T-shirt count for today = 8.  That brings the grand total to 23.  I can never again complain about not having a diverse wardrobe of video game t-shirts with unconvincing slogans.

I arrived a little earlier than the previous days only because it opened an hour earlier AND it was Saturday, a day that would likely see a large turnout.  Being that 110 traffic was light and my new secret subterranian parking spot was just as easily accessible as the previous two days, I got there in no time to find an even smaller group than the last two days (even though I was there with roughly the same amount of time prior to door opening).  This did not bode well for the event, but it got me on the floor nice and quick.  However, over the course of the day, the place started to fill up, with about 50-70% more people than the previous days.  Not a stunning improvement, but it was definitely a bigger crowd, which meant it was harder to get repeated plays on Super Smash Bros Brawl and get free t-shirts.  Plus, the show was an hour shorter.  I was surprised at how much of a difference this made in my schedule.  The raffles scattered throughout the hall were all happening at the same time, which meant for the first time at E for All that I had to miss out on something to be at something else, weighing my odds.  It almost felt like Comic-Con for a minute there...

When I wasn't jumping from raffle to raffle in hopes of hearing my name or number (this was the same exact spot where I won the Obi-Wan bust at Star Wars Celebration IV 5 months prior), I played a few random games and even entered some gaming competitions.  X-Fire wanted to include those people who might have been a little intimidated by all of the guitar playing and first person shooting, so they opted to give people a chance to do some minesweeping!  Yes, Minesweeper.  The game that's included with every Windows installation.  The one that you play at work when you're not sneaking a peek at INFUZE or doing actual work.  Apparently I haven't spent nearly as much time playing it at work as some people, because I think it was the first gaming tournament that included a 40-something soccer mom type in the finals.

But I really found my niche when I decided to give the Ms Pac-Man competition a try at the Namco booth.  To play, we were given the choice of playing on a tiny Sprint cell phone (3 lives per play, plus the ability to gain additional lives) or on a full-size machine (only 1 life per play).  Everyone opted for the 1 life arcade machine.  Why?  Because as nice as the games looked on the phones, they were difficult to use.  The keypad often gave you the impression you were pressing down when you were really pressing the center button, which did nothing.  BAM!  You're dead.  And don't get me started on the games constantly pausing whenever I would excitedly let my thumb slip outside the four way pad;  I think I spent more time unpausing the game than I did gobbling dots.  I think my best score on the little phones was somewhere around 13,000, but it wasn't enough to compete with the other gamers at this show.  When I gave the full-size one-life machine a try, my odds improved considerably.  I was actually at the top of the charts for a good 3 or 4 hours with a high score of 23,320.  The finals weren't until 5pm, so I killed more time playing some games...

Super Mario Galaxy - Wii - Next to Super Smash Bros Brawl, this was the most anticipated Nintendo game at the show.  Sure, it was showcased last year at E3 along with everything else Wii-related, but instead of being hidden in a special invitation-only window-walled room, it was right inside the front door at E for All.  The lines never seemed as long as the playtime each person seemed to get in front of me, but when I finally got to play it, I took on the opportunity to become Bee Mario.  Flighty and fuzzy with an aversion to water, Bee Mario and I completed the entire level within my allotted 10 minutes, which ended with me draped in yellow and black stripes and antennae, crawling over the body of a bigger, fuzzier momma bee who had an itch to scratch.  The cause of that itch just happened to be the 5 pieces of the star I needed to complete the course.  This is the first game of this type since the legendary Super Mario 64 was released with the launch of the Nintendo 64 (natch).  I still haven't finished the original Super Mario 64 more than 10 years later (although I've gotten much, much further on the Nintendo DS port of that game).  If the Super Mario 64 drained away every spare moment of your life back in the 90s, odds are that Galaxy will too.  It makes perfect use of the Wii controllers to fight off enemies and to move around worlds that are barely much bigger than Mario himself (if you've played Zelda for the Wii, then you've already got a head start on the basic controller setup).  But there is no such thing as up or down.  Gravity, distance, and direction are determined by the world you're on, adding a whole new dimension to game play.  There are still plenty of the usual jump, kick, and slide levels, but it's the other parts that convince you that you've never played a Super Mario game like this before.  But if that's so, why does it seem so (wonderfully) familiar?  Don't let the trippy new locales and wacky Wii control scheme scare you.  If you're a Super Mario fan like me, you'll want to conquer the entire Galaxy in no time... (as soon as I finish Twilight Princess... someday...)

Smarty Pants - Wii - This is a Trivial Pursuit type game for the Wii that's actually kind of physical.  To spin the category selection wheel, you have to crank your Wiimote in the air and nudge the slowing wheel to a topic more to your liking as your opponents nudge back.  To "buzz in", it's just a simple quick upward flick of your Wiimote.  There are challenges and wagers made by target shooting and all sorts of things you wouldn't imagine in a trivia game, but Nintendo knows how to make a good interactive party game and Smarty Pants is no exception.  With over 20,000 questions (unfortunately, the game currently doesn't have the ability to download more questions directly from the Wii's internet connection), this game has the potential to entertain and challenge any group of trivia nuts for a long time (yes, it will skew the questions toward the average age of the participants, which you enter before you start the game).

Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots - PS3 - Thankfully, my media badge weaseled me past the continuous 3+ hour long line to view and play this highly anticipated game.  Now, I must confess that I'm not a PS3 player.  I hate dual analog sticks and avoid them whenever possible (see the post earlier in the week where I said I was a PC gamer for life), but I wanted to play this game because I actually never played a Metal Gear Solid game in my life and wanted to know what all the fuss was about.  I still don't know how to slit a man's throat from behind, no matter how sneaky I am.  And, no, I can't aim a gun to save my life (literally), but I enjoyed what I could do right (sneak around... until I actually had to take somebody out).  The game looks gorgeous, with a richness of detail in the terrain and atmosphere that is stunning.  I can see why everyone's in such a lather about this game and I would be too if I got to take more than 10 minutes to re-teach myself how to use a PS controller every time I pick one up (usually once a year at a convention).  I mean, if Sony or Konami wants to send me a PS3, I'll be happy to take it and practice every day at it until I can give a review that touches on every single detail of the game properly.  Just sayin'...

World in Conflict - PC - If PCs are my platform of choice, then RTS's are my game style of choice.  Give me an 3/4 isometric view and the ability to click-drag and select my troops as my factories churn out tanks and I'm a happy man.  World in Conflict has everything I'm looking for in a Real Time Strategy game.  It took a little getting use to since I was raised on EA's Command and Conquer standards, but once I finally figured out which army was mine, I was blasting my way through a campain that had my men clearing out anti-aircraft guns, setting up drop zones on a hopeless mission to prevent our enemies from taking over the world (I didn't have time to learn the storyline, but I suppose the game title says enough).  I don't know how much time I lost playing this.  I guess I'm a much better single player than a team player, but at least I know what I like.  I've stopped buying games for now as I never seem to have the time to finish them (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, numerous Star Wars games, Company of Heroes, and at least 3 Zelda games remain unfinished to date - and those are just the ones I can remember), but if I were going to buy a new RTS, it would be World in Conflict (and probably Command and Conquer 3, because its never let me down).

De Blob - Wii - I'm not sure what to make of this game (nor am I sure why it's "de" and not "the Blob").  If you like the idea of being a blob that rolls around in paint to colorize a dreary 3D colorless world, then this game is for you.  It took me a little while to remember that the Wii controllers are motion activated, so I kept rolling around the same spot for awhile, not sure what to do. But once I did figure it out, I was bouncing around every which way, coloring things blue, purple, orange, red, yellow, blue and green... the whole primary and secondary color palette!  It might be great for the kids or the stoned art student avoiding his or her latest project the night before finals, but I just didn't get the point of it all.  But I also couldn't put it down for a good 15 minutes...

Universe at War - PC - Another RTS that looks way too spectacular and complicated for words on those big, sexy hi-def flat screens running on top of the line machines, which again left me wondering just what I was doing (or who I was) when I grabbed the mouse.  My playtime ended quickly after some frustration, but I wouldn't mind spending a little more time together to see how things work out between us...

Quick Hits:

• Stuntman Ignition - Xbox360 - I'm a very bad stuntman.  Michael Bay would fire me if he didn't use so much CGI.
• Mario Party DS - Nintendo DS - If you loved the party atmosphere of the previous outings, you'll love the ability to play BY YOURSELF... against the computer (although I'm sure there's a wireless network play option... right?  I gotta check on that...)
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars - PC - I've played Quake before, but I've forgotten how to get inside a vehicle.  Oh, that's right, back when I played Quake, there was no such thing as vehicles in a first person shooter.  Thanks, Halo.
• Link's Crossbow Training - Wii - Bundled with the Wii Zapper, this makes good use of the gun-like setup for your Wii controllers by running you through a gauntlet of various target shooting challenges, but I can't help but think I'd do better if I just kept the nunchuk at my side and pointed the Wiimote and aimed as I've always done... 
• Guitar Hero III - Xbox360 - I still haven't played it.  Or any Guitar Hero game for that matter.  If I have time between Ms Pac-Man games on Sunday, I'll give it a try... but there are too many 8 year olds playing hard mode at all the stations to make me believe my innate video game skills will somehow outweigh my innate ability to so easily make a fool of myself.

Back to Ms Pac-Man:  I was soon bumped down to 5th place by some guys who were scoring in the 60 and 70 thousands.  But I tried again and bumped myself up to 27,210, keeping me solidly in the top 5.  When 5 o'clock rolled around, contestant #4 didn't show up, putting me into his spot.  We each played the full-size machine in the reverse order of our ranking, making me 2nd to play.  I got 23,070, beating player #5 by about 6,000 points.  Players in 2nd and 3rd place, who were clearly much better players than I, ran into some bad luck and couldn't beat my high score.  But when the top player stepped in front of the machine, it was all over (he beat me by 3,000 points by the time the ghosts took him down).  I beat and was beaten by some amazing players, so I was happy to take 2nd place (I got a t-shirt and mousepad).  But that doesn't mean I'm done.  Tomorrow is another day and you can bet we'll all be back to try again for the exclusive t-shirt, mousepad, limited edition Pac-Man watch (only 500 in existence), and $150 Namco bucks to use at their store at the booth, which is full of fun Pac-Man themed stuff (plus other games like Galaga), more than enough to get me one of those huge Pac-Man shaped hats.

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