Logo taken from http://www.e3expo.com

Let’s start with a few links shall we?

Here is the PlayStation Blog’s Write Up of the PS Blog Meet Up Party on May 31st. It is a general Write-Up of the party Trevor and I attended. It started at 6 PM, Trevor and I camped out since 9 AM (with others starting at 10 and 11 AM–a lot of us were hardcore and hung out together until the madness started!).

Here, on the other hand, is PlayStation Universe’s write up, which happens to mention Trev and I by name!

What you get from both is the fact it was a cool party! We already knew the first 100 to show up would be given rare access to Sony’s E3 Press Conference that coming Tuesday at the Shrine Auditorium. That is why Trev and I camped out for it! What we didn’t know was a little surprise Jeff and Chris of the PlayStation Blog had in store.

Halfway through the party, Jeff gets on a chair and bangs a cup. He says that they decided to incentive things a tad bit more, Sony had decided to drop the money necessary to get the first 100 also into all 3 days of E3! Full grown men were welling up with tears and the screams and cheers were louder than any concert I had ever been to! This all took place in Mama’s Hot Tamales, a tiny restaurant in LA focused on helping people turn their lives around through the restaurant trade–I promise I will have more on that in the upcoming TKTV as I took footage there and Mama was kind enough to do an intro for TKTV!

Trev and I were mystified—us and our new found friends (shout outs to Colin, Ben, Charles, Miguel and the countless others that were there–including Team KAIZEN modeler Adam Hannig who also got in the first 100!) were fulfilling a life long dream to go to E3! The vacation was already tipping high on the awesome meter so maybe we should rewind a day though.

Trevor and I arrived the day before (Saturday, May 30th) in LA at 9 AM after 3 hours of flying. Realizing we had an entire day to play, we decided to take the Los Angeles Metro System to Knott’s Berry Farm, a park I had heard of since I was little and wanted to experience for myself. The Metro is a very slow system, it took us until 2 PM to reach the park (although, it should be noted both of our drivers, one on the 439 the other on the 460, were incredibly helpful and kind!) so it felt like we had crossed some sort of concrete desert to reach the steel utopia oasis of coasters known as Knott’s! I have been to many parks in my life, and Knott’s ranks pretty high on that list! All the attendants and employees obviously enjoyed their jobs and had fun doing what they do, which in turn made our experience all the more awesome.

Knott’s had several awesome coasters. We only got to ride 3 of them though due to lines (the largest wooden coaster in the west, Ghost Rider, the largest inverted steel coaster west of the Mississippi, Silver Bullet and a family coaster called Jaguar) as well as Supreme Scream, the world’s largest drop tower (250 feet tall, doesn’t feel like the breaks engage until the last 30 feet, nothing short of an out-of-body-experience engineered out of steel–was only the second S&S power ride I had ever rode, the first being Japan’s DoDonPa–so their track record with me is currently flawless). Ghost Rider fooled us. We thought, it being wood and all, it’d be a dinky coaster. A good experience, but dinky none the less. Trev and I rode in the very back (pro secret: ride in the back, you experience greater G forces as well as greater speed) and couldn’t see the front of the train. We started hearing screams and said, “Why are they screaming…we aren’t over the top yet”. Of course, that is what we INTENDED to say, we didn’t get to finish the sentence because the front had indeed crested the top and ripped us over. We found out why they were screaming, and soon we joined in the chorus as we rushed down hill and learned why we should NEVER under estimate a coaster. By the time we reached the station, we were giggling like grade school kids. Ghost Rider was my first wood coaster as an adult (I had only ever ridden one before that once when I was very little) and Trevor’s first wooden at all, and by all accounts Ghost Rider broke no sweat in setting a HIGH standard (which was barely broken later in the week, but more on that in a bit). After Ghost Rider, we immediately went to the B&M inverted coaster, Silver Bullet (B&M is a European coaster firm famous for really smooth, yet incredibly insane, coasters. Montu, Raptor, Riddler’s Revenge, Shiekra and Silver Star are just a sliver of their well known works). Silver Bullet was a beautiful coaster that featured 6.5 inversions (which, for inverted coasters, is .5 inversions shy of matching Montu’s record holding 7 inversions), two of those inversions being a BEAUTIFUL Cobra Roll (a Cobra Roll is a giant half loop to a half corkscrew to a second half corkscrew going the opposite way followed by another giant half loop, the entire effect looks like a giant cobra head with its’ hood extended out and sends riders back the way they came). Here is a pic of the train coming off of the Cobra Roll:

