So for those who don't know, I have been officially inducted into the uber nerd family. My coronation was held at Blizzcon 2008 in Anaheim, CA. I have to say, life as a geek isn't quite as hard as I thought. Just mention a little Star Wars here...lag time there... pepper the conversation with a bit of robot vs. ninja theory... you're in! When did it become awesome to be a nerd? Or wait, is that just me thinking it is awesome because I am now one of them? Have nerds through time always thought it was great? Hmmm... food for thought... food for thought....
October 9th I made this pilgrimage to nerd mecca, the 2008 Blizzard convention. For those who have been living in a cave (although I would still be surprised if they didn't know), Blizzard is the company who creates Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo games. Anyone who doubts their awesomeness can watch the video below...
um yea... boo-ya! How ya like me now!
Back to Blizzcon. Michael and I were lucky enough to get tickets and get a nice hotel in walking distance from the convention center. We were naive enough to think that we would be able to wake up and saunter on in at 10 when the doors opened. Oh no. That was NOT the case. We walked down the block into a large parking lot which was a snaking line of 10,000 people waiting to get in. Talk about dedication... I mean, it was sunny out... 1/2 these kids probably got burned standing in that sun for the hour waiting to get in. Never seen a paler crowd in my life! And yes... there were people dressed up... and no... I was not one of them.
Once we got into the building I really got into it. The set up was insane with tons of HD video monitors, concept art posters the size of a large buses, and (ooooohhhh yeeessssss) areas for each of the new games that are currently in production by the company: Wrath of the Lich King (World of Warcraft expansion), Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. I mean, actual demos to play for each game. What more could you want! I was actually excited to be there. Now, as much as I would like to say that everything was great and wonderful and fantastic in all its geekdom... there were some major flaws. I waited in a line for 5 hours. Oh yes, I did not stutter... 5 hours! And for what you might ask... because it better be something good to wait so long... it was (dun dun dun)... a book! Half of my first day at the show was taken up by standing in line waiting to buy the cinematic art book for the trailer posted above. Lemme spell that people... D..E..D..I..C..A..T..I..O..N.. The people next to me were practically my family by the time we got out of line. Thank goodness for the movie game or I never would have made it through (linking actors through their movies... it is a good time... thanks Darius!).
I got to play Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 which were everything I could have ever hoped them to be. Oh, and I obtained a beta key for Starcraft as well for attending which was like the icing on the cake! I got to meet Wrath's cinematic team and watch a costume contest that went WAY over the top. :) Patton Oswalt closed the show along with Video Games Live which is a full symphony that plays video game music. Yea, it definitely was that cool.
People... next year when this event comes around... don't miss it! It is so worth every minute and I will be back.. maybe in costume... you never know (no... I lied. I know I will never. I don't have the cheekbones to pull off the elf ears).
Get a Life? Cool! Where can I download one of those?
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