Giant Fire Breathing Robot

E3 2011: A Grand Tour

As luck would have it, I was able to attend the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles on behalf of Giant Fire Breathing Robot. Based on my previous visits to the show as a standard attendee, E3 always ends up being a massive whirlwind of fun and games that can be quite overwhelming. Due to the enormous size of the venue and the numerous lines that required waits that could easily stretch beyond an hour, it would be impossible for anyone to see everything at the show over the course of three days. I tried my best to photograph whatever I could in order to give everyone around the world who couldn’t make it a better look at the sights of the expo. Hit the jump when you’re ready to see over 250 photos from E3, including the games, booths, celebrities, models, mascots, and much more!

 

 

TUESDAY

I walked by this massive Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim advertisement in downtown Los Angeles on my way from the hotel to the convention center.

World of Tanks placed a few of the game’s trademark vehicle right outside the western entrance.

Once a gamer sees this, they should know that they’re about to enter the paradise that is E3.

Sony replaced their large Kevin Butler ad from last year with another promoting the Vita.

Creepy mutants from Rage were guarding the entrances.

Here’s a closer look at one of the little horrors. Bethesda should have had one secretly be an actual person.

One of several stations where regular attendees could pick up their badge holders.

Street Fighter X Tekken artwork of Ryu decorated the stairs.

Across the escalator was the corresponding half, which featured Kazuya Mishima.

G4 sponsored the expo’s free swag bags.

More Vita advertisements lined the top of the corridor connecting the two E3 halls.

Saints Row: The Third banners were placed along the sides, highlighting the various faction and gang members.

Another piece of stairway artwork, this time featuring the first-person shooter Bodycount.

Microsoft knows better than to leave this Forza Motorsport 4 Ferrari unattended.

The Ford Fiesta Social Club wasn’t open for business when I arrived.

A large Gears of War 3 banner hanging above one of the convention center’s restaurants.

Redbox had a special rental station setup for any guests needing some cheap entertainment.

Nintendo’s legion of female representatives enter E3 and make their way to the booth.

An artist began work on a Sims 3 mural, which would gradually be completed by the end of the expo.

I never did find the time to stop by and get a new collar for my dogs.

The NOS team discuss their plans before the E3 chaos begins.

The new Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition downloadable content was available for freeplay courtesy of Sprint and IGN.

Deux Ex: Human Revolution’s Adam Jensen was plastered on the stairs leading to the south hall.

With about four hours to go until the doors open, the line to get inside the west hall was quite thin.

After successfully picking up my media pass, I entered the lounge reserved for members of the press. Free breakfast food was available, but I’d already stuffed myself at the hotel.

The rest of the media lounge was filled with seating for journalists to kick back and get some work done.

Target’s dome-shaped lounge, which was open to every visitor at E3.

Several demo machines were setup inside, as well as recharging stations for mobile devices.

The Into the Pixel exhibit once again returned to the expo and showcased official pieces of art from several video games.

In my opinion, the best one was this piece, which originated from a Mystery Case Files title.

Concept artwork from the upcoming BioShock Infinite.

Works from Sony’s God of War 3 and Uncharted 3.

Awwwww, just look at those Kinectimals.

A smaller Spring/IGN lounge, which had some seating and monitors displaying Twitter feeds.

N…

O…

S…

…drink it up!

The queue to get inside the west hall began to grow.

Ubisoft’s Rocksmith tour bus was parked in the interior courtyard.

Another large Street Fighter X Tekken ad.

Nearby was a huge sign forAsura’s Wrath, which unfortunately required an appointment if you wanted to play it.

Parrot’s AR Drone tent, where fans could fly the remote-controlled devices through hoops.

Free video game magazines were readily available, and provided some nice entertainment for the flight back home.

This horde of eager E3 attendees stormed the entrance as soon as the doors opened at noon.

One of three Zeevs that I spotted at E3, who represented the Zeevex line of virtual currency used for online gaming.

If you wanted to try out the Wii U, you would have to wait for several hours in this growing line of Nintendo fans.

A shot of the front of Capcom’s booth, which ended up being my first major stop at E3.

Sony’s brought back their tradtional two-floored exhibit.

A fierce dragon from Skyrim guards Bethesda’s booth.

