AN UPDATE FROM THE SHOW FLOOR

i'm here at DICE writing from the press room -- which has been surprisingly empty and is generously filled with 20" imacs... i want one -- after yesterday's trauma at work, i decided to get a little wild last evening. the reception party was held at the ghost bar, a swanky joint that sits atop the palms casino/hotel. it's known for its balcony which includes one smallish section of the floor made of plexiglass. so, basically you can stand out on this thing, and look straight down at the ground from fifty stories up. initially, i was ridiculously scared. but after about four drinks, several of us were hopping repeated on the thing to test its endurance. if you gotta go, man... would that ever be the way.

there, we met the usual assortment of press types. both billy and andy were in attendance, in addition to sam who'd i'd never met before last night. he's cool. cliffy, raymond, and sal completed our little crew and we had a blast just getting more and more loaded and cracking wise with some dudes from variety magazine. billy also introduced me to denis dyack from silicon knights... we talked a bit about metal gear and hockey. he's super nice. even invited us out to canada around e3. set that up, man!

after awhile, it was time to switch parties... the second one was held in a suite at the palms that was apparently home to several "real-worlders" during some season of the show that i never knew existed. the apartment was lush, as expected, and filled with the gaming industries coolest people. dr. greg was sporting a wicked new goatee -- raymond dubbed him "evil greg." i think it's a good look for him. when we asked dr. ray if any new facial hair was in his future, he told us that he needed to remain "good ray." yin & yang, see...

we kept getting more and more drunk... eventually it looked like a trip back to the "crazy horse too" was approaching. raymond led a crew of fine young gentleman there, and i ducked out unnoticed before being dragged along. it sounds as if fun was had by all... and raymond, well... umm... he may have done something a little silly. but it's too early to tell exactly what happened. more evidence willl be necessary. i'll keep you posted. maybe.

i took many, many photos at the "real world" party. i'll get them posted here as soon as i grab them from raymond's camera. should be interesting. more on the show -- and the gallery -- soon. stay tuned. Posted by ryan at March 4, 2004 02:56 PM