During an event as important and far-reaching as the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo, everyone involved in the show is going to be unbelievably busy over its three-day run time – and for very different reasons.
Media want to ensure they get the most out of their E3 time by seeing as many games and developers as possible to get the most up-to-date, exclusive and exciting information that they can. PR wants to ensure media and retailer appointments run smoothly while appeasing the needs of the developers and publishers.
Developers and publishers, meanwhile, need to take as many appointments as possible without exhausting themselves (and driving themselves insane), all while putting on a show for retailers and other important guests. Retailers… they just show up and float about looking at sure-fire hits, I guess.
All of these things are full-time jobs during E3, so finding time to do anything extra is next-to impossible.
So when Lisa and I set out to try and meet Darksiders II lead designer Haydn Dalton during E3 2012, we always knew it was going to be a tough proposition. While we had back-to-back appointments, Dalton was also no doubt going to be incredibly busy in the THQ meeting room and checking out the showfloor, too.
After a few emails back and forth, chances of meeting grew more and more slim so we eventually resorted to visiting THQ’s temporary HQ in the publisher’s meeting room in the hopes of catching Dalton there… but instead of finding the designer, our journey lead us to other discoveries.
Firstly, we actually got to play Darksiders II! Lisa had played it the day before on the showfloor, but under less than ideal circumstances, so working through the first missions and challenges of the awesome action adventure game in the quiet and sanctity of THQ’s offices was a welcome opportunity indeed!
Not only that, but we were able to page through a fantastic booklet detailing the game and its features, provided by Jay Fitzloff (who presented our Darksiders II demo during gamescom 2011).
Read Lisa’s excellent hands-on preview of Darksiders II to see her impressions of the game.
After Darksiders II, we were able to catch a presentation of Metro: Last Light, but not before meeting developer 4A Games’ creative director, Andrew ‘Prof’ Prokhorov. Before slipping into the demo room, I convinced Prokhorov to sign a couple Metro: Last Light posters and after bearing witness to the outstanding, creepy 25-minute demonstration, I was surprised to see ‘Prof’ standing outside the door ready and waiting to put pen to poster!
Thanks Prof!
What did we see during our time in the Metro: Last Light demo room? Be sure to read through Lisa’s intense impressions of the presentation to see why you should keep your eye on the game… and to keep your wits about you!
We tried to hunt down Haydn Dalton a few more times during E3, and while we were unfortunately thwarted in our attempts, I’m very pleased that our journey to meet the lead designer on one of our most anticipated games resulted in a grand adventure through fabled lands, a creepy romp in a dank metro station, and a meeting with ‘Prof.’
The E3 2012 Experience series of articles aims to give those of you who didn’t attend the show a chance to sneak a peek at the inner workings of this annual event, with photographic, video and written tours of what El33tonline saw and did during the four-day extravaganza.
Look forward to more entries to the series over the coming days and weeks!
Tags: andrewprokhorov, darksiders2, e32012, e32012experience, el33tonline, haydndalton, metrolastlght, thq
