Alrighty so the conference hasn’t officially started but we went down to get my badge and took a bunch of pictures to share of what the place looks like before the show. We did get an invite to Ubisoft’s press conference which was pretty exciting given my big goose egg for invites last year. We will have a separate article with impressions from that conference and eventually video when we aren’t in a place where the internet is being stretched so thin it’s like the plot of a Uwe Boll movie.

Getting into my room at the Westin Boneventure I was immediately disappointed that there weren’t any ad laminates on my bathroom mirror this year. I know Microsoft isn’t unveiling any new hardware but I think SOME body could have added up my bathroom with something. It isn’t so much that I like it or even respect it but after the ridiculousness that was last year’s mirror ads it is just a bit boring to find it free of wonton commercialism.

Again, we had video game branded room keys and oddly it was an ad for a Tomb Raider game just like last year. Unlike last year, however, these keys only work if you have a wish in your heart and say the magic words just right. This is apparently a widespread issue as others in the hotel were complaining about it in the elevator. One of them seemed pretty dubious of our claims that the same thing happened to us but whatever. I guess for some people it has to be all about them.  Here is this year’s key:

After a brisk walk in slightly chilly weather we got to the LA Convention Center and found it to be a bit more low key than last year as far as the advertising goes…oh wait, no it wasn’t. There was a goddamn tank. Here are some other bits of advertising and snazziness to be found this year even before the convention  gets underway.

 

 

After getting badges we went and got lunch and then made our way to the Ubisoft conference. This was a challenge in so far as we had no idea where the place was and we hoped that Google Maps on Riyad’s phone wasn’t lying to us. Thankfully, it wasn’t and we made it to the LA Theater in plenty of time.

 

There will be another article with our impressions at the Ubisoft conference but it was pretty cool. What wasn’t cool was me losing my shuttle pass at some point on the way home from this thing. I am sure glad we enjoyed the walk to get our badges today because we are going to be doing it there and back for the next three days. And yes, I did ask for a replacement and my request was followed by a request for $75 so shoe leather express it is.

So that was the pre-E3 day. Tomorrow it is all going to start and we are going to be neck deep in awesomeness. We have a ton of meetings and appointments the next two days so expect some pretty cool details to come out of the daily recaps. Also tune in to the Buzz Media on twitter at http://twitter.com/thebuzzmediallc for updates and photos throughout the day.