May 16, 2003
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E3 Day – WB Interactive Party
The E3 Expo has been happening these last two days and it’s the biggest electronics/gaming convention that EVERYONE in the industry has been going to. It’s a mega-geek event and even though Eddie and I don’t really play video games, we received guest passes via WB Animation and went along for a whirlwind tour of this massive event, led by Eric from WB Interactive.
A few things we learnt along the way:
- I think there is a game for every single TV/Feature property that has ever existed in the past couple of years. If there isn’t a game, then there’s a high change it is currently being developed.
- WB Interactive and Ubi Soft are working on a ¡Mucha Lucha! GAMEBOY. Tentaive release date: November 2003!
- There is also talk of a Playstation 2 ML game in development …
The thing about E3 is that every gaming or animation-related company is partying BIG this week. Sony, Nintendo, Playstation, Disney etc. are hosting million-dollar parties for all employees and important clients.
We (and all WB Animation executives) were invited to the Cartoon Network-Adult Swim cocktail party, where we were introduced to … would you believe it… Australia’s George Miller! (Mad Max, Babe)
George Miller and 2 slightly-flushed animators
(Also, behind us which you can barely see – is a Edward-Munch-”Scream”-style painting of Shaggy and Scooby)Wow. So we have both walked past his Sydney office a million times and here we are meeting him in person, half way round the world. George chatted to us about how we got into animation, what it was like working with WB, … He is going to check out ¡Mucha Lucha! on Cartoon Network back in Sydney; and is apparently currently producing a ‘CGI penguins’ feature movie with Sydney’s Animal Logic. (Kill us now, Don Ezard!)
Above: Cool Samurai Jack painting behind the cocktail bar
An hour and a half later, it was time for The Matrix Reloaded screening. We walked down Figueroa street with Michael D. and Anna to the Laemmle Grand. By now, you must have read reviews all over the internet. Basically, the movie sucked. (and that was the consensus opinion amongst most people we spoke to). Lots of stunning visual effects and intense action sequences don’t make up for the incomprehensible storyline and way too much meaningless exposition.
Eddie: Seeing The Matrix Reloaded makes me think I was way too hard on X-2. I don’t think I’ve ever disliked a movie this much.
The WB Interactive party at Cafe Pinot downtown was a riot. Food, martinis and lots of drunk merry WB people. We were dancing until 1am.
With Jessica and John from Kids WB Network
And then, walking back to the LA Convention Centre, we realized we had no idea where the car was. There we were walking through the dark empty streets of Downtown L.A. (where everyone keeps warning us NEVER to go at night) searching frantically for the parking lot … We finally made it back home at 2.30am.
This weekend is another biggie. Off to Las Vegas tomorrow morning. From Christopher’s “Guide to Las Vegas” (bedtime reading tonight):
What you have to accept from the get-go is that everything here is extreme and excessive. And it’s all about decadence. Once you simply ACCEPT this, you’ll enjoy all the tackiness, jackpots, broken dreams and gluttony like an old pro…
You’ll notive that there are no windows or clocks in most of the casinos; there is no difference between day and night. All indulgence, all the time. That’s the motto. There is smoking and drinking and gambling everywhere and anywhere (including church!) and no one ever says “Enough!”
And so we’re going to come up with a ML story set in Vegas, huh?
* No blogging until next week
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