By Will Perkins
Toronto
May 12, 2004

For those of you that don't know, there is a week in May unlike any other. This week is like Christmas, Easter and Kwanza all wrapped into one, minus the love thy neighbour and do good unto others crap. Yes, this week in May is a great time for Gamers of all shapes and sizes, E3 takes place.

E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and unlike it's bastard cousin The Tokyo Game Show, E3 features all the trappings of a convention held in Los Angeles.

For this one week, game industry professionals, journalists, and gamers alike flock in throngs to the L.A. Convention Center. If a terrorist were to attack E3, it would cripple the gaming industry... Don't even think about it!

The convention is where all the game companies and hardware companies, come to show off there new stuff. New games, new hardware, new consoles, new peripherals and so on.

For the average Gamer, going to this convention is like a drug. You're like a kid in a candy store.

I unfortunately have not gone yet. I've had the opportunity to go twice now. There was a media pass waiting for me and everything, and of course... it fell through. The little issue of getting to L.A. got in the way. It requires more planning in advance, and I couldn't get a cheap enough flight.

2005 will be the year. I'm going, come Hell or high water.

If you ever get a chance to go, GO. All the people I know that have been, dug the hell out of it.