The line to play Uncharted 3′s multiplayer mode was always packed, and allowed gamers the chance to score a shirt.

Rift’s setup included this exotic tree.

A trio of models from Rift and End of Nations.

Another portion of Bethesda’s booth was made to resemble an action scene from Rage.

Videos from Skyrim, Prey 2, and Rage were played on Bethesda’s large monitors.

BradyGames will be the folks making the official strategy guide for Diablo 3.

If you jumped around in a bounce house with a Prime World booth babe, you’d get a free shirt and a chance to win an HDTV. I’ll just say that the offer was too good to refuse.

Two costumed ladies representing Prime World.

A pair of girls seen at Gamigo’s exhibit.

The Pro VS GI Joe truck, where you can test your video game mettle against soldiers.

Some sort of Twister game that was going on at the IndieCade exhibit.

Another one of their activities involved beanbags.

Sony Online Entertainment focused on their growing stable of MMORPGs.

SOE always seems to offer a free photo op. Background choices included scenes from Magic: The Gathering, Star Wars, and the DC Universe.

Another Zeev danced near the western entrance.

The third and final Zeev was posing nearby.

A decent amount of progress was made to the mural.

I soon made my way to the meeting rooms, which were a more formal option for companies who didn’t like the spectacle of the main halls.

Catherine artwork decorating the entrance to the Atlus meeting room.

When I asked about King of Fighters XIII, I was told that it was only being shown in video form. However, research shows that select sites were granted access to an early playable build.

A poster showcasing Atlus Online’s MMORPG, Pandora Saga.

The League of Legends artwork sported on the walls of Riot Games.

The room belonging to Telltale Games prominently featured their game based on the Walking Dead. Note the zombie arm coming out of the closet.

The E3 food court was bustling with activity during lunch, and a great place to snag 3DS StreetPass tags.

Gamers lined up to try out the four new fighters in Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition.

A view of the southern entrance from the food court.

A Disney Universe sign parodying one of the Lion King’s most famous scenes.

Another Disney Universe sign inspired by Tron: Legacy.

A look at EA’s enormous exhibit, which was the first thing you’d see as you entered the south hall.

Tera’s demo stations were installed on this giant tree.

Activision’s exhibit was basically a gigantic theater where fans could sit or stand to watch trailers of their upcoming blockbusters.

One of the AR Drone models poses by their indoor beach setup.

A succubus from Vindictus beckons to photographers

The life-sized drop pod that usually would carry space marines to war housed the Warhammer 40K: Space Marine demo stations at THQ’s exhibit.

A pair of THQ beauties promoting Space Marines.

A UFC girl monitoring entrance to the theater showcasing UFC Undisputed 3.

A large Sonic statue rotated atop Sega’s Sonic Generations booth.

Smaller statues of old and new Sonic guarded the entrance.

Evil green robots from Sega’s Binary Domain.

Tecmo Koei brought back their usual Japanese koinobori decorations.

No one seemed interested in Champion Jockey, and I unfortunately forgot to go back and try it.

Tecmo Koei’s trio of booth babes.

NIS America’s partnership with Koei Tecmo allowed them to demo Atelier Totori at the booth.

Glee continues to receive a fairly large presence at Konami’s exhibit, including this karaoke stage.

The HD version of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was one of Konami’s most popular demos.

You’d rest on a toilet seat when sampling Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder.

Using a special projector attachment and shades created by VEFXi, you could watch any DVD in 3D.

An artist working on a large Galaga painting at the Namco Bandai exhibit.

The official Dark Souls demo station was held in this eerie dungeon passage.

A Marcus Fenix statue stands vigilantly near the Gears of War 3 exhibit.

Square Enix’s booth once again featured a large theater showcasing trailers of their upcoming game library.

Various pieces of Final Fantasy memorabilia on display in a glass case.

The line of Halo Play Arts toys made by Square Enix.

A Play Arts toy of Sam Gideon from the underrated Sega shooter, Vanquish.

One of Microsoft’s Kinect demo bubbles, featuring the new Star Wars game.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 was available at the Square Enxi booth in playable form.

One of Atari’s two tall models.

Models lounge around their faux beach environment as AR Drones float around them.

