Since Sunday was an especially short day (10am-4pm), one had to have their priorities set or just not bother showing up.  Those who hadn't gotten a chance to see Metal Gear Solid yet went one way, while the rest of us headed to Intel again for their first 100 people daily giveaway.  This time, it was actually really sweet: a long bendy USB fan and a bracelet that's actually a thumb drive.  The fan works great, but I couldn't get my pc to recgonize the thumb drive.  I'll try it on my work PC tomorrow, but my prospects don't look good (hey, it was free).

Other than that, it was all about playing more Super Smash Bros Brawl to get the 4th and final Wii t-shirt.  I played twice within the first hour because I realized that once the general public was allowed in at 11am, it was going to be next to impossible to play again without missing out on a lot of other stuff.  On my last play, I used Bowser and actually won!  They sent me to the main stage to compete against the other 3 winners for that round's championship.  I played as Bowser again and even got the Super Smash Ball, but found it impossible to do much as Super Mega Bowser (or whatever he's called when he's 10 times the size of everyone else).  I didn't win, but it was good to finally make it to the big kids stage.  Yay me.

After killing some time playing The Orange Box (the latest release in the Half-Life 2 series) multiplayer on Xbox360 (yes, I had a hard time with the dual analogs again... grrr) and Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance (too much resource management, not enough fighting... but the zoom-in/zoom-out feature is pretty cool), I made my way back to the Namco booth to play in the Ms Pac-Man tournament again.  Unfortunately, this time they required us to play on the cell phones to qualify.  Maybe my thumb was too fat (and sore), but I couldn't break 20,000 on that little thing, so I didn't qualify.  Instead, I attempted to qualify on a more puzzle-oriented Pac-Man-like game called Super Yum Yum 2, also on a cell phone.  Since this game was more about completing the level quickly and not high score, I was able to qualify after much practice and memorizing the singular pattern required to complete the puzzle.  I did it in 1 minute and 4 seconds after many attempts that involved me accidentally pressing a button that took me out of the game, thereby ruining my time.  Unfortunately, since I was so obsessed with trying to qualify for the Ms Pac-Man finals, I left to go to a few raffles (no, I didn't win those either).  About 40 minutes later, I stopped by the Namco booth and the girls there asked what happened to me.  I looked at them blankly for a moment and suddenly remembered. I had completely forgotten that the Yum Yum tournament finals were also at 3pm.  But, oddly enough, no one other than the 5 finalists listed on the board entered the Yum Yum competition, so I got a consolation prize without even competing in the finals (another Pac-Man t-shirt).

About 5 minutes before the show ended, I made my final rounds to all the booths, hoping to snare some last minute freebies on clearance (it's when the rules go from "1 per person" to "how much can you carry, because we don't want to ship this junk back to the office").  I had almost forgotten to check the eWIZ booth, an online PC retailer who was giving away about a dozen prizes a day, every hour.  I normally checked every 2 hours or so, but I was so caught up in everything else that I forgot to check back there until the last minute.  And what do I see on their prize board?  My name, of course.  Turns out that I won a Gigabyte Blue Eye VGA Waterblock used for cooling video cards to make them run faster.  It was a fine finish to the day.  Not a hand-sculpted one-of-a-kind Obi-Wan bust kind of finish, but a good finish regardless.

The Infuzemag E for All Expo 2007 Awards:

Possible Alternate Name for the Event - "Guitar Hero 3 for All Expo" - With a endless barrage of wannabe rockstars lining up to challenge each other on 4 stages and countless Target-sponsored demo kiosks, there was no escaping the hottest new game of the year. (sorry Halo 3... if only Microsoft had shown up to pimp their wares...)

Favorite New Game Not Yet Released - The Simpsons Game - I really really really want this on PC, but if I have to someday buy an Xbox360 just to play it, I will.  Until then, I'd be more than happy to watch someone else play the game so I can watch the entire "episode" from start to finish.

