GDC 2007 - March 7th, 2007 : The Best Day Ever
That could not be a more precise statement. Read on to find out why.
When we last left me, I was preparing for what would probably be a day to remember. Ahead of me was the legendary Koji Kondo's panel, 'Painting an Interactive Musical Landscape', followed by the Game Developer's Awards.
Things started off right. I met up with Jake (virt) and the Head of Audio Worldwide for Gameloft, and we proceeded in. We got seats in the front row, right behind Tommy Tallarico. I even had the guts to go up and get my original copy of Legend of Zelda : A Link to the Past signed by Kondo.
When we last left me, I was preparing for what would probably be a day to remember. Ahead of me was the legendary Koji Kondo's panel, 'Painting an Interactive Musical Landscape', followed by the Game Developer's Awards.
Things started off right. I met up with Jake (virt) and the Head of Audio Worldwide for Gameloft, and we proceeded in. We got seats in the front row, right behind Tommy Tallarico. I even had the guts to go up and get my original copy of Legend of Zelda : A Link to the Past signed by Kondo.
Kondo-san signs my game as Tommy Tallarico looks on, sadly wondering why nobody cares about him
I was happy. His three core principles of developing great music were well laid out and he truly showed how he composes. His three key elements are Rhythm, Beat, and Interactivity. I'll discuss them in more detail at a later time. So I was happy. Great lecture, great person, and I even got my game signed. Could it get any better?
Nobody could have prepared me for what would happen next.
A girl passes me with a magazine that has another very interesting signature that's immediately recognizeable on it. I immediately ask "Where?!" and she grins and turns around, pointing to the other side of where we were sitting.
I don't see where I'm going exactly, but I head over there anyway. I'm still in the second row. I turn to my left, and this is what I immediately see.
Nobody could have prepared me for what would happen next.
A girl passes me with a magazine that has another very interesting signature that's immediately recognizeable on it. I immediately ask "Where?!" and she grins and turns around, pointing to the other side of where we were sitting.
I don't see where I'm going exactly, but I head over there anyway. I'm still in the second row. I turn to my left, and this is what I immediately see.
My heart stops beating.
Holy shit. It's my idol. And he's standing there looking directly at me, smiling. He lets me take a picture of him (too far away to take one with him). Somehow, I remain calm. No stuttering or freaking out here. I am very proud of myself for how I handled the situation. Still, it's hard to get into a scenario like this and not be a little fangirlish, even if you are a professional.
I approach him the best I can thanks to the damn chairs. His attention is still trained on me. Now I'm standing almost in front of him. For some reason, nobody else is getting in my way. I smile back to Miyamoto and bow. He bows back.
"Konnichiwa, Miyamoto-san," I say with a smile, handing him the copy of Zelda from earlier. He looks at it and looks back to me, smiling and nodding. He obviously recognizes what it is. I have, at this point, used up all of my Japanese. There's a pause as he continues looking at it. "I've had that game for a long, long time. It's one of my favorites." I know he doesn't understand me, but his translator tells him what I've said and he nods enthusiastically.
"I was wondering...if you could sign it," I ask carefully, making a 'signature' gesture. He is still smiling and nods, holding his hand out ... for a fucking marker.
Oh. God. I don't have a marker.
"Oh god," I laugh as I look to the side where people are watching this occur, "Please tell me someone has a marker over here." Everyone laughs, they seem to be enjoying all of this, and one asian guy steps up to the plate and withdraws a bushel of markers. "Which do you want?"
"Dude, any one, seriously." I say, and he laughs again and hands me a silver one.
Miyamoto then proceeds to sign the game. As I watch, I am feeling rather confident and normal. So, I crack a joke.
"Miyamoto-san, I know you can't understand me, but I want you to know that I love you and I want to marry you."
Everyone breaks into laughter, including myself and his translator, who wisely does not translate what I've said.
Miyamoto has a little difficulty signing the game with this marker, but he succeeds and hands the game back to me. Now I say something serious as he extends his hand for a handshake.
