Trip to California anyone?

I've had this idea floating around for a while, and wanted to see what you guys think about it. A group of us could take a trip out to California to SCEA and actually meet the folks like Cyd/Locust and the US devs in person, take a tour of the facility, maybe even sit in a meeting and see how it all gets done. Anyone remotely interested in this?

Sounds like fun, but how would we set that up?

EvoAnubis wrote:Sounds like fun, but how would we set that up?

Well, I guess the first thing is to know where to go right? We'd have to plan for some point down the road that the people going can adequately plan to get off work or take a few days off from school, etc. We'd have to find out what all the costs are too (airfare, hotel, etc). Most importantly we'd have to coordinate with Cyd/Locust to see if they're cool with the idea and would maybe even plan some things for us when we get there.

Cyd and Locust are at 919 & 989 East Hillsdale Boulevard
Foster City about 1 hour 20 minutes from my house. A friend of mine works at SCEA San diego and I wouldnt want you getting confused between the two.

tho that sounds cool.. i would if i have the money AND .. i don't wanna go alone in some place i have no idea where to go and also i don't drive ( i choose not too and i'm 23 ) and getting out of the airport is hectic ... so that would be no good .. so i have too say it sounds cool but at the end it's costly for flights AND taxi or whatever from Air port to hotel and to get around ..

JamesSoprano wrote:tho that sounds cool.. i would if i have the money AND .. i don't wanna go alone in some place i have no idea where to go and also i don't drive ( i choose not too and i'm 23 ) and getting out of the airport is hectic ... so that would be no good .. so i have too say it sounds cool but at the end it's costly for flights AND taxi or whatever from Air port to hotel and to get around ..

Kind of my thoughts too, only I do drive. Maybe if a plan were set up first to calculate the costs, transport, etc. It does sound like an AWESOME idea though.

He he he, we could go all the way and make this an E3 trip.

This sounds cool. I'd totally be up for it providing we get back to work sometime this year so I can afford it.
Would those two be willing to organize something like that though? I mean doing away with the non-disclosure agreement and allowing the testers to talk about Home online is one thing. But inviting a bunch of outsiders into their inner realm?

CrashMurphy wrote:This sounds cool. I'd totally be up for it providing we get back to work sometime this year so I can afford it.
Would those two be willing to organize something like that though? I mean doing away with the non-disclosure agreement and allowing the testers to talk about Home online is one thing. But inviting a bunch of outsiders into their inner realm?

I think if it's a select group, and we plan far ahead, I don't see why this couldn't be a possibility. If anything, the managers could give us some activities to do while there that don't involve leaking all of the inner details of Home, or we could sign separate NDAs, whatever the case may be.

Hell, I'm making a decent income right now and I'm not married yet, so I wouldn't mind throwing out a few hundred to help some people make the trip. And please don't take that the wrong way, I know it sucks to be out of work and I'm in danger of losing my position before too long I'm sure as I'm contracting for the military right now (I'm one of 3 devs left in my dept now, in a way it's good and in a way it's very scary, especially with me being the youngest and not as seasoned as a dev)... especially with how f*cked up this economy is and how these companies continue to outsource all of our work overseas. (Keep in mind too, I left Wamu right before my current job, which collapsed only two months after I left and was swallowed up by Chase, so I know all too well how hard it is to find stable work.) While I've got the position still though, I wouldn't mind spending a little to help some people out to make this happen, and I don't really care about taking any credit or thanks for this, I just want to help the right people get the audience they should have while there's an opportunity to do so, and I'm a big believer that there's no replacement for in-person contact, it helps people put a face with a name and build partnerships among the right people.

This is seeming more and more like a possibility to me. Let's try and get a time frame together first and go on from there. Also, for any people on the East Coast considering it, Philly would be a great place to meet up. =)

Count me in as interested. Hell, if we got a place with free internet access, we could broadcast a Full Contact show with whoever is going!

Asuka wrote:When is E3 held again? I still want to go if I can afford it. ^_^

I think my g/f quoted me around $400 a person and it's on June 2-4 (http://www.e3expo.com/). We're going to be going this year (I wanted to go since I've never been to one). I tried asking around the forums if anyone knew if Home would have a presence at this E3 but of course nobody knows.

Nice... everytime I go karaoke, I sing Hotel California.