After that, we went to Johnny Rockets for a bite to eat. Then, we got into line for Xcelerator, the ride that is the prototype for New Jersey’s Kingda Ka and Ohio’s Top Thrill Dragster. After waiting in line for 45 minutes and working our way to the front, Xcelerator broke down and we didn’t get to ride. So, we made our way over to Supreme Scream, aforementioned tallest drop tower in the world. Incredibly smooth ride, terrifying and awesome as all get out, but also so smooth it almost feels creepy. You expect a 250 foot drop to be violent, but Supreme Scream actually turns it into a soft spoken venture, you don’t feel like you are being beat up by the restraints and you can instead focus on the adrenaline laced symphony of falling that distance. It was nothing short of awesome and I officially want one for our back yard.

So, after all of that, we rode Jaguar (cool coaster, not much to talk about but it was fun–we flew close enough to the crowd that I shouted, “HELLLLLLO!” to a random girl on the walkway, only with her to give the most perplexed look back–totally worth it ha!) and tried to get back in line for Ghost Rider, which experienced a minor malfunction while we were in line (got caught on the chain lift, it was fixed before we left but we figured we were done). So, we decided to head out with our new army of on-ride photos and Knott’s branded keychains (yes, we are that hardcore of dorks for rides—rides and video games are our own unique blend that sustains us hehe) and catch the cab we ordered. Our driver, who from here on out will be referred to as Mr. Crazy, was very apt at earning his nickname. He talked about random stuff and we tried to sustain the conversation, but we were so beat from the day we were more fantasizing about the pool and hot tub that awaited us. On the highway, he was topping over 100 MPH (which, of course, is illegal in LA) and someone (who signaled appropriately) tried to change lanes. Cussing in both English and other languages, Mr. Crazy hit the brakes and we skidded over 100 feet down the middle of a busy highway in LA–and I was so tired and out of it all I could think was, “I hope we don’t wreck, that’ delay my appointment with the pool!” Of course, after getting some rest, I was shocked that was my only feeling of the event, but hindsight being 20/20 we avoided cabs the rest of the trip and relied on Hotel-approved Town Cars (basically, a high-class taxi that follows more strict rules and conduct) as well as our new found fellow PlayStation Friends Charles and Colin.

After the pool and hot tub worked their magic (and we met a cool guy named Joe who talked with us about everything from the pool to watching Kung Fu Panda with his two daughters–all our conversations with him spanned 2 nights t the pool–really cool dude) we crashed and then got up early the next morn, got a town cab and camped out for the PS Blog party. After all the PlayStation insanity (and I do use insanity in a VERY fond context here–crazy but very lovable) Charles drove Trevor and I back to the hotel, the whole time swearing he still couldn’t believe what had just happened and he refused to believe in it until he was sitting in the Shrine Auditorium waiting for the press conference to begin. Once back to the hotel, we hung out with Joe at the pool and generally just hung out waiting for the next day. The next day, Monday, was a free day so, in advanced, we paid 99 dollars apiece for us to take a tour bus to Six Flags Magic Mountain.

After some minor delays and frustrations (again, minor–overall we didn’t mind) we arrived at the park. Six Flags Magic Mountain, as a park, is very much a downer and trashy in comparison to Knott’s. Notice, I said the park not all of the coasters. If you are a coaster fanatic, take it as a spot of advice from one coaster fanatic to another, there is some coasters at Magic Mountain worth crossing off your list but, once ridden, you will realize those coasters could be better served by being uprooted and placed at a place like Knott’s that would appreciate and take care of them better. The park itself feels like a prison going in, with people being searched as if they are going to the airport (whereas Knott’s checked bags and had security, Magic Mountain went way above and beyond that because they used to have severe gang problems, so they went to the extreme opposite end of the spectrum) and, on top of that, the park is a hardcore money grab. Most parks place free lockers or cubby holes at all of the attractions so loose articles may be placed in them. Six Flags, on the other hand, charge 1 dollar per ride to hold on to your loos articles in electronic lockers so glitchy they have attendants at the stations specifically to undo bad things, out of the 5 rides we rode 2 of the lockers glitched (one didn’t open after payment the other jammed shut and the attendant and I had to work together to ‘break’ back into it to get my stuff out). So, like I said, the park is epic fail but the coasters themselves are epic win, or atleast some of them.

