written by Giuseppe Liquori

picture provided by Kyle Patterson

For gamers worldwide, the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), is the first Christmas of the year. Held this year from June 16th-18th, it’s rivaled only by Germany’s Gamescom in scale. Despite the conference being held across the country in Los Angeles, the EMC still could be found at E3. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a booth showing off our games (maybe next year). In attendance was our own Kyle Patterson, who previously worked as a Marketing Strategist before he went abroad last semester, as well as Mary DeMarle, sister of the EMC’s director, Ann, who helped with the initial design of the Champlain College Game Program. Both were at the annual Mecca of gaming; I’m a little jealous.

Kyle, as the Warner Bros. Summer Production Intern, worked at a booth showing off the upcoming Mad Max game. He described the set up as “…a theatre for about 20 people that included a presentation by the game director and senior producer on Mad Max as well as 20 minutes for each person to play the game.” The press room, where Kyle was stationed for the majority of his time, had 12 stations with a handler to guide a journalist through the game demo. Despite the long hours and extended periods of standing on “squishy padding,” Kyle said it was a fun experience and is looking forward to next year.

Kyle noted that is was “great to see the gaming community in the real world as most of the time each person is connected to each other from behind the computer screen.” At the gathering of some of gaming’s biggest fans, it is easy to chat with others about upcoming games and breaking announcements. Kyle cites studying abroad and working at the EMC as reasons he was able to have this opportunity, as both experiences helped him get the position.

Mary DeMarle is the Executive Narrative Director at Eidos Montreal, the development studio behind the latest Deus Ex video game installments and published by Square Enix. Their upcoming game is Deus Ex: Mankind Evolved; Mary was at E3 discussing the game with the press. The game is currently in its alpha, an early stage of development as the game comes together. While Mary doesn’t work directly with the EMC, the connection is still exciting. Champlain College is a school that prides itself on its connections to the game industry career field, and this is one such strong connection to a AAA studio.

E3 2015 is in the rearview mirror now, but it was a launchpad for the future of the industry. The EMC may not have had an official presence there, but the same commitment to innovation and creativity was very much felt. Now the wait for all the great games covered begins as the work to create new media experiences continues, both at AAA game studios and Champlain’s own, Emergent Media Center.