mass Efect 2 I asked him how it felt being in one of the hoods for the press conference. He said it's incredible difficult to see walking up the stairs. Sounds like the whole crew had to pace themselves.

- TMNT dudes were also pretty neat to deal with. They reminded me of wrestlers, though.

- Lastly, I talked to two of the EA/Dragon Age guys that didn't get on stage. I didn't get their names. They seemed surprised that I was a Baldur's Gate fan.

There were more, but these are the people who stood out no matter how hectic it became behind scenes.

GameSpot Staff
Most dedicated: Sophia Tong
Best captain of setup/stage producer/teardown: Frank Adams
Best E3 virgin: Ashley Denton
Best host: Ryan MacDonald
Best laugh: Brian Ekberg
Requires a long load time before booting up: Shaun McInnis
Knows what to say at all times: Kevin VanOrd
Always energized: Chris Watters
Most informative: Lark Anderson
Most relaxed: Guy Cocker
One to ignore: Homer Rabara
Most fun to talk to: Luke Anderson (yeah, having an accent helped)
IT Wonder: Thomas Woods (he also helped remove furniture from stage for majority of the rhythm games)

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Monday's conferences had lots of things I enjoyed, but being a big goober about Star Wars I was super excited about seeing the trailer for Old Republic. I posted quick video of that on Monday.

I saw pieces of the press conferences on Tuesday, but my primary duty was to get ready for the guests that would be on the show. The best part of the live stage shows on Monday was the Rock Band Beatles portion. I am not a big fan of every Beatles song, I think that was more my mother's generation of music, but I wouldn;t say I don't like them. They have some soothing music. So, it is kind of funny that I liked this stage demo a lot.The other game was Brutal Legend. I posted a video about how the official day 1 went on Tuesday, which also includes what I needed in my apron. I also mention some people you may know.

Now heading down to the convention center.

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Video 1: E3 2009 packing video has some of the necessities for my trip down to Los Angeles. I was super happy about getting a new apron.

Video 2: Monday's adventure consisted of traveling down to Los Angeles and helping the GS Live staff with setting up the stage area. I helped out with a lot of wiring of the consoles and got the camera station ready for batteries. The interesting part, which isn't described too well this morning, was trying to pair up the battery chargers with the batteries. Having so many kinds was crazy, but it made it that much more interesting and fun.

I'll see you in the chatroom today. Tomorrow through THursday might not be nearly as easy to chit-chat as I'll be handling the guests that get up on the stage.

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