Holy shit. It's my idol. And he's standing there looking directly at me, smiling. He lets me take a picture of him (too far away to take one with him). Somehow, I remain calm. No stuttering or freaking out here. I am very proud of myself for how I handled the situation. Still, it's hard to get into a scenario like this and not be a little fangirlish, even if you are a professional.
I approach him the best I can thanks to the damn chairs. His attention is still trained on me. Now I'm standing almost in front of him. For some reason, nobody else is getting in my way. I smile back to Miyamoto and bow. He bows back.
"Konnichiwa, Miyamoto-san," I say with a smile, handing him the copy of Zelda from earlier. He looks at it and looks back to me, smiling and nodding. He obviously recognizes what it is. I have, at this point, used up all of my Japanese. There's a pause as he continues looking at it. "I've had that game for a long, long time. It's one of my favorites." I know he doesn't understand me, but his translator tells him what I've said and he nods enthusiastically.
"I was wondering...if you could sign it," I ask carefully, making a 'signature' gesture. He is still smiling and nods, holding his hand out ... for a fucking marker.
Oh. God. I don't have a marker.
"Oh god," I laugh as I look to the side where people are watching this occur, "Please tell me someone has a marker over here." Everyone laughs, they seem to be enjoying all of this, and one asian guy steps up to the plate and withdraws a bushel of markers. "Which do you want?"
"Dude, any one, seriously." I say, and he laughs again and hands me a silver one.
Miyamoto then proceeds to sign the game. As I watch, I am feeling rather confident and normal. So, I crack a joke.
"Miyamoto-san, I know you can't understand me, but I want you to know that I love you and I want to marry you."
Everyone breaks into laughter, including myself and his translator, who wisely does not translate what I've said.
Miyamoto has a little difficulty signing the game with this marker, but he succeeds and hands the game back to me. Now I say something serious as he extends his hand for a handshake.
(I should mention that the signature looks much better in real lifes, lols)
"You're the reason I'm in this industry, thank you for being such an inspiration." His translator translates and he bows to me again. I bow back and proceed to run to virt like a little girl. I didn't have the time or the space to ask for a picture with him since shortly after that it was time for him to leave, but there's always time for that in the future.
So in case you didn't read all of that, I met Shigeru Miyamoto today. I had him and legendary music composer Koji Kondo sign Legend of Zelda : A Link to the Past and he fucking shook my hand. On top of that, I told him, to his face, that I loved him and wanted to marry him. Top that.
The GDC awards were incredible. I'll update on that later. Lots of video was taken, plenty of Miyamoto, Blezinski, and even the creator of Tetris are present. You'll see.
So in case you didn't read all of that, I met Shigeru Miyamoto today. I had him and legendary music composer Koji Kondo sign Legend of Zelda : A Link to the Past and he fucking shook my hand. On top of that, I told him, to his face, that I loved him and wanted to marry him. Top that.
The GDC awards were incredible. I'll update on that later. Lots of video was taken, plenty of Miyamoto, Blezinski, and even the creator of Tetris are present. You'll see.
Labels: GDC07
posted by Joe Laurino at
Sunday, March 11, 2007
3 Comments:
ROFL, and we were worried that our "we met Miyamoto and Kondo" blogs were too fanboyish!!!
Cool that you got to meet Patjinov and Molyneux, too. I assume you've read the fascinating story of Tetris in "Game Over".
How early did you line up for the Miyamoto keynote to be in the third row??
BTW, my "magazine" was the 100th issue of EDGE, which featured a hand-drawn picture of Luigi vacuuming Mario's hat (this was right when the GC launched) by Miyamoto. Pics on blog.escapepodaudio.com.
Haha, yeah, I know. I tried to write this as professionally as possible, but it was harder than I imagined it would be. Oh well.
I have not read the story of Tetris in "Game Over", but I do definitely know the story behind it.
Carlos was there for maybe an hour before I got there, but he was nice enough to let me stay with him. LOL. He stayed two and a half hours, I stayed one and a half. We did pretty good, actually.
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