Coolest Gaming Moment - Super Smash Bros Brawl - Now, I don't know if this counts as "cool", but it was pretty funny and completely out of left field.  While watching a brawl on the main stage, I saw a character break open a box, which normally either contains a power-up or something really dangerous.  This time, however, a cute little puppy burst from the box and leaped off one of the platforms, seemingly to its demise.  Then suddenly, it leapt up into the foreground of the scene, paws on the tv screen, looking out at us, barking, and licking at the "glass", completely blocking the players from seeing their characters as the battle raged on behind the adorable pup (from the DS game Nintendogs).   

Most Excruciating New Game - Rock Band - Well, it's not the game itself that's bad.  I'm sure it's good fun for the whole family.  I just never want to hear someone flatly sing Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" or Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" ever again.  EVER.  AGAIN. 

Most Fun Booth - Namco - I don't care how sophistocated and detailed today's games become, nothing beats the neon-infused atmosphere of an old school arcade, even a fake one set up in a convention center.  The people were friendly and the games were all-time classic fun.  And even though I didn't play them at the show, I'm pretty sure I can still hear the music for Mr Do's Wild Ride or Bosconian or something ringing in my head (that's still better than hearing one more off-key mumbly chorus of "Black Hole Sun").

Most Surreal Video Game-Related Moment - A man in a banana costume running back and forth in front of a giant screen filled with Space Invaders on a stage with a live orchestra and choir providing a soundtrack to his every move as he virtually blasted away the aliens before an audience of thousands... who then was handed a prize by the creator of Pong for his efforts.

 Funniest Freebie - a big red and yellow Donkey Kong "DK" thin foam tie that most people refused to wear as simply a tie (and I'll leave it at that).

Favorite Freebie Shirt - a slate grey Intel shirt with black ringers (even if it does have a huge logo on the back) - It's L (my size) and looks great.

Favorite Freebie - Wiimote light-up keychain - hey, it's cute!  I'm easy to please.

Freebie that Won't Go Away - HP Blackbird002 "temporary" tattoo that just doesn't seem to be coming off, no matter how much I scrub.  Time to get the Clorox and sandpaper... (if it doesn't come off, I better get a free computer out of this)

E for All - my final comments:

Even though many in the video game and electronics industry didn't find it worthwhile to make an appearance at E for All, I and many others were able to have a great time sampling new games, playing some well-worn classics, and interacting with the community at large who make this industry what it is.  We are not the Japanese businessmen or the movie moguls that some might consider more important because they write one big check for distribution or adaptation rights.  No, we are the fans and consumers who have been shelling out everything from 25 cents a play to $600 a console to make this industry the unstoppable expanding juggernaut that its been for more than 30 years. 

Admittedly, of the 18,000 people who attended this week, I was one of many who were a little underwhelmed at the size of the event after a number of years at E3, but after spending some time there, I found it a welcome change.  I played dozens of new games, met some great people, and had fun.  It wasn't all business.  It wasn't someone trying to hawk their product at me, hoping for the all-important business card exchange between men wearing khakis and jackets, but no ties.  Anyone who came there with the attitude that they were going to find a top tier investor for their game idea were going to go away very disappointed.  The smaller crowd and more laid-back attitude (less business nerds and more game geeks) set a tone that the old E3 never had (and considering the direction of the July 2007 gathering, never will).  E for All has the potential to become something big, but its going to take more than 70 exhibitors (it didn't even seem to be that many) and almost 20 thousand people excited about free t-shirts to make next year (and the years after it) a success.  I pray it never becomes as bloated and self-important as the old E3 used to be, but I also hope it doesn't settle for just being "that little show that's not exactly E3 because it's not exclusive to the cool kids anymore" (as if there were "cool kids" in the electronics entertainment industry).

I hope we've seen the first of many E for All Expos that will continue to grow in the coming years, giving gamers of all types the ability to play new games first and meet people from around the world with a passion for games just like them... mainly because if this didn't come along, I was afraid that video games were going to take over my beloved Comic-Con.  They still might, but hopefully E for All will pull the focus away from San Diego, so that the LA Convention Center can become the new Gaming Mecca for all fans.  Here's hoping...

By the way, if I include the mad scramble for free leftover E for All t-shirts in the LA Convention Center lobby after the show ended (I grabbed 4), plus 2 Wii shirts and the Pac-Man shirt (total = 7), my grand total t-shirt haul for the week is a whopping 30 SHIRTS!!!

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D  M  K