When I was 11, I remember sitting in front of my television, my eyes in a complete trance and my mouth watering. This was my first experience learning about E3. As I watched X-Play's coverage of the incredible event on TechTV (now G4), I knew my biggest dream would be to go there. E3 is not just an event, its an experience. It is the opportunity to be in the eye of the storm of the video game industry's most important week. It would be an opportunity to play the biggest games coming out in the next year, an opportunity to meet the most important people in the industry, and an opportunity to suck in all the amazing news with people who share the same passion as I do for video games. More than anything in the world, I want to attend E3. It said in the contest description to not hold anything back so expect this post to be pretty long.
I started blogging about games around five years ago. I had been playing Animal Crossing Wild World with someone I met on a forum for a couple months. He randomly asked me one day if I would be interested in helping him out with a podcast he does. To believe the decision I made to join him would be a defining moment in my life. I did his gaming podcast and aside from that, I also wrote news posts for the site and did reviews of games I had bought. I had an amazing time with it and just kind of thought of it as a small hobby. I did only this for about four years. I podcasted, wrote articles, and did reviews. This podcast is known as GamersCast Podcast and it stands as the start of something big. I still am active at GamersCast Podcast which is now an official business. I am an editor and co-owner of the site. We have about 20,000 unique hits per month and growing.
I love writing about games and playing them but I never thought I could make a career out of it. One day, I was interviewing someone who is also a game journalist and she mentioned something about networking. I slowly realized that I should probably reach out to new people and find out more about video game journalism. I slowly realized that video game journalism is my desired career. I really could not care if I'm living in a trailer park with just enough to get by. If I'm doing what I love, I'll never have to work a day in my life. I found some forums for video game journalists such as Gameleon and GamesPress. These sites had job listings too. I took advantage of these and got a few jobs as a writer. It was all volunteer work but I didn't care. I just wanted to write for more sites and add things to my resume. I met so many new people and it really helped me improve on my craft as well as learn more about how to do things such as getting review copies from publishers. I've worked for many sites but as of right now aside from my duties at GamersCast, I also am a contributor to Xbox 360 Digest where I write specifically about Kinect. There is not much news now but by E3 there will be a lot. I also did other work for them which got me a meeting with a famous publisher to talk about some of their upcoming games, some of which I can't even talk about (not Kinect related). I also was a guest host on NGA Podcast on Digital Gaming Underground at the beginning of the year and am going to be working with them on some new stuff coming soon. I also talk to many gamers on Twitter and participate in many gaming related discussions. Believe it or not, all the expanding and networking I did was all done in about 11 months. It's pretty amazing that I can go so far in so little time. I had absolutely no advantages. Everything I did, I did myself. I did it because more than anything, I love writing and talking about the video game industry and more than anything I want to work in it in the future. Going to E3 can help me make the right connections so my dreams can come true.
I've talked about the amazing start to the career of my dreams but what about my experiences with gaming? My first video game was Pokemon Blue on Game Boy and it really blew my mind. It was such an experience to have your own Pokemon and feel like you are in Kanto battling the Gym leaders. I next got a PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and every system to follow. Some of my favorite games over the last few years include every major Pokemon game to release, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Heavy Rain, Killzone 2 (and 3 so far is good), Heavy Rain, LittleBigPlanet 1 and 2, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3, Gears of War 1 and 2, Shadow Complex, Uncharted 1 and 2, all Super Smash Bros., Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, and many, many more. I could go on forever about games I love. I don't really have any specific genre I like. I'm kind of a jack of all trades when it comes to console games that are not sports related. I don't really play too many PC games, mostly because I use a Mac. Gaming helps me escape from the world and dive into somewhere new. I especially love games with amazing narratives like Mass Effect 2, Bioshock, Uncharted 2, and Heavy Rain. In the past I have skipped meals and faked sick from school to play my new games or watch a gaming related press conference live. Nothing can stop my passion for gaming. Even now, I'm at college where I don't have my car and have to rely on public transportation. I have to sacrifice two hours of my life to pick up a new game and I do it every time with no regrets. I have a passion for gaming that is unlike anything I've ever seen.
