The queue continued to shuffle forward.
Security personnel, communicating via walkie-talkies, maintained order in the aisles.
As soon as one group of players finished their trials and left, new ones immediately filled the empty spots.
This grand event for the video game industry reached its peak on Public Day.
At precisely 6 PM, the lights in the Los Angeles Convention Center flickered twice.
A clear, formal English voice announced over the loudspeaker that the inaugural Electronic Entertainment Expo was officially closing.
Security guards began unfurling red barriers, guiding the lingering crowds toward the exits.
The aisles filled with the rustling sound of plastic bags rubbing against each other.
A group of high school students from Texas walked through the crowd, each carrying a large shopping bag emblazoned with the Bandai logo.
"My legs are killing me," the chubby young man said, shifting the bag to his left hand and rubbing his knee with his right. "After three hours in line, I finally snagged this Plated Version Gundam."
"You got off easy," his companion said, pointing to his red arm. "At the Sanrio booth, some fat guy from Florida shoved me into a corner. He lost a shoe trying to snatch that Hello Kitty wearing a Sega vest."
"At least we got what we wanted," the boy leading the way said, pulling two carefully preserved stickers from his pocket. They bore the MGS2 logo. "And I even beat the stealth level. Only fifty people at the entire convention center have these."
The gamers walked out, tired but satisfied.
Kentia Hall, Underground Exhibition Area.
The air here was still thick with the mingled stench of sweat and cardboard boxes.
Most manufacturers' booths had been completely emptied, with even the display samples bought up at premium prices by distributors.
Staff were dismantling the backdrops.
The situation at the neighboring Atari merchandise booth was starkly different.
Several boxes of black T-shirts emblazoned with the Jaguar console logo sat untouched in a corner.
The manager flipped through the sales register, his brow furrowed.
"Not a single one sold?" he asked the salesperson beside him.
"Several people asked about the price this morning, but they walked away when they heard it was $25," the salesperson said, taking off his work badge. "They'd rather spend $50 on a Nintendo Mario hat. Our designs are so outdated, even the scalpers won't touch them."
The manager closed the registration book and sighed. "Pack them up and send them back to the warehouse. Let's not waste our time on this useless stuff next year."
The insincere, poorly designed souvenirs remained untouched in the exhibition hall, rejected by the players' wallets.
Backstage at the Sega booth:
Oguchi Hisao tossed a thick stack of letters of intent onto the folding table and pulled up a chair.
"Exhausted?" Takuya Nakayama handed him a bottle of mineral water.
"More draining than three days of meetings in Tokyo," Oguchi Hisao said, twisting off the cap and taking a large gulp. "But the results exceeded expectations. We secured annual framework agreements for ProSoccerWorld with several major European distributors. Paolo Maldini's endorsement was a huge success. Someone even mentioned that next year, they might help us connect with UEFA—we could potentially get the rights to the UEFA European Championship."
Takuya Nakayama opened the top document and glanced at the figures.
"Demand for the Jupiter Console from North American distributors has increased by 40%," Oguchi Hisao continued his report. "The live demo of Final Fantasy VII really impressed them. Square really helped us out this time."
"Did you get any information about Sony?" Takuya Nakayama asked.
"Ken Kutaragi held two technical seminars this morning and secured quite a few small and medium-sized developers. Their 0-language development library is indeed very convenient."
"And Carmack?"
"He left for the airport at 4 PM," Oguchi Hisao said with a smile. "He said he couldn't stand the Los Angeles air and wanted to go back to Texas to write code. Jensen Huang sent two engineers to fly with him."
Takuya Nakayama put the contract into a file folder.
"Tell the Legal Department to expedite the registration of the Foundation," he said, standing up and brushing dust off his clothes. "E3 is over, but the real battle is just beginning. Have everyone pack up. I'm treating everyone to steak tonight."
Los Angeles Marriott Hotel.
A GamePro editor stuffed the last dirty shirt into his suitcase and zipped it shut.
Outside the window, the Los Angeles nightscape began to light up.
The frantic rhythm of keyboard clacking and the chaos of crumpled paper were gone from the room.
The photographer sat on the edge of the bed, meticulously wiping his camera lens.
All thirty rolls of film he had brought were now used up, stored in special anti-magnetic bags.
"Flight back to New York is at nine tomorrow morning," the editor said, glancing at his watch. "No need to stay up late tonight."
"Thank God," the photographer said, snapping the lens cap on and packing his camera bag. "I've never seen so many new games released in three days. What's the plan for the special issue once we get back to the office?"
The editor walked to the desk and picked up his notebook.
"The Editor-in-Chief approved forty pages—unprecedented treatment," he said, flipping through the notebook, which was filled with various structural diagrams. "There are too many options for the front page. Shigeru Miyamoto's comments are definitely worth including, and the engine project jointly developed by Sega, id Software, and NVIDIA is also noteworthy. But there's not enough specific information; I'm worried it won't fill the pages."
"What about the game reviews? Eighty-plus games—forty pages won't be enough to cover them all."
"Focus on the highlights," the editor said, circling a few titles with his pen. "[ Final Fantasy VII ] gets two pages—we need to cover its breakthrough in 3D RPGs. [ MGS2 ] gets two pages to analyze the combination of cinematic storytelling and stealth gameplay. Nintendo's [ Yoshi's Island ] and Capcom's [ Resident Evil ] each get one page."
"What about Sony? Their arcade ports were a big hit."
"We'll dedicate a section to 'Arcade at Home.' We'll go into detail on the console versions of [ Tekken ] and [ Ridge Racer ]." The editor closed his notebook. "The remaining space will be for the photos you took: players lining up for merchandise, exhausted testers slumped over demo stations, and those scalpers nearly fighting over a limited edition."
The photographer whistled. "I wouldn't be surprised if this special issue sells out."
"Let's go get a drink downstairs. My treat." The editor threw his jacket over his shoulder. "To surviving our first E3."
New York, Electronic Gaming Monthly Headquarters.
The Editor-in-Chief's office lights were still on.
On the desk lay several faxes with press releases and a few low-resolution photos from the show floor.
The Editor-in-Chief, cup of coffee in hand, stared at the layout plan on the wall.
"Notify the printer—increase next week's special issue print run by fifty percent," he instructed the distribution manager over the phone.
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