The bags are packed, the plane tickets are booked, and the maid is fluffing our hotel pillows. Co-Optimus is on their way to E3 in Los Angeles California, bringing you the latest and greatest co-op gaming coverage over the next week at the show. But what exactly does it take to cover an event like this? Some folks might think E3 is a 4 day party of playing games, but the reality of it is quite a bit different.
Let's see what each of our four Co-Optimus Editors have in their bag to help cover and survive the show.
Mike Katsufrakis:
When I travel to conventions, I usually try to pack as light as possible, but since our E3 trip will involve a lot of content creation, so I need to bring extra goodies. Here’s the full rundown:
- iPhone - Though I doubt I’ll actually be making any phone calls (thanks, AT&T), the quick access to a pretty decent camera should prove useful.
- iPad - Because... I’m going to read some comics on the plane, and Evernote is a pretty useful tool for translating my handwriting and syncing to my other devices.
- Macbook Pro - If I’m gonna be cranking out impression pieces, I’m sure as hell not going to be doing it with my phone or iPad. It also serves as my trusty podcast capture/editing station in a pinch, and if we need to perform emergency site maintenance, it has my development environment!
- External Hard Drive - I keep lots of site assets and other goodies on this thing, and you never know when I’ll need to bust out a copy of the Golden Fitty Award.
- Notebooks Tactical Pen - Pocket-sized notebooks are great for, well, taking notes, and my pen substitutes as a stabbing weapon for fending off crazed fanboys and/or Gamestop employees who snuck in.
- Clif Bars - They’re a decent meal substitute when you don’t have time to seek real food.
- 3DS (Ocarina of Time Edition) - I crave a critical mass of Streetpass, and E3/PAX are the only places to make it happen.
Nick Puleo:
This E3 I'm changing things up. No more shoulder messenger bag, no more MacBook. It's like a whole new start. Needless to say, you need to lug a lot of shit to these things.
- MSI Core i7 Laptop - I got a brand new laptop just for the show. It's got a great 1920x1080 screen, big hard drive, and is plenty fast. We plan on cranking out a lot of video content and hopefully this will help.
- Verizon MiFi 4G LTE Hotspot - F hotel internet. Tired of that crap. This year we're armed with LTE for our internet access.
- Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation Pro - My phone battery ALWAYS runs out while at these shows. That's where this little bad boy comes in. It weighs less than a pound and provides a handful of charges to any USB device.
- Nexus One and Samsung Focus - Why bring two cell phones? Locke is from Canada and apparently our phone system doesn't speak Canadian. So I'm being a nice guy.
- Notebook - Best $2 I ever spent on that little green notebook.
- Zoom H1 Voice Recorder - Best option for taking notes while playing, does a great job at cutting down background noise from the show floor.
- Business Cards - You best not forget these
- Nominee Plaques - We'll be dishing out awards at the show this year. You know you WANT this on your game.
- What's in the Box? - Charging Cables, Adapters, etc etc
- Not Pictured - Digital Camera, 4 Xbox Controllers, PlayStation Vita, Cliff Bars, and iPad
Andrew Gaskill:
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I'm keeping it old school. It's a Co-Optimus pen and a half-full pocket notepad. E3 2012 = covered.
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Apparently my gear isn't good enough. Fine, be that way. I'm going to bring THIS:
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I'm driving to LA so I have little more space than my fellow event goers. I just kind of threw this stuff together. I'm not heading to E3 until Tuesday, so items may be substituted without notice. Especially when I get panicked calls from the fellas, since apparently no one is bringing clothes.
BULLET POINTS!
- I'll be bringing two replica Lancers (Mk 1 and Mk 2), mainly to help illustrate my argument that the ape-men of Gears of War should be dual-wielding these things in the next game. If I can dual-wield two plastic guns then the 300lbs of muscle that is the Cole Train should have no problems with the real things.
- Next is my trusty laptop. It's an HP something-or-other. I don't know. It let's me edit pics and video and runs Diablo 3.
- IPod Touch for the ride and possible backup camera.
- Canon Elph for quality portable pics
- Olympus audio recorder for when I have to take notes but I'm distracted by the cacophony of the showroom floor.
- Droid 2, which will be replaced by something shiny and expensive in the next two days, because, why not?
- Cases which will adorn my belt for all of two seconds before I chunk everything in a swag bag.
- BigAss Power Strip, since no one wanted to carry one on a plane. Wimps.
- Gerber Gator Machete Have you seen the news lately? The cannibal apocalypse is coming, people.
- Not pictured Clothes, a toothbrush, you know, travel stuff.
Since I actually reside in California, this is all I'm comfortable publicly documenting. There will be more. Seriously, LA is like Mad Max times in the bad sections.
Locke Vincent:
I'll be packing some video heat this trip so I will be including some more technical equipment than I usually have around. I wasn't allowed to bring my Luchador masks across the border so I had to resort to more conventional things.
- Canon T3i DSLR - This is my pride and joy, and a really great camera body to have on the show floor. It is smaller than the MK2 and MK3 so it never becomes cumbersome, plus it does full HD video in 60 FPS for full booth babe coverage. I'll be rocking a 50mm prime, a 18-55mm general, and a 10-22mm wide angle.
- Dixon Unidirectional Microphone - I want to get as much video this year as possible and in order to have good video, you need good sound. This mic is perfect for loud, crowd filled spaces as it will filter out all the noise and pick up what we're trying to say during our interviews.
- Sony PSP FAT - That's right, I'm rocking the original PSP, mostly because it has served me so well over the years and I still need to finish Persona 3 which has been sitting in there since it was released. Not sure if the PSP will get much play, but I like to bring it along for comfort.
- Apple iPhone 3GS - Since my phone company doesn't want me using this in the USA this will strictly be a music player and game device while I am down there. If I need to be extra hipster, I'll bust out some Instagram photos.
- Apple iPad - I'm not certain what I will do with the ipad, but I'm going to bring it anyways since it is less cumbersome than the laptop and I can bring it around the show floor if need be. I could be awesome and use it to take pictures too.
- Bag of Tricks - For change, random cords, and a get out of jail free card.
- Co-Optimus stickers - when you need to tag something with the co-op seal of goodness.
- Sandisk USB stick - I never leave home without one. You never know.
- Klipsh Ear buds - For music listening and drowning out Cubninja's snoring.
- Paper and Pens - Gadzooks!
- Sunglasses - I'm a Canadian headed to LA, I don't know what the sun is like so I am being prepared.
Did I mention there are four of us in one hotel room with all this crap?