The first coaster we hit was the world famous X2 (formerly just X until a 2007 rechristening and paint job redux). X2, along with Japan’s Eejanaika (which I have mentioned in this blog before–Trev and I got to look at Eejanaika but not ride it, something we will remedy soon) are the only two true 4rth Dimension Coasters on the planet. By 4rth Dimension, we roller coaster aficionados mean the seats are mounted on the side of the track (with each row having 2 seats on either side for a total of 4 riders per row and roughly 10 rows per train) and the seats are capable of flipping. By true 4th Dimension (my own personal way of looking at it) I mean that the seats don’t flip freely, there is a computer controlled mechanism in the track that pre-determines the flips. So, every ride on X2 or Eejanaika will be exactly the same, where as there is 2 other ‘4rth Dimensions’ that are far smaller (as in, drops that can be measured in the 10s of feet instead of the 100s) and the seats flip freely, but those smaller coasters pale in comparison to X2 and Eejanaika.

X2’s Station. Took us 2 hours in line to get to this point, and another 30 minutes to actually get to the coaster itself. 2.5 hours for a 2 minute ride, sounds crazy but it actually was worth it!

I took this while in line, it is X2 rushing along its’ course. Notice the riders on either side of the tracks!

Here is X2 in the station. The screen in the back showed CG effects while speakers constantly played sounds like, “Is everyone in? Is everyone in? The ceremony is about to begin!” There is also speakers mounted on the cars next to the riders’ heads, which you will be able to see better in the next picture:

Here is a close up of the seats, with the speakers easily viewable. The speakers played Harry Connick JR’s It Had To Be You leaving the station, which phased into Metallica’s Enter Sandman as the train hit the chain lift. Keep in mind, this is all going on as riders are ascending a 200+ foot chain lift backwards, only to have the speakers exclaim, “We are way high up!” before tilting the riders so they face the ground and making them skydive 200 feet, only to tuck and roll out of it. Awe inspiring, but scary as all get out!

Here is a YouTube video by Timothetoad that is a Point-Of-View on X2. It has profanity in it (I know some readers are sensitive to that, so I wanted to give a heads up–but as a nicety Timothetoad actually censored his own video, rare for YouTube fare). On his video, you can hear the sounds we heard, hear peoples’ reactions to the elements and see one of the most breathtaking things of X2 in full glory: two flame throwers mounted on either side of the track that are so overpowered and so close Trev and I actually felt the intense heat! Enjoy!:

After getting the onride photos of X2 (another money grab, most parks let you buy as many or as few onride pics as you want, Six Flags makes you buy ‘packages’, so instead of getting one a ride like at Knott’s we had to buy 4 per ride at 15 bucks a pop, but hey they did get the money from us–we had to show everyone our experience on X2!), we rushed over to the world’s largest flying coaster, Tatsu (which was built by B&M, which means I was already a fan). I had heard of Tatsu before, how it was inspired by the Japanese Torii gates at Shinto shrines (which already had me at, ‘Japan’) and that it was inspired by the legendary flying beast of Japanese mythology called Tatsu. I was giddy in line, and it was nice that Tatsu’s line moved much faster (45 minutes tops is infinitely more palatable than 2.5 hours hehe) and, while in line, I got some stunning shots:

Here is some of Tatsu’s supports intermingling with the people and trees. This reminded me of Japan’s Meiji Shrine. After passing under a Torii (the aforementioned gates that inspired Tatsu) you are in a very beautiful wooded area just like this—so this scene brought back memories and an awesome feeling realizing that, at the intersection of the country I love and live in and the country I have adopted in my heart, an amazing product and memory emerged, it is hard to fully describe the elation of that feeling.

Here is Tatsu flying along the track. As you can see, riders are oriented so their spines are parallel to the track, essentially giving a flying sensation. This is very unique and, quite frankly, with my neck and spine injuries I thought I might experience pain and discomfort. Not in the slightest did I feel either pain or discomfort though, and this stands as a testament to the mastery of the art of building coasters B&M has attained, thus my undying fanboyism in them. Their other coaster we rode there, Riddler’s Revenge, did give me a headache, but I do think that is more due to me not pulling the seat down far enough and creating the problem myself–I think if I were to ride it a second time I wouldn’t have an issue.

