Omni travels several thousand miles to look at a bunch of PS2 goodies.

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Playstation Revelation

We’ve all been there. You know the place – the quasi-wakefulness that accompanies being conscious at 4:00AM on a chilly October morning, slight headache, a dry mouth, empty stomach and only a slight understanding of where you are. Although I hadn’t been drinking heavily the night before, that was the way I felt on October 18, 2002. This was the day I was to leave for Toronto (the other capital of Canada) to bear witness to Sony Canada’s Playstation Revelation event.

I had always heard rumors about press events (never having actually been to one). The free-flowing booze, the partying, the fun, the excitement and, of course, the games. Let’s not forget that behind all the fun is a deep and abiding commitment to gaming that permeates everything the gaming media does. At least that was the initial idea, but I was to learn later that day it doesn’t always happen like that.

The plane left Vancouver, B.C. at 6:30AM and I would arrive in Toronto at 2:30PM, which provided a cushion of about an hour for me to drop off my bag at the hotel and make it to the press event. But I still had the long flight ahead of me and airline food to endure. I was excited about being able to see some of Canada from the air, never having flown east. The plane trip itself was uneventful and disappointing.

Uneventful in that everything went fine. One extraordinary thing happened though; my omlette cured my headache. I expected to feel worse after consuming it, not better. It was a fact I mentioned to the steward as I handed him a note suggesting Air Canada’s new moto: “Our Meals Heal What Ails You – No Extra Charge!” Disappointing, because all I got to see of Canada were the clouds over top of it. As we neared Toronto the clouds broke.

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“We’ll be beginning our descent into Toronto soon,” the co-pilot said. “And on the right side of the aircraft, Detroit is clearly visible.”

He went on to provide a brief history of cross-border trade but it did nothing to counter my abject disappointment. As lovely as Detroit is from the air, I wanted to see Canada.

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On descent into Toronto, I was thoroughly impressed with the phallic CN Tower. (An even more apt description after I found out it was mostly hollow.) Upon landing, I got hopelessly lost. Fortunately a steward pointed out that the exit was at the front of the plane. After departing the plane I got lost again, this time as I searched for someone holding a sign with my name on it. Ultimately, I had to retrace my steps then take another wrong turn to make contact with the driver that would take me to the hotel.

I sat in backseat, the plush leather interior making me feel more important than I actually am. The driver and I did the stereotypical small-talk thing, me affecting my overawed Goofy voice.

“This is my first time in Toronto,” I said. “Garsh!”

The driver, long experienced with out of towners, affected his Mickey Mouse voice and pointed out various buildings.

As we passed Skydome (doing its best Hardy to the CN Tower’s Laurel) the driver pointed off to the left and said, “Your hotel is over that way.”

“Then why are we turning right?”

“I’m taking you to the address they gave me,” he said.

I suddenly felt a deep sense of dread and foreboding. The entire trip – from start to finish – had been organized by Sony. I had no power to make any changes – I had to go along for the ride.

He dropped me outside the nightclub that had been temporarily converted for the press event, handing me a card with the company’s phone number on it. And I was on my own from there with only a vague idea of the location of my hotel and what exactly a press event entailed.

Five minutes later, the small assembly of other media reps collected at the door were welcomed in.

We checked in at the media table and received our media kit (a tote bag filled with press releases) and got free roam of the private room. A nervous bundle, I headed to the bar and started drinking heavily. Water, since the plane ride had totally dried me out. (It wasn’t until later I started into the Coronas.)

Around the room were about a dozen PS2 consoles setup featuring recently released and soon-to-be released Sony games: SOCOM, Ratchet & Clank, Wild Arms 3, The Mark of Kri, NHL FaceOff 2003, Twisted Metal Black Online and a few others. I grabbed Ratchet & Clank (unreleased at that point) and started playing but only got a few minutes in before the event started.

Then it stopped. False alarm.

So I leaned over and started to talking to the guy next to me. Lawrence, from Game-Over.net, turned out to be an almost unwilling participant as he was more into PC gaming and the usual guy couldn’t make it. We just started getting into the value of narrative in games when the event started.

Ian Jackson, Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Canada, took the mic, introduced himself and proceeded to explain where Sony is positioned in the market and where it is going. He avoided any derogatory mentions of the competition but liberally applied a dose of statistics. For example, “As of September 2002, 40 million PS2 units have shipped.” Lots of emphasis was placed (predictably) on Sony’s online plans, which segued nicely into the demo of the PS2 Network Adapter. They really covered their bases in terms of making it easy to connect and use – right down to a video on the set-up disc. A few game demos later and the serious socializing began and I learned a few more important lessons.

If you want to end a conversation with someone that won’t stop asking questions, say you have to got to bathroom.
That piece of lime they jam into the neck of Corona – do not pick it out! Push it all the way in!
Try to look confident when playing a game you know nothing about and can’t figure out the controls.
Always ask what they’re serving before taking a handful and jamming it in your mouth.

At 6:15 I was scheduled to have a one-on-one interview with Ian. I wasn’t nervous – maybe a little apprehensive but not nervous. I had a mental list of questions and topics to cover which got somewhat blurred after my third beer.

But that was still a ways off, so I wandered about making casual conversation and taking it all in. There were quite a few TV cameras – I hadn’t expected any.

As picked up a controller for Wild Arms 3 a cameraman jammed his lens in my face.

“Do you mind?” he asked.

“No, no. Go ahead,” I said while thinking, “What the hell is this? Oh no… please don’t pan to the screen!”