Calibur’s line of customized video game consoles, which were available in a variety of colors.

Adam Sessler and another host drew a crowd during a live taping at the G4 exhibit.

One of the official E3 gift shop selling memorabilia from the 2011 show.

Natsume’s booth featured lots of nice decorations, such as this wall art promoting the latest Harvest Moon.

An inflatable tree man from the new Rune Factory.

Several Harvest Moon plush toys combined to form a fancy display.

A statue of the depressed Gabrielle, star of Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove 3D.

A Lord of the Rings: War in the North photo op that unfortunately requires a fellowship of three to complete.

The Videogame History Museum had a select showcase of items on display at their booth.

It featured lots of classic consoles, complete with their original boxes.

They even had an arcade full of vintage classics.

Digital Press brought their retro couch setup to E3. I haven’t seen it since the Classic Gaming Expo in San Jose several years ago.

Some sort of coffee shop sponsored by Phineas & Ferb.

The cafe contained woven chairs and was surrounded by bamboo.

The stars of Phineas & Ferb appeared as topiary statues.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North viewing room near the main entrance, which featured an orchestra. To get in, you’d have to try the demo and receive a wrist band.

By signing up for the SSX newsletter or taking a photo with a model, you’d score a free 2 GB snowboard flash drive.

During a stroll outside of the convention center, I noticed some sort of Walmart/AXE station setup across the street.

I finally tried one of LA’s legendary bacon-wrapped hotdog, and it was wonderful! Too bad I spilled some of the toppings on my shirt and had to change.

You’d win a shirt if you could toss several bullet casings into a bowl at Alienware’s tent.

The Alienware tent also housed this vehicle and several demo stations.

If you managed to defeat five opponents in a row at the Street Fighter X Tekken stage, you’d win a special prize.

The prize was this nifty set of mini bobbleheads shaped like Kazuya and Ryu.

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron was the main game featured at Ignition.

Standees at Chinese developer Baiyou’s exhibit.

A character from one of Baiyou’s MMORPGs.

A bunny girl poses near another one of Baiyou’s demos.

A character statue from Perfect World’s Rusty Hearts.

I’m sad to report that this is as close as I got to the Wii U console during my three days at E3.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword demo zone was decorated with Link and Zelda statues suspended in the air.

A closer shot of Link and his mount.

Now it’s Zelda’s turn.

Nintendo’s exhibit was bathed in a cool blue light. The original Wii and DS games took up most of the main floor, while the 3DS titles were shown at the lounge seen in the back.

Resistance 3′s multiplayer demo stations were just as popular as Uncharted 3′s.

Starhawk rounded out the PS3′s trinity of multiplayer demos.

If you wanted to try out the Vita, you’d need to stand in this line, which stretched around beyond the back.

The artwork of Payday: The Heist brings back memories of Kane & Lynch.

The Witcher 2 was shown on the video monitor, and free posters were being handed out on the sides.

A booth girl representing Margaritaville Online.

The Batman: Arkham City exhibit featured plenty of artwork and glass cases housing merchandise.

The upcoming downloadable character Skarlet was apparently usable at the WB’s Mortal Kombat station.

A Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online decorative figure.

Soul of Heroes, a game with a striking resemblance to Dynasty Warriors.

A wall devoted to Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D.

Konami’s logo stood out proudly on the crimson wall.

A female Joker flashes an evil grin at the Gotham City Impostors booth.

A small squad of troops defends the Aliens: Colonial Marines demo station from the Xenomorphs.

The enhanced PS3 version of House of the Dead: Overkill was on demo. You’d also be shown on a black and white monitor while playing it.

A set of Konami’s Glee cheerleaders.

Sega’s new Kinect horror game, Rise of Nightmares. The demo was housed inside of a fake prison.

Captain America’s mighty shield was encased in glass.

I don’t know if this was the actual costume worn by Chris Evans in the upcoming film.

An Ace Combat model posing near the wreckage from a crashed fighter jet.

The throne photo op from PAX East made an appearance at E3 with a new set of model schoolgirls.

Motorcross star Lance Coury was set to make a guest appearance at Konami’s exhibit.

A scythe-wielding succubus from Vindictus.

