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Screenshot provided by Digital Extremes from the Star Trek game to be released 2012.

To thoroughly experience E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, would require one to manifest an avatar. The trade show, held last week at the Los Angeles Convention Center is like an explosive, action-packed live video game; its terrain abundant with mobs hacking and slashing, rushing and questing for loot, nukes, and Easter eggs, and exploiting the physical boundaries of their corporeals, the exhibitors, and of the venue itself.

A noob to the event and one not exceedingly versed in the world of gaming (yes, I looked up the aforementioned terms), I was prepared to experience something akin to Comic-Con, the mecca-for-anything-that-has-fans event coming up in San Diego. The show is as vast as Comic-Con, utilizing the entire convention center as well as several nearby hotel ballrooms. But where Comic-Con is the capitol of cool swag, at E3 the loot is testing out the new games and equipment. Lines form around the various monitors, television screens, and console stations but also at the courtesy booths to check-in. Though now limited to exhibitors, retailers, buyers, journalists, and industry professionals -- the credentialing requirements for the latter being understandably stringent -- gaming companies still have limited spots open to tour and test their new products in a more exclusive capacity. Many of the huge companies like Nintendo, Sega, and Sony have booked appointments far in advance, culling the attendees and sending out VIP invites before the show. Thus, even highly esteemed and widely read and watched media outlets are likely to get shut out.

This is where the Easter eggs at E3 come in. There is no uniformity with the booths and pavilions; it seems some intentionally forego the use of signs and placards to further the exclusivity. So attendees have to actively search out and figure out these hidden Easter eggs. When unlocked, the pay-offs are amazing. Often, behind these taut velvet ropes are open bars, catered meals, and amazing schwag. For the gaming aficionado, there are less people and more opportunity to get acquainted with the new games, sometimes guided by the producers of the games themselves.

After a flurry of “we’re all booked up” apologies, I slipped into one of those exclusive rooms at the Nintendo pavilion -- flashing my media badge was good enough for the guard -- and bagged several soda cans and dined on popsicles and wine while testing out their new 3D products. Candy, Cars 2, and coffee made-to-order awaited attendees at the Disney pavilion while T-Mobile had a complimentary diner replete with cinnamon buns, chicken fingers, and HDMI cables. Much more elite fare was to be found at booths like Nexon and the EA suite. My biggest haul was at the private Paramount set-up which gave away Blu-Ray movies.

Does the special treatment affect how one views the actual product? Packaging catches interest, but ultimately the product is what matters. Reverb, the folks hired to usher the Paramount games out, did put on an excellent presentation. Using two monitors for two players on different consoles, the demo effectively contrasted the unique skills and experiences associated with chosen avatars such as Kirk and Spock. Ordinarily I choose the most powerful character to bring me to a win, but with this perspective, it enabled me to really get a sense of the variety a player could have. Visually appealing and wildly exciting, this is one of the games I most look forward to, especially because you play throughout the cutaway scenes.

While presentation matters, there were reps who weren’t high on customer service, letting the product speak for itself. Although the laryngitis-affected escort at Activision dumped me to fend for myself in the back rooms, it didn’t have a bearing on my impression of the X Men Destiny game coming out soon. Steeped with difficulty and great action, the game will leave one grasping for cheat sheets to progress. A neat component is combining established characters such as Nightcrawler and Northstar with brand new characters.

Back in the main area, it was apparent that the Wii was less popular than Playstation and XBox although their new Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword game still had a long line. On Thursday, the last day, there was still a three hour wait to play the complete line-up of games. There was also vast interest in the Wii U, the next generation of the console, to be released in 2012.  Kinect, the highly enjoyable but hard-to-acclimate-oneself-to, motion-sensor component for the Xbox 360, also did not have as long lines as the traditional consoles. These were hard-core gamers here, most of whom waited in wrap-around lines for specific game titles.

Screenshot for Kinect Star Wars courtesy of LucasArts available 2012.

I was fascinated at Social Gaming including Monopoly Millionaires which seems to hold vast opportunities for marketing for small and large business. 3D is not the next generation for video gaming; it’s already arrived, and it’s astounding how many different ways companies ferry that aspect to the public. Some don’t require glasses -- paper, plastic or headset -- and others don’t require a screen even, projected on the wall. Stopping at a booth for 3D company Triovitz, booth size and presentation did make a difference as the screens were far behind the desk, and the PR rep didn’t grab my interest in why his product set the standard. Though the Darkworks Captain America 3D game TriOviz worked on was cool. For a while it seemed he was going to hand me a set of 3D movies, but alas, it was not to be.

While the mish-mash of procedures lends itself to exclusivity, a guard at the meeting rooms told me that the exhibitors placed there complained that attendees weren’t being granted access to them. The preconception that that area was exclusive had many missing out on companies like Lucas Arts which brought statues of its Star Wars characters. On the exhibition floor, they would have been mobbed with everyone wanting to take pictures with them.

The cheery cosplayers I have grown accustomed to from Comic-Con were few and far between at E3 even for those working at the booths. And while I’m not particularly interested in that, bikini clad girls weren’t in terrible abundance either. But mind you, this is a professional trade show. One that anyone would gladly have packed into their basement:  an endless supply of video games and friendly folk hand-serving wine and sandwiches and tossing Soy Joy and Klondike bars at you. Much like the products it markets, E3 is an abundant feast for all the senses, a gleeful Gomorrah for the gamer, whether aficionado or noob.