My favorite month of the year is October. Season and weather starts to change, schools' have Fall Break, Christmas is only 2 months away, Halloween is right around the corner...and it's the when E For All happens. It's been nearly a year since I went to Los Angeles and nearly a year since I last experienced something I've never experienced before. Once again fellow gamers and friends, Voice_Of_Reason is headed to Los Angeles for the 2nd Annual E For All Gaming Expo!

If some of ya'll are new to the GamePro forum, last year I did a very extensive blog about my experiences at the 1st ever E For All Expo. Within the blog, I included videos of upcoming games, interviews with the GamePro staff, as well as impression of the hottest games at the Expo. Needless to say, the blog was a hit. Why I did it? Well, that's simple...because of you guys and gals within the GamePro community. As the Expo drew nearer and nearer, I started to hear more conflicts regarding money, distance, time of the year that prevented members from going. I did it for those who couldn't make it, so they could at least see what was going on and I don't regret it one bit! And the same goes for this year!

Welcome to my 2008 E For All Blog! In this blog I will 'blog' about my experiences at E For All. I will update this blog on a daily basis (mostly late at night) all 3 days of E For All. I'll post pictures, videos, interviews, Live Chats, and much more on what I've experienced at E For All 2008. So without further to do, let's start this blog!

~*~ Day 1 ~*~

"Beep!-Beep!-Beep!-Beep!" *smash!* I woke up today at 5:00am. Now normally, I would be pretty pissed off if I had to wake up this early, but today was different. Today was the day I go to Los Angeles for the much anticipated E For All 2008 Expo!...but still, it was 5 in the morning O.o

Flying

My plane left right on time (@ 7:35am) and I got too Los Angeles about noon. I also met up with my friend Mike, aka my Trusty Camera Guy = Mike. We took a shuttle to our hotel (Holiday Inn) which is conveniently across the street from the convention center. We got a quick bite to eat and ventured our way to the Convention Center where E For All was already underway.

E For All 2008!

E For All 2008! (Close Up)

Me and Trusty Camera Guy = Mike made our way to the convention center, passed the front doors and into the E For All. Loud music was going, people where going left and right and the mood of the place excitement. For Day 1, I wanted to just browse what E For All had and nothing more. And then for Day 2, go into more depth for the most notable games of E For All. My 1st impression, while walking around E For All was - mediocre. Comparing it to last year's E For All 2007, I'd say this year is a little smaller and less extensive. But that doesn't take away that we, gamers, have the chance to play the hottest games out right now as well as some of the most anticipated games of the year! Again, Day 1 was more of a brief and calm day for me, so me and my Trusty Camera Guy = Mike stayed there for about 2 hours. Plus, we were tired as hell from both getting up early that morning....at 5:00am (yeah, I haven't forgotten)

GH: World Tour - Target Stage

Weird Crazed Rabbit

Trusty Camera Guy = Mike

But the real fun didn't start until the night came. On the agenda, me and my Trusty Camera Guy = Mike had two after parties to attend, all which were conveniently located around downtown. 1st up was the FarCry 2 After E For All Party!

FarCry 2 After E For All Party!

FarCry 2 Women

Women of FarCry 2 and TCG = Mike

At the FarCry 2 Party, Ubisoft put on a pretty neat get together (minus the non-existent open bar). There was at least 15 PCs running the upcoming FPS game, FarCry 2 game. Models were walking around in there best short-short BDUs was well as the freebies and free appetizers! They also gave away 10 FarCry 2 downloadable video games to people who came, which was a cool incentive (Of I didn't win because I think the contest was rigged!). Overall, the party was pretty cool but not the best. If you care to hear what I thought of the actual game just click on the link to my YouTube Video that I made!

E For All 2008 - FarCry 2 Party (video)

After the FarCry 2 Party, we had a date with the lovely ladies of GamingGirls.com and GamerVixens.com at the Angels & Vixens: Women in Gaming Party!. It was at a very cool and deco-driven bar. The whole upstairs was saved for the party and when we got there, there was already a line forming up. Once upstairs, me and my trusty camera guy = Mike, headed for the bar. While I was there I happened to notice our very own Game Girls: Raychul, Miz_Calamity, Nikole, and NuyoRiqueña! All were so nice and knew of me in the GamePro community. Not only that, but I also got to meet GamePro Staff members: Vicious Sid, SonOfTheShiningPath, and the GamePro video editor! All were cool and knew exactly who I was. I chatted with Vicious Sid for a little about his upcoming review on Gears of War 2 (So be sure to pick it up once it hits shelves!). Me and my TCG = Mike stayed there till about1:00am and got a cab and headed back to the hotel. When everything was said and done...it was a pretty awesome 1st day!

Angels & Vixens: Women in Gaming Party!

TCG = Mike at the bar

The Lovely Ladies of GameGirl.com and V_O_R

Broadway Bar - Packed

~*~Day 2~*~

Me and TCG = Mike got up rather late this morning. We got in late and I spent most of the night uploading and writing this blog. When we got up and after doing a Stickam video chat with a couple of members from GamePro, we decided to get something to eat. 30mins later we ate at the local FatBurger restaurant and made our way back to E For All.

Today was the day where me and TCG = Mike did most of the video game shooting. We 1st started with Guitar Hero: World Tour. Couple of new features of Guitar Hero: World Tour is the addition of microphone and two new symbols on the drums, making it 5 distinct color pads for the drums. Me and TCG = Mike played one round, "Santeria" by Sublime and had a pretty good time. Mike played the bass and I played the drums. What I liked about the drums is the space between each pad. It didn't feel that cramp and compact, but felt very comfortable and naturally. In terms of comparing Guitar Hero: World Tour to Rock Band 2, I would say that both a great games, GH: World Tour does have the slight advantage with the added symbols on the drums. But the set list of Rock Band 2 is quite extensive and impressive. Overall, a good fun game for any age!