And with that he panned over to the screen for more footage, then pulled back to get both me and the screen. I attempted to look confident but as my onscreen character kept getting pummeled by the most mundane of enemies my palms started to sweat. I’m part of the gaming media – I’m supposed to be an expert or at least be able to fool people into believing it. The cameraman finally panned away and I slunk to the bar.

The catering crew weaved around the room with snacks and munchies held aloft on platters. The first thing I grabbed turned out to be a section of pita filled with hot refried beans and cheese. I bit into the wrong end and refried beans and melted cheese spurted down my front. Frotunately, my press badge diverted most of it but there was just enough damage done to warrant a trip to the bathroom. Before heading off I grabbed something off a tray and ate it.

It turned out to be liquid jalapeno (distilled from magma) in a small pastry shell. And the beer did nothing to put out the fire.

“Hi, can you tell me – aaahahahhaaaaa – where the washroom is?” I asked a nearby media liaison, trying hard not to draw attention to myself while I waved my hand in front of my mouth.

“Yes, it’s just at the back, through the unmarked door,” she said.

I thanked her, nearly took out a large display, and made my way to the washroom. I went through the unmarked door and found myself in a low-ceilinged storage room – booze stacked from floor to ceiling. Decidedly not the washroom, but worth revisiting.

When I returned to the floor I was approached by one of the PR organizers, clipboard in hand, and informed me I was next with Ian. I took the opportunity to pepper her with questions (asking about the event, was it a success, etc.) completely oblivious to the fact she actually has to work at these functions while the journalists get loaded.

“Boy that CN Tower sure is tall,” I said, telling her of my trip from the airport.

“Well, I’d best be going to the washroom now. Enjoy yourself,” she said, making an exit.

Soon after I found myself sitting across from Ian. For a moment I had a clear picture of my questions and even how to ask them. In my mind it was in precise detail and absolutely unmuddied – my perception was completely clear. Mind you it was only a moment…

I started with questions that any small town moron could have come up with – some would say, I was in my element. But then I asked what I thought was a rhetorical question.

“So, are you a big gamer?” I asked.

“Well, sort of. I have a Playstation 2 at home.”

“You mean, you don’t have one in your office so you can play the latest stuff?”

“Oh certainly, but I don’t play that much. Mostly I game at home when the kids will let me,” he admitted.

”What about the other consoles? Do you play them to see what kind of stuff the competition is putting out?” I asked.

“No, no. I’ve never even owned a Nintendo console.”

I was nearly stunned into silence. Ian Jackson, Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Canada, is not a gamer – a casual gamer at best. Isn’t that like an auto executive riding his bike to work? Or a baker that doesn’t sample his food?

It finally sunk in – games aren’t all fun and games. There’s a lot of business involved. In my opinion too much business if the executives and management don’t play the games or use the technology to understand it better. There’s just something not quite right about that. But I tried not to hold that against Ian. He knew the business side so I picked his brain on that subject. (He answered those questions deftly.)

After more socializing and hands-on play the doors to the main part of the club opened and we got to mingle with members of the public who were playing on the 30 or so consoles set-up. There were lots of games to play but there were two exceptions that seemed to be glaring. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Jet X2O. Although, Vice City is from Rockstar, it’s PS2 exclusive and it was only a couple weeks before its release. Even stranger that Jet X2O wasn’t around since it’s a Sony game. For an event that was to really show off Sony’s Christmas offerings unreleased games or even betas were in short supply.

But it did provide a chance to meet regular gamers – those that scrounge for cash to buy a few games a year and less prone to cynicism than the gaming media. After being “part of the scene” as it were, there’s a tendency to view everything as being a remake of games before it. The average gamer finds the joy in games. (In the good ones at any rate.) And that’s something I relearned – to enjoy the games instead of solely picking them apart for review purposes as fast as possible because there are already three more games in my inbox. Certainly, I’ve enjoyed games but I hadn’t realized how cynical I had become about gaming.

What do I think of Sony’s PS2 offerings this holiday season? Solid as ever. Competition for consumer dollars is at an all-time high and Sony should be able to hold its own. They’re heavily invested in getting the PS2 Network Adapter out there and with an installed base of 40 million PS2’s and solid 3^rd Party support, they’re poised to take on Xbox Live and make a go of it (even though the perception is that Sony is going at it half-heartedly). Plus, Sony’s got a solid line-up of games that appeals to just about every demographic.

The Event ended with an invite-only concert from Reel Big Fish. Admittedly, I didn’t stay long. Still toting my bag from home and nearly exhausted from the days events, I headed out into the dark, rainy night – ignoring advice that I take a cab to the hotel.

The long – long – walk to the hotel was uneventful. Although, being lost in Toronto armed only with the vaguest sense of a destination – a driver’s waving hand, “Over that way” – and holding a partially ruined itinerary with the hotel address nearly invisible, amidst the throng headed to Skydome to see the Rolling Stones, in the rain, is a recommendation.

It was on the walk that I realized how suitable the name of the event – Playstation Revelation – was to the entire trip. There was more revealed to me that day than just the games. There was a discovery of community as I talked with other gaming editors. There was the rediscovery of playing games for fun and not because you have to. It was revealed you can be Director of Sony Computer Entertainment Canada without being a hardcore gamer. I also learned how to bring unwanted conversations to an end. On the whole, I learned more about how the game industry functions than about any of the games they had on display.

- Omni

(November 13, 2002)


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