This sounds pretty awesome... since I've never been to an e3. I might be able to talk the gf into this one since she has never been to LA.

BitRunner wrote:

Asuka wrote:When is E3 held again? I still want to go if I can afford it. ^_^

I think my g/f quoted me around $400 a person and it's on June 2-4 (http://www.e3expo.com/). We're going to be going this year (I wanted to go since I've never been to one). I tried asking around the forums if anyone knew if Home would have a presence at this E3 but of course nobody knows.

Yeah, I really wanted to go as well. But, at present, $400 is a bit steep when you have college bills, car insurance, etc. It stinks that the site I write for (at least to my knowledge), isn't eligible for a free media pass.

jiggyteddy wrote:Nice... everytime I go karaoke, I sing Hotel California.

This sounds pretty awesome... since I've never been to an e3. I might be able to talk the gf into this one since she has never been to LA.

My g/f is always looking for an excuse to go to California (that's where she was born), so it was an easy sell for me. She wants to go to Universal Studios & MGM/Epcot this year in Florida so I pitched E3 and it looks like we're doing both pretty much back to back, I'm going to be in the poor house after this one lol.

BitRunner wrote:

jiggyteddy wrote:Nice... everytime I go karaoke, I sing Hotel California.

This sounds pretty awesome... since I've never been to an e3. I might be able to talk the gf into this one since she has never been to LA.

My g/f is always looking for an excuse to go to California (that's where she was born), so it was an easy sell for me. She wants to go to Universal Studios & MGM/Epcot this year in Florida so I pitched E3 and it looks like we're doing both pretty much back to back, I'm going to be in the poor house after this one lol.

The whole Orlando thing is awesome. I'm a decent sized Disney fan, and took the gf there for the first time recently. The Beauty and the Beast show put her in tears. LOL... she is a bigger Disney fan than I.

Be prepared to get gouged at the parks.

jiggyteddy wrote:

BitRunner wrote:

jiggyteddy wrote:Nice... everytime I go karaoke, I sing Hotel California.

This sounds pretty awesome... since I've never been to an e3. I might be able to talk the gf into this one since she has never been to LA.

My g/f is always looking for an excuse to go to California (that's where she was born), so it was an easy sell for me. She wants to go to Universal Studios & MGM/Epcot this year in Florida so I pitched E3 and it looks like we're doing both pretty much back to back, I'm going to be in the poor house after this one lol.

The whole Orlando thing is awesome. I'm a decent sized Disney fan, and took the gf there for the first time recently. The Beauty and the Beast show put her in tears. LOL... she is a bigger Disney fan than I.

Be prepared to get gouged at the parks.

Oh I think my g/f might have yours beat in being a Disney fan. Right now I'm staring at a board where she has obsessively planned out every single dining reservation and show/ride in order, from months of looking at "unofficial guides" and posting on the "Tour Guide Mike" forums (http://www.tourguidemike.com/). Keep in mind, she was there back in December too for the Christmas event with her mom who now lives in Florida. I pretty much go for the rides I'm not a fan of the shows (except for probably Fantasmic), which is why I convinced her to slide in some Universal so I could ride the Hulk several times.

Alas though, I really can't talk trash about her obsession with Disney, I do after all have 2 46" 1080P's in the same room. One hooked up to the Cable, 360 Elite, and Wii. The newer one with 120Hz hooked up to my PS3 and this laptop, which also has attached my recently bought 9"x12" Wacom Intuous3 tablet for doing 3d sculpting in ZBrush (http://www.pixologic.com/home.php).

Yeah, I'm going to go keep playing on my 3-year-old 24" standard TV with basic sound with no special bells and whistles while I have to squint to read anything from a PS3 game since Hi-Def stuff looks like it uses .1 font on a non-Hi-Def screen. Man I way too poor to be a gamer...and you guys are soooo lucky...

Asuka wrote:Yeah, I'm going to go keep playing on my 3-year-old 24" standard TV with basic sound with no special bells and whistles while I have to squint to read anything from a PS3 game since Hi-Def stuff looks like it uses .1 font on a non-Hi-Def screen. Man I way too poor to be a gamer...and you guys are soooo lucky...

I'm in the same boat. =) Although it's not a bad idea to snag a cheap RCA stereo with game input in the front and SCHAZAM! Things get MUCH better.