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Editorials   E3 Journal One
- By Mike Schneider

12May01, 10:30pm: “The Distractions”

Here it is, Saturday. In a few short days, it’ll be Tuesday morning, and I’ll be waking up to make a midday flight to Los Angeles. What a relief it’s been to get through everything, and finally reach this point – three grueling AP exams can really take the wind out of you! I remember last year having the struggle of trying to balance AP studying time with getting ready for the big show, and the sheer joy of finishing my exam, and leaving school moments after that to head off to the airport. No such stresses this year.

Hahaha, I wish!

There was still a little bit of anxiety that came at a really bad time, though certainly not like having a flight for Los Angeles hours after an AP test.. It was last Thursday night, and I was contently studying my European History for the final AP exam the proceeding day. As I usually do, I left my laptop online while studying. Hearing the Outlook Express noise it makes when you receive an email, I decided to take a short break to check up on what the new mail was. Expecting it to be either some sort of E3 press release, or other miscellaneous spam of some sort, I glanced my eyes upon the screen to see the words “BRITNEY SPEARS” in gigantic letters. Obviously, that string of letters piqued my interest tenfold.

I read on.

The email was a press release inviting myself to a press announcement about Britney Spears’ foray into the videogaming world. So I thought to myself for a moment with a thought process of, “hmm… It’s an announcement about Britney Spears; companies oftentimes have celebrities whom are associated with their products in attendance; I will be in attendance; I MIGHT GET TO SEE BRITNEY SPEARS.” By this time, I was ecstatic, and totally unable to return my focus back to the books.

So the clock pressed forward, and by 10:30, I had accomplished a minimal amount of actual studying due to a lack of focus. During this “study time,” however, I did manage to think more about the possibilities… Last year at E3, I knew the Nintendorks were able to score an interview with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. Granted, those two are on a much smaller scale when in comparison to Britney Spears, I began to envision the possibility of a Britney Spears interview nonetheless. Question 1: “Will you marry me?”

In all seriousness, I considered it a real possibility, if she was in fact going to be at the show. I mean, a company setting out to promote a game with Britney Spears in it could do itself no better to ensure a gigantic crowd by having Britney there – or so I concluded. And if she was there, she’d surely be partitioned off for interviews – or so I concluded.

Anyway, it was about 10:30pm, and by this time, I concluded that if we were to be among the lucky people to receive an interview with her, we’d have to call the PR peeps ASAP, like as in the very next day, mid afternoon at the latest. However, I’d be at school on Friday, as would Tariq.

So my mind pondered more. Still determined, I began asking around online if anyone had any prepaid calling cards with minutes still on them, since a calling card would be the only way to make a long distance phone call from school. No luck. I asked around at our AP European History’s 6:45am breakfast the next day, Friday. Not any better.

So first hour classes came, and I saw Tariq and asked him if he had a calling card; he did. We talked about an interview, and both were excited at the possibilities. Our excitement came from the fact that the company handling the public relations of the game, Bender/Helper Impact, was one we’re rather familiar with. This E³, they were responsible for the arrangement of our appointments with Acclaim and Enix. As soon as Tariq and myself realized this, our excitement grew more… “Wasn’t Acclaim the company that made the Olsen Twins games?” Tariq asked me. Putting two and two together, things were looking good for us.

Finally, lunch came at 11’o’clock, and Tariq went off on his merry way to make the phone call to Bender/Helper Impact about Britney Spears. By the end of lunch, and a mere five minutes before both of us were to take our European History AP exam for college credit, I saw him again to hear the news.

“She’s probably not going to be at E³, they said. But we have an interview with her management team,” he detailed to me. I questioned him on what the point of an interview was, especially considering that the game wasn’t going to be on Nintendo, as he found out in that phone call. Nothing like a little heart-breaker minutes before you’re set to begin taking a test that can earn you college credits for free!