Hyperkin’s Dance Battle VS exhibit. I wanted to try the demo since the game looked like the classic Bust-A-Groove, but they seemed to be taking a break when I asked to play it.

Ubisoft crew members unite to perform Take on Me on Just Dance 3.

Ubisoft’s destination for all your Assassin’s Creed: Revelations needs.

WEDNESDAY

The Sims 3 mural at the start of Wednesday.

Stepping outside, I spotted another NOS tent a little further down the road.

Inside was a free gaming lounge, featuring games like Mortal Kombat.

Across the street from the NOS tent was THQ’s Saints Row: The Third parking lot.

Purple cars were displayed at the custom car shop.

Saints Row models hard at work in the free car wash.

The models started in shirts, and eventually stripped down to bikinis.

Free Saints Row: The Third posters were passed out as cars pulled into the complimentary parking lot.

Due to walking billboards like these, the lot filled up very quickly.

The girls also started handing out free shirts later in the day.

The crowd of people waiting to enter the south hall. For some reason, the majority of people seemed to wait here each morning.

A trio of Sims 3 women pose near the car.

I added another Video Game Voters shirt to my collection. It’s nice to see that they finally changed the design.

Kinect advertisements made another appearance in the restrooms of the convention center.

The Ford Fiesta Social Club was open for business. The bartenders gave out complimentary water cups and cleaning supplies.

Nintendo’s iconic logo near the corner of their exhibit.

While waiting in line to play Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, I observed a live Capcom Unity stream featuring Motohide Eshiro, producer of Okamiden.

Thanks to my press badge, I was granted access to Yoostar’s media room.

Snoop Dogg was up there in a sealed room, conducting interviews for the release of Yoostar on MTV.

Snoop reacts to a message from a fan, who challenged him to a game of Madden.

He turned around and gave a few more poses to photographers in the crowd.

My final photo of Snoop Dogg, as he soon left to partake in other activities.

Nyko’s trademark redheads. If you tried out their new Kinect attachment, you’d receive a red wig of your own.

EA’s trio of Need for Speed: The Run models.

A replica of the cybernetic arm from Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

A shocking photo op at Sega’s Rise of Nightmare’s exhibit.

Ubisoft showed off another entry into the world of fitness-related video games with UFC: Personal Trainer for the Kinect.

The uDraw tablet accessory seems to be heading to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. An artist at the booth was working on a great illustration of Voltron.

Making my way up to the 3DS lounge due to the short wait, I tried out the new 3D Pokedex app and received a set of special AR cards.

While I never got to play the console itself, I at least held the Wii U controller with my own hands. I can’t say that I have any complaints about the quality of the build.

Capcom’s official Chun-Li cosplayer caught the eye of many fighting game fans.

Tekken and Street Fighter producers, Katsuhiro Harada and Yoshinori Ono, signed free Street Fighter X Tekken posters for fans.

I got one for myself and scored a nice photo op with both men. I also StreetPassed Ono’s Mii!

I’m not sure what game she was from, but this character was doing a photo shoot out in the corridor.

Cooking Mama arrived to promote her fourth game. I also received a free oven mitt for visiting. Thanks, Mama!

A group of World of Tanks models posing outside the south hall.

Going by THQ, I saw a hulking Ultramarine. A real person was inside of the suit, which definitely didn’t look comfortable.

An angel statue near the Saints Row: The Third presentation line.

A THQ booth babe advertising the company’s Twitter page.

A large hologram image of a Xenomorph decorating the Aliens: Colonial Marines station.

A look at the Space Marine Collector’s Edition, which can only be obtained from THQ’s online shop.

Another model promoting THQ’s official Twitter hashtag.

A mob gathers to enter a push-up contest hosted by the Frag Dolls.

Eco Rico, an environmental hero starring in an upcoming iPhone game.

Another one of Namco Bandai’s Ace Combat models.

The Galaga mural nears completion.

Namco Bandai had a small Tekken Tag Tournament 2 arcade cabinet hiding in a corner of their exhibit.

T-Mobile’s restaurant offered several free desserts.

The demo of the new Driver video game was installed in the trunk of this car.

Argh… yet another photo op that require more than one person.

Disney artists returned and once again offered Mickey Mouse sketches.

