T-Mobile in the hizzay

So a couple of weeks ago our rep at Nvidia calls and tells us T-Mobile is having this big launch event in New York for their new Tegra 2 based LG "superphones," the GSlate and G2x.  They want to showcase Riptide GP, and he tells us we can go if we want to demo the game. 

Now, sounds like fun but our first reaction is to pass.  I mean, we're shipping in just a few weeks and we're crazy busy.  And a trip to NYC is expensive.  And Riptide kind of demos itself...it's pretty easy to pick up and play.

But this event sounds too good to miss, business wise.  There are going to be a ton of reporters and editors there.  And a whole slew of big wigs from T-Mobile, LG and Nvidia:  account managers, directors of marketing and PR...the kinds of people you need to get in good with to nab one of those coveted pre-install deals.

On top of all that, this event -- OK, party -- is going to be at a snazzy NY bar, with free food and booze, live music by the Cataracts and Dev (Bass Down Low, Like a G6), and Carly the girl from the T-Mobile commercials will be there, plus, we are told, "2-5 celebrities."

Celebrities!  Already the Superficial addict in me is thinking about who it might be.  Jon Stewart?   Lady Gaga?  Charlie Sheen?!  It would be so awesome to get a picture of some celeb playing our game.

So...yeah, we went.

But we went hard.  Couldn't take too much time off work so we decided to do the whole thing in two and a half days.  Here's how we roll:

Fly out late Tuesday, bringing our giant ass laptop thinking one of us will a maybe get some work done on Wednesday afternoon but instead we spend Wednesday at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum before running back to the hotel room to change, get to the party an hour early for a walk through but spend the whole time trying to figure out which devices have the demo build we sent installed and getting them hooked up to the right stations, do the press event, go to the after party, go to the after after party, sleep three hours and then hop on a morning g flight back to SFO, arrive 10am Thursday, and go back to work.  BAM.

Exhausting, right?  Yeah, but it was totally worth it.  T-Mobile really threw down.  The bar was cool, the food was great, and the place was mobbed with just the right mix of people:  the ones you want to talk to because they're important, the ones you want to talk to because they're fun, and the ones you just want to look at because they look so damn good. 

They had a bunch of different demo stations around the room for people to try out the G2X and GSlate, each one hooked up to a big ol' wall mounted TV.  One whole wall was just for playing games and Riptide GP got a ton of airtime.  And people really liked it! 

It's always great for us to watch random strangers walk up and play the game for the first time, because you get to see the game fresh all over again, see what makes people smile (pretty graphics, big air, ragdoll wipeouts) and what still needs work (reset button hard to use, resolution neds to be boosted when hooking up phone to TV).

But what about our celebrity photo op??  Well...

We didn't actually see any celebs, at least none I recognized.  Yeah, Carly was there.  And yeah, she's cute and she seemed nice...but I never managed to catch her by our Wall o' Games, and I was too embarrassed to go just grab her and drag her over for a photo.

I had just about given up on the celebrity photo and had started getting my drink on when I noticed a bunch of guys nearby taking pictures of a pretty and vaguely familiar looking woman.  I asked one of the Nvidia guys who she was. 

"That's the LG Girl, man.  Stephanie." 

The LG Girl!  Of course!  I thought, OK, so she's not Jon Stewart or Carly, but dammit!  I will have my celebrity Riptide photo.  There was no time to waste, as the party was starting to wind down, so this time I just went for it, walked over and tapped her on the shoulder and asked if I could take a picture of her playing my game.

And you know what? 

She was better than Carly or Jon Stewart. 

For one thing, she was super nice and totally cool about the picture.  And she didn't just stand there...she actually played the game.  And asked questions about it.  And filmed a little segment of it for her show!  Afterwards Ralf and i spent some time talking to her and her camera dude/collaborator, and they were both totally chill and normal.  Imagine that.

So yeah that's my endorsement: check out the LG Girl's blog.  She's cool and she actually knows what the hell she's talking about.

And I got my celebrity photo! Wait for it....

BAM!  Makes you want to buy the game right?  Right??  Right????  

Yeah, OK so I'm no Ansel Adams.  But whatevs.  More importantly, you can check out Stephanie's coverage of the party for yourself.  (She talks about Riptide GP at about the 1 minute mark.)

So yeah.   I know this post is way too long about nothing.  But I'm typing this on the plane back and can't sleep so, there you go.  I just wanted to give y'all an idea of some of the random stuff we sometimes have to (get to) do besides making supercalifragilisticexpialidocious games.

Speaking of which.... back to work!