NormNorman on YouTube took a camcorder on Tatsu, so I have embedded the video below for your digest:

After Tatsu (and a quick bite to eat), Trevor and I headed on over to the wooden behemoth that just turned 10 days old, Terminator Salvation: The Ride. You read me right. 10. Days. Old. And, Freakin’ Epic! I later found out that Great Coasters International, the same team behind Ghost Rider, just finished building Terminator Salvation: The Ride, and it shows. The magic B&M works on steel is matched by Great Coasters International’s touch on the wood coasters. After being in line for 45 minutes (another more palatable wait!) we were ushered into a dark room. There, actors from the film were shown on screen talking about finding a bombed out amusement park and finding a room of people in a bunker (the people being the riders), the clips then detail the panicked conversation (via radio) between the two people as they escape attacks from robots while trying to engineer the escape of all the riders. At the climax, the female actor desperately urges the male actor to get the people to the escape trains, and an attendant appears and ushered all of us to the actual station. Our blood was already pumping. We weren’t at Six Flags Magic Mountain waiting in line for a coaster anymore, we were transported elsewhere to an epic alternate reality were we were about to make a daring escape from humanity’s greatest enemy. The magic set in. However, we weren’t the first in line, so we got to see some others board first. We noticed, during this, that there was a small roof above the loading train that we assumed to be just part of the decor. Turns out, it isn’t part of the decor. We felt the rumbling that seemed like an earth quake and heard loud screams, all of a sudden the other train (the one currently running the ride, not the one loading) RUSHED through the station on top of that small roof and over the heads of the people currently boarding, which of coarse shocked all of us in line and then got us all jazzed to experience it ourselves. On the ride itself, you understand you do that maneuver (rush through the station) but, at something to the tune of 60 MPH or more, it happens so fast it doesn’t register. The whole coaster was buttery smooth and intense and beautiful, to the point I was tearing up exciting the ride. I didn’t ride some dinky or measly coaster, I experience something Leonardo DaVinci would have built, a technical marvel whose intense schematics are only outmatched by its’ intense and inherent beauty. Here are some pics:

A big, beautiful arcing turn on Terminator Salvation: The Ride.

One of Terminator Salvation: The Ride’s trains traversing that big beautiful arcing turn.

Photo I took of the station. See that black blur up top? That is the train, with its’ joyously terrified occupants, making its’ split second pass through. First time it did that made us jump, it was unbelievable and paradigm changing to see a wooden coaster pull off such insane maneuvers.

Sharpproductions on YouTube took a camcorder on so here is Terminator Salvation: The Ride in its’ video glory:

After that, we hit up Riddler’s Revenge. Fun B&M but, like I said, it was very bad for me because my head bounced between either side of the restraint like a pinball machine so I got a headache. It is a standing coaster and you have to pull the restraint down to your level, and I don’t think I pulled far enough–had I pulled far enough I think it would have been better. I was in no real danger, but it was uncomfortable. I did get some epic pics while in line though:

Riddler’s Revenge doing a slanted loop. A slanted loop looks like a normal one, but is tilted to the side so riders don’t actually go upside down, just to a banked turn with an extreme turning angle.

Here is Riddler’s Revenge going into a diving loop. Crazy stuff.

Ryan120420 at YouTube snuck a camcorder on Riddler’s Revenge, methinks you know the routine by now:

After all of that, we hit Goliath, the 10th tallest coaster in the world (and the 3rd out of the top 10 we have rode, FujiYama and Thunder Dolphin being the first two we hit). I did take pictures of Goliath, however they are all pretty unremarkable so I would say that, if you want to see it, hit up YouTube or a Google/Yahoo image search, they will please your eyes much better than my pics did. However, previously sourced Sharpproductions over at YouTube was also kind enough to score an on-ride vid of Goliath. Here you go:

So, after all that, you’d think we already had the best vacation evar right? A PlayStation party and 2 parks? Well, that wasn’t the end! We still had to hit the LA Convention Center for E3! BTW here is some pics of the LA Convention Center I took on the day we went to Knott’s (before we realized Sony was paying for us to go there):

Here is the front of the LA Convention Center with a massive picture of Brutal Legend on it.

Here is the entrance to the West Hall, where Sony, Nintendo, Activision, Nyko, Bethesda and several others called home for the 3 days of E3. Microsoft, EA, Square-Enix and several others were in South Hall which was closer to the main entrance. Both halls were roughly equal in size and, with the exception of Target’s BullsEye Lounge inbetween the two, comprised all of the exhibits of E3.

On the Hotel Figueroa (which is essentially dead center) they placed 3 individual 20 story tall posters for Final Fantasy 13 depicting different characters and a ‘Spring 2010′ moniker. I wanted to get a better picture of them, but it is hard on a moving bus and, honestly, when we were actually going to E3 I was so into it I forgot about the posters! Sorry about that hehe!

