The day started with an interview of Graham Markay from Natsume, about the upcoming Lufia and Harvest Moon titles, which we will post info and media for soon. Sumire, Citan, and yours truly discovered that, aside from being one of the nicest people at the show Mr. Markay is a reader of RPGFan (and why shouldn't he be? We r0c|<) as well as an avid gamer when work doesn't get in the way. We also got great Harvest Moon t-shirts, and learned a secret about future merchandising. All I can say is, think bovine.

Meanwhile, big daddy Rudo was stalking through South and West Hall, retaking pictures of all the sights he visited (i.e. booth babes) with THE Chrono's digital camera. I'm not quite sure what he found, but he just kept talking about last year's girls being better, and six fantasies for you. But then that's Rudo: a puzzle wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a silly Quebec accent.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Tortolia took the opportunity to play all the games we brutally withheld him from the previous two days. Anachronox looks like it's got a lot of promise, and the Diablo II expansion got a thorough workout from our PC guru. The only thing I don't understand is why Tort tried to hurry us away from South Hall; he kept murmurring something about how "now nobody will be able to interview Bill Roper," and cackling madly. We chalked it up to too much Blizzard exposure... we hope.

Of course, while all this was going on I was running frantically to make my appointment with Bethesda, lords of the dance that they are. On display was the PC version of Morrowind, and it was looking godly as ever. What was even better was the Force battle/Vaudville show going on between the story and graphics guys. I came away laughing and feeling as if the Bethesda crew really works well together, the same way a crazed Daedra and an Orc Mage work well together. Oh, and just so you know, you won't be able to levetate horses this time around.

During all this, THE Chrono and Schala were off making kissy and taking pictures of the different spectacles. We lost track of them for most of the show, but they didn't get arrested, so we're assuming that they were, ahem, discreet about it all.

The highlight of the day for me, however, was the interview with John Lawrence of Enix. While Sumire and Citan asked intelligent questions, I just sat there playing the demo copy of Dragon Quest VII, singing along to the opening theme and asking fanboy questions, such as why they changed the name from Dragon Quest to Dragon Warrior when the games came out here, (hint: it's TSR's fault) and begged desperately for a slime plushie. In the end, Citan managed to trade his Natsume t-shirt for a copy of the Japanese game (sorry, Graham), whereas Sumi got a FREE copy of the DQ7 OST just for being cute. Did I mention I hate her? In the end, though, I came away with a metal slime plushie, which makes the whole trip worthwhile.

Just before the show closed, though, we managed to get over to Working Designs' booth, where the centerpiece was a crane game where every player got a free punching puppet Ghaleon. Strangely, they seemed to still have quite a stockpile left at the end of the show. Must have been slow in West Hall... yeah. Happily we didn't leave empty handed (or with punching puppets). We got a picture of me, Sumi, Schala, and Citan with famous Lunar fatman, Borgan. Chrono also managed to get a "special" shot of us with a certain someone in the background. I'll give you a hint: the name rhymes with Bic Mireland. I'm so crafty.

We also managed to band together and take one last look at Nintendo's pavillion and get in some Super Smash Bros. Melee. I will NEVER get used to those controls, but Chrono and Citan enjoyed it muchos and even got fanny packs for playing. I tell you the swag flowed freely, especially the free Parasite Eve II soundtracks that Tortolia and Rudo managed to get for FREE from Tokyo Soundtracks. This is the price I pay for actually doing WORK the last day of the show ;P

Well, the show ended and we hot-footed it out of the convention center before they whisked it off to the E3 dimension. Citan and I took Feena to the airport where she managed to meet the contact from Ubi-Soft we had been searching for all of Friday, and bid her bon voyage, au revoire, and toodeloo.

Before going back to the hotel, we all went out for Sushi at Dok Do, sans Chrono and Schala who went to the Vidgame party. Sumi, Tort, and I all got sushi platters, while Citan got his chicken teriyaki. Rudo, though, wouldn't order anything, being the little McDonalds whore he is, and so we had to take him to the Mickie Dee's down the road so he wouldn't starve. That's our leader, always willing to take chances... er, or something ;P We also managed to discuss the following (in no particular order): porn, Fight Club, Scary Movie, fabled editor Commodore Wheeler, the live action La Blue Girl movie (yes, I have Vol. 1), porn music, and what we can do to save the whales... that involves watching porn.

So now E3 is over and you've received a detailed and boring account of our journies. But the fun doesn't end just because the show did. Look for previews, interviews, pictures, and information on the hottest titles of the show in the next few days, as well as a special E3: 2001 feature, in which the editors each give their own accounts of the big event (now they HAVE to do one!) Until then, fellow campers, on behalf of all the staff, (actually just me) HAHA, WE WENT TO E3 AND YOU DIDN'T! RPGFan, professional and proud.