E For All 2008 - Guitar Hero: World Tour (video)

Next we have Tom Clancy's EndWar, TCG = Mike loves RTS games, and this one was no different. So with that being said, he was the person I talked to when getting a good overview of the game. Mike said it's far superior than any RTS game he's played. The voice commands are very responsive and easy to do. With it being played on a console, I was wondering how the controls were since most RTS games are found on the PC with the numerous commands using the keyboard. But to my surprise, as well as Mike's, the controls were pretty good and "somewhat" easy to use. I mean no one can just pick it up and start fighting, but given a short period of time anyone can start having some fun. Bottom-line Tom Clancy's EndWar is looking to be the next big step in RTS based games and if you're a fan of it...be sure to look out for it.

E For All 2008 - Tom Clancy's EndWar (video)

One of the biggest, if not the game of E For All 2008 was Gears of War 2. Located almost in the back of E For All 2008, but surrounded with the most determined and hardcore of gaming fans, the Gears of War booth was packed. I happened to play on round of Gears of War co-op. All I can say is that it's a great improvement from its previous release. But I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a huge improvement. I mean how can you make an awesome game, awesome-er? Well in this case, you make even bloodier and bigger! The gameplay mimic what the 1st installment had, the visuals were improved, but not by much since the 1st Gears of War are, still today, great looking. It's without a doubt that Gears of War 2 will be a hit this coming Holiday Season and most probably have the biggest in sales as well. Any fan of Gears of War will surely be happy and satisfied with this sequel on the way.

E For All 2008 - Gears of War 2 (video)

Here are some pictures I took during Day 2!

Game Stage

Fusion Stage

Protocol Booth

Mana Potion Booth

Downtown LA

Nokia Center

~*~Day 3~*~

Today me and TCG = Mike woke up feeling accomplished and kind of hung-over (lol), nevertheless, it was the last day of E For All and time for us to go back home. TCG = Mike had previously booked his flight in the morning, while I booked mine at night. So TCG = Mike left to the airport around 10:00am while I stayed behind and headed on over to E For All 2008, one last time.

One of the things I wanted to do while at E For All, something I haven't done before, was to broadcast a Live Video Chat via Stickam.com to all my friends with the GamePro community, who couldn't make it out this year. So after 'hacking' into the wifi system in order to get a signal, I made a video chat room and had an awesome time with some of the members on here, including, GamerC, shammon, Aluru, miamifinfan and a few more. I hope you guys liked it, even if I lost connection 3 or 4 times while walking the grounds of E For All (haha). I would also like to thank Mr. nasherooni13 for being my right-hand man today while doing the Stickam video chat. And because of your generosity, I won't tell anyone how bad you really are at Guitar Hero: World Tour and the fact that you were the one that failed the song for us...U_U

If that wasn't exciting enough, GamePro member Spooty_the_Gameguru came across an interesting article on Kotaku.com. In short, the article was about Gears of War 2 footage leaks that were being uploaded to YouTube from E For All. And to everyone's surprise, one of those videosthey used was mine! They posted my video in the article and gave me full credit! And since then, my Gears of War 2 video has received over 3,000 views within 24 hours and still counting! So you can say that the name Voice_Of_Reason maybe a little more well-known within the gaming world. Thanks again Spooty_the_Gameguru, I owe you one!

A Compendium of Leaked Gears of War 2 Multiplayer Footage

On the last day I also had a chance to fit in some more video previews such as the very much anticipated game: Bionic Commando. For some reason, there was only one demo going on and not that many people were playing it...but little did they know, they were missing out on some badass swinging! The game looks great, the character model are very nice as well as the motion capturing while swing are just amazing. The controls were a little getting-used-too but once you had the idea, swinging was just a blast. Even combat was pretty fun to do (auto-aim FTL!). For more details on Bionic Commando be sure to check out my video preview!

E For All 2008 - Bionic Commando (video)

One of the last videos I shot was of IndieCade. What is IndieCade? In a nutshell, IndieCade is a festival of independent games that travels across the world. Last year games, including Braid were featured and are now a huge hit! So I took the opportunity to take some footage of a couple of pretty cool indie-games coming out and hopefully making it big! My two favorite game, if I had to choose would be Machinarium and The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom. To find out more about these video games and more, just hit the link and enjoy!

E For All 2008 - IndieCade (video)

~*~Conclusion~*~

All in all, E For All 2008 was pretty fun. Me and TCG = Mike had one hell of a time. From going to a video game party (FarCry 2), to a website party (gamingangels.com) and even walking the street of LA with a drunk guy. When I look back, I can't really complain much. It may have not been as big as last year or have as many big-time gaming companies, but the fact that gamers across the nation (and even globe) came to enjoy something they all can agree on, something that makes us gamers, something that makes us feel good and excited...and that is E For All 2008.

Xbox Live

Ubisoft booth

Combat Arms

Target booth

Fatal1ty being interviewed

Free Publications!

I would like to thank each and every member in the GamePro community for supporting and participating in all the E For All activities I had going on throughout the weekend. And would like to thank My Trusty Camera Guy = Mike for being an awesome camera guy and friend. I hope you guys and gals enjoyed this blog as well as my videos, I did it all for you guys and hope to do it all over again next year. Take care...

...indeed

Your fellow gamer and friend,

Voice_Of_Reason

The End

E For All 2008 - Wrap Up! (video)

~*~For more pictures of E For All 2008, be sure to check them out in my MySpace account!~*~