A quartet of Star Wars: The Old Republic actors seen at EA’s exhibit.

A pair of Sith Lords watched them from around the corner.

Another group of World of Tanks characters posing outside of the convention center.

Once E3 wrapped for the day, many attendees headed to the Nokia Theatre to watch a Video Games Live concert.

THURSDAY

The western hall was jammed with people waiting to bum rush the Vita and Wii U exhibits on the final day of E3. Instead of waiting, I opted to wander around and gather StreetPass tags while hunting for free stuff.

The World of Tanks troops tossed t-shirts and toy tanks to the crowd.

These APB: Reloaded bags were just asking to be taken.

One of the SSX booth girls armed with an iPad.

BloodRayne made an appearance, but her new downloadable game was only playable by appointment.

This is my final photo of the Sims 3 mural, which was just about finished.

The star of Journey must be Clank in disguise!

I wasn’t up for joining the Vita line at the start of Thursday, so I went around to take more pictures and play other things.

One of the PS3 Move stations at Sony’s complex.

One of the masked men from Payday: The Heist.

Ignition’s free post cards, which informed me that Magical Drop 5 was at E3.

A pink and evil blue bear could be won as a raffle prize for trying out Rusty Hearts.

One of the Rusty Hearts demo stations, which was decent for a free-to-play MMORPG brawler.

A shot of the 3DS lounge in Nintendo’s booth, where I tried to gather a set of collectible pins. I received 2, and had to dance for a pair of booth babes in order get 1 of them.

A Nintendo girl equipped with a 3DS.

The Prime World girls gather in the bounce house for a G4 shoot.

Two of G4′s wandering booth babes, who were preparing to jump in the house.

IGN’s special whiteboard for autographs.

The rest of IGN’s exhibit, where they’d conduct various live broadcasts.

An SOE game called Akimi Village. The art reminded me of the NES classic Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom.

Another Nyko girl. Nyko was also nice enough to hand out wigs to anyone who wanted one on the last day of E3.

A female member of the Deckers and Oleg, who are both featured in Saints Row: The Third.

A spokesmodel for THQ’s MX VS ATC: Alive.

Art outside of 2K’s Darkness 2 demo room.

The booth of the Get-Well Gamers Foundation, which works to provide video games to children in hospitals across the country.

America’s Best Dance Crew champions We Are Heroes were performing at Konami’s exhibit.

A bubble housing the new Disneyland Adventures title for Kinect. I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to play it.

Forza Motorsport 4 was demoed on multiple monitors to provide a more realistic driving experience.

Two Ubisoft girls who were demoing Assassin’s Creed: Lost Legacy on 3DS.

Ubisoft’s stage, where instruments from a Rocksmith show were left unused.

Another set of Ubisoft booth babes working at the Brothers in Arms: Furious 4 portion of the exhibit.

Tomonobu Itagaki, creator of Dead Or Alive and the modern Ninja Gaiden games, looking stylish as always. He was being interviewed at THQ’s booth regarding his upcoming shooter, Devil’s Third.

Two more of Payday’s masked men start clowning around.

Microsoft’s Kinect Sports: Season Two platforms.

An intimidating Chaos Marine surfaced at THQ’s booth.

This actor portraying Zimos from Saints Row: The Third unfortunately lacked his autotuned voice box.

A model for a game called Inversion.

Here come da Orks!

A trio of Hooters girls, who were promoting the new location that was opening up across from the convention center.

A DJ played remixes of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga before shutting down due to technical difficulties.

Lots of people were photographing this with their 3DS systems, but I preferred a regular picture.

3DS owners united around the symbol at the end of E3 in order to do some last-minute StreetPassing.

Goodbye for another year, E3. I’ll make sure to come back for even more next year!

That concludes the photo blog portion of my E3 2011 adventure. I hope it gave you a good idea of the kind of things you can expect to find in the LA Convention Center during the three magical days of E3. Please keep an eye out over the next few days for the rest of my E3 coverage. I plan on doing some additional writing about some of the things I tried at the show, such as Street Fighter X Tekken, the Vita, Dance Central 2, and Super Mario for the 3Ds. You can also expect a post covering Sega’s Sonic Boom party, which celebrated the 20th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog. Thanks once again for reading!