So, if I were to go to E3, what would I want to see? This is such a tough question because there is so much I want to see. The first things I would want to check out is the second wave of Kinect and Nintendo 3DS titles. We have so far only seen content from each system's launch and the games for each of these that will be shown at E3 have been worked on for much longer than the first wave of titles. Next, I want to see the NGP. Sony really blew away my expectations with this new portable platform. My jaw dropped to the floor with every new feature they announced. I stayed up until 3am following a live blog when Sony announced NGP and it was totally worth it. I am interested in seeing how developers are taking advantage of features such as the powerful processor, touch screen and touch panel. I really hope to get a good impression of just what can be done on NGP by the end of E3. In terms of individual games, I am desperate to play Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. Uncharted 2 absolutely blew my mind and the third one so far seems interesting. I really hope if I do get to play it, I get to play it in 3D. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim also looks awesome. Same goes for games such as Rage, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, Batman: Arkham City, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, Gears of War 3, Kid Icarus Uprising, and more. Games I have not seen much of that will be at E3 like Mario Kart 3DS and Mass Effect 3 I can't wait to see and play!
So, why do I deserve to go to E3? I believe that I have the talent and the passion to do a good job of covering E3 for GamersCast Podcast and Kmart. Most of my reasons are listed above. I want to meet people and network so finding internships and jobs can be easier. I also want to make connections with various game publishers and developers so I can work with them in the future to create great content for the websites I work for. I asked a couple of my fellow gamers why I deserve to go to E3. These were a couple of the responses I got.
"Adam is a very talented guy. You can see the passion he has about games when you talk with him. He's a great writer and very creative. I honestly think he's the perfect guy, his knowledge is just outstanding." -Luis Nieves a.k.a @snowman2149 on Twitter, fellow gamer and twitter follower
"Adam Shear does not only know his stuff about video games. He carries himself in a strong professional manor. I very much enjoyed working with him and would love to see him keep advancing in the video game industry because he shows amazing passion and drive for the gaming world." -Amanda Brockman a.k.a @SoAmped33 on Twitter, second runner up on season 1 of The Tester and the newest Frag Doll cadette
To be completely honest, I did not even know Kmart sold video games. I thought it was more of a clothing store like TJ Maxx. I don't have any Kmarts in my area so I wouldn't know. I think what you are guys are doing is amazing. This is an incredible opportunity for people like me who want to make a living off of writing about video games. I only discovered Kmart Gamer yesterday through a post about this contest from kotaku.com. From the site, I can clearly understand the community related goals of Kmart Gamer and will look into getting involved over the next month or so, even more if I meet new people through it. I hope you enjoyed reading this and I really hope I am chosen to take the journey to E3 and have a shot of making the right connections to score my dream job as well as having an incredible time I'll never forget. Below are some links to websites I work for and am associated with. You can see my work through these sites.
Links to specific Works:
Bejeweled Blitz preview
Xbox 360 Digest Kinect Articles (Most of these are written by me but not all so check the author)
Nintendo 3DS Launch Lineup Revealed
Review of Plants vs. Zombies for Nintendo DS
Top Five Games that Need to be on Nintendo 3DS
GamersCast Podcast audio feed I am in every episode and also have a review of Kinect Adventures on there and an interview with the guys at LittleBigPodcast. Those are easy to locate. Let me know if you want more audio stuff and I'll recommend some stuff.
NGA Podcast Episode 29
Let me know if you want more.
GamersCast Podcast: http://gamerscastpodcast.com/
Xbox 360 Digest: http://www.xbox360digest.com/
Digital Gaming Underground: http://www.d-gu.com/
Daily Debate on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23DailyDebate
My Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/adamshear
Email: adam@gamerscastpodcast.com