The three actual days of E3 were awesome. I took more video than pictures, so keep your eyes peeled for a new TKTV soon. Anyways, it was just awesome. I have known Ted Price through email and phone conversation before (a mutual friend introduced us, he is the President of Insomniac Games) and we finally got to meet face to face at E3. I also got to meet Adam Sessler of G4 and countless game designers and industry professionals, all of whom were asked to sign our PSP cases. Trev got to meet a lot of people too, including having a lengthy conversation with the Sony Producer charged with Slant 6’s new PSP title, Socom Fire Team Bravo 3. Above and beyond that, we got to make many new friends like Ben, Colin and Charles with whom we shared similar passions and goals in life–many of these guys are now in talks to join Team KAIZEN even! Like I said, video is coming but for now I got two pics for ya:

Here is the ‘Best Kept Secret of E3′, the PSP Go! It takes away the UMD drive (rumor has it Sony will institute a trade in program for existing UMD owners to get all their games in digital format) and replaces it with bluetooth, a 16 gig drive (upgradable via micro memory stick slot) and a slider format where the screen slides down to hide the buttons, d-pad and analog stick. Honestly, I fretted about this. I don’t like the DSi’s flat d-pad and buttons (on that side, I prefer the DS Lite’s set up a lot more–the DSi feels clicky to me and uneven) so I thought the PSP was going in the same direction. However, once I got my hands on the unit (whilst playing the new LittleBigPlanet for PSP), I do what my obsessive-compulsive-when-it-comes-to-d-pads self does, I did all the typical fighting game maneuvers on it (such as ones required to throw fireballs or uppercuts). Strangely, I was impressed. It didn’t feel clicky, but it DID feel responsive and nice. The change in placement of the analog stick actually makes your thumbs more comfortable, something pretty much everyone attested to. Trev had a gripe with the fact that we have to buy new memory cards, and I do agree with that. We just paid 79 bucks for 8 gig cards before we went to E3 to find out they are now obsolete, however I also do have a camcorder that uses Memory Stick Duos so I can still use my stick so I am not as worried. I hope Sony finds a way to over come this too, although for me while it is frustrating, isn’t a total deal breaker. I still loved the unit overall, it is smaller (while barely sacrificing screen size, it is a hair smaller), sleeker and 16 gigs of onbaord memory (before any sticks added) is very welcome–I love having all my media onboard without having to switch discs so this iteration of the PSP is, mostly, right up my alley.

Me with Ratchet. You know, it’s funny. When I see videos of people in DisneyLand running up to Mickey and giving him a bear hug I think, “What dorks!”. Well, upon seeing big fluffy Ratchet, that got thrown to the wayside and I became just as big of a dork. Charles one-upped me even, Ratchet didn’t have time to turn around before Charles jumped on him giving him a massive bear hug. Something about Ratchet as a character already has a, “Oooh here is a fluffy kitty/doggie/thingy” so, when a man dresses up as Ratchet, he better be prepared to face an onslaught of gamer nerds like Charles and I who are desperate for hugs and pictures. E3 was definitely DisneyLand for nerds and I am an uncurable nerd, uncurable by choice that is! I’ll take Ratchet over Mickey any day! BTW, Kotaku posted the following pic that Sony Japan sent to try to explain how to put this suit on, it is really funny. I will post it next after this fun little fact: it is the second time I had my picture taken with this Ratchet. Trevor and I ran into him back in 2007 at a small Japanese gaming convention where he was wearing a Japanese festival uniform on top of the pre-existing suit and playing a Japanese Taiko Drum for kids. This is why Ratchet has black eyebrows in this–the American Ratchet sports brown eyebrows the same color as his stripes while, in Japan, they made them black. So this suit and I have met up on both sides of the Pacific! Here is the instruction on how to get inside the Ratchet suit–let’s see if you all can figure it out!

After the last day of E3, we met up with My Evolution (whom I have blogged about before, check out my posts on Static-X, whom My Evolution opened for when they were in Great Falls). We went with them to their studio in LA and listened to them jam out, including them performing a song you are sure to be hearing more about soon hehehehehe Here is a few pics of the session:

So, that’s it for the photos and blog side of this! Don’t forget to check out our video blog when it goes live (I will notify everyone through here, Twitter and Facebook). Special thanks to Jeff Rubenstein, Chris Morell, Seb Hayes, Eric Blattberg, Charles, Colin, Ben, Adam, Alfredo (of the Hotel), Mark (of the Hotel), Marina (of the Hotel), Lizandro (our Town Car driver), My Evolution, everyone at Sony, Mama of Mama’s Hot Tamales, the ladies who drove the buses 439 and 460 on May 30th, Joe and everyone else who, even in a tiny way, helped us to make this trip the best vacation evar! Thanks everyone, we won’t forget our experiences with you and here’s to many more in the future!

Josh (yay 2 AM time to crash!)