Made the 195 mile round trip to downtown San Francisco this afternoon for GS's big event.  I bought the ticket a couple of months ago at a discount and wasn't entirely sure if I'd make the effort to check it out.  Money is especially tight these days.  It only would've been a ten dollar loss had I chose to be lazy and not go, less of a hit than the tank of gas taking the excursion would require. 

I woke up early and, for a change, well rested, rearin' to go.  As nine approached, I was reviewing the list of games playable at the event and wasn't all that impressed.  I even own a few of them.  I decided to divert myself with driving around town looking for a 360, hoping against hope to get lucky.  An hour later and my credit card still wasn't maxed with its purchase, not to my surprise. 

Later in the morning, watching the day's first scheduled GS broadcast, I realized that there wasn't any reason I shouldn't be there to see it in person.  It's not like I had to fly in from Chicago only to get my ass handed to me by the site's director on stage.  By 12:30, I'm barreling west on 80, feeling that manifest destiny.  I love going into the city, always feeling enlivened by the fresh sea air and both awed and inspired by the familiar skyscape.

Checking in was quick and painless after arriving so fashionably late.  The first thing that attracts the eye when walking into the main area is GS's stage, front and center.  I thought, right on, this is just where I left off at home.  There weren't all that many people gathered around it; you could get comfortably close to the crew.  The first editor I spotted offstage was Greg Kasavin, one of the few hands I had wanted to shake.  Being that he almost looked busy and that I'm quite shy, I decided not to bother any of the GS crew. 

It was an interesting experience to see these internet celebrities of sorts in the flesh for the first time.  I've been a fan of the site for years, relying on and often espousing its editorial decisions.  I've also worked as an editor and have daydreamt about joining GS's ranks in the game journalism/broadcast industry. 

A quick run down of everyone else I noticed, and in most cases stood right next to:  Jeff, Jason, both Ryans, Rich, Ricardo, Justin, Bryan, Bethany, Carrie, Homer.  If I would've elected to bother you, I would've greeted each of you with properly pronounced first and last names and made a brief expression of my gratitude for your efforts.

That being said, the themed game areas were rather lacking in atmosphere, and, more disappointingly, there was a large number of game kiosks marked out of order and a further assortment that didn't work outside of that.  It's understandable that problems will occur with this type of equipment and public exposure but there didn't appear to be any effort under way to bring anything offline back on. 

Those kiosks that were in working order were largely unavailable at any given moment.  Though I perhaps could've been more patient, I believe I can count on one hand the number of games I actually played.  And while the LCD displays were nice, it looked like component cables were used sparsely, if at all.

All in all, the novelty of an afternoon in the city and seeing trusted voices in gaming in person made the trip worth my time (and the ten dollar price of entry).  I don't, however, think I'll be planning any vacations around future iterations.

Personal tilt on a traditional grading scale:  B