Hey guys!
For those of you who may not know me, I'm Sephazon, Director of Communications for Zelda Universe, Nintendo Brand Ambassador and new writer for Smash Boards! Recently, I was able to attend E3 for the third time, as I attended E3 in both 2013 and 2015. I'm here today to share with you some of the photos, videos and stories I collected during my attendance of E3 2016. Please note that this post mostly outline my Nintendo experience at E3 and removes other non-related E3 stories. Also, if you have any questions about the event, Breath of the Wild or what I do, feel free to ask! I will be updating this thread throughout the day, so check back later for more videos and photos! Enjoy!
Sunday, June 12th: E3 Day -1
After having got less than two hours of sleep, I woke up at 2:00am to prepare for my flight from Chicago to Los Angeles. I had to take a train at 4:00am to arrive at 7:00am at Chicago. It was a pretty normal flight overall, nothing extraordinary; I arrived in Los Angeles at noon. My adventure began with an amazing start as I encountered Junichi Masuda, the Director of Game Freak and Composer of the Pokémon franchise! I've met him many times before, but it's always great to see him. I saw him again as I picked up my E3 attendee and media badges at the LA Convention Center an hour later. I was among the first people to release full images of the E3 lanyards to the public, so that was fun.
I somehow ended up with multiple badges for E3 this year; I also had an exhibitor badge I could have picked up, but I needed an associate present with me who was unable to attend last minute. I think I had enough badges anyway.
After I picked up my badges, I met up with a few friends, Yoshiller2 and NintenDaan, and explored what we could of E3. The showfloor is locked to everybody, except exhibitors, until June 14th. We went to the mall and I purchased some of those snazzy Nintendo x Vans shoes.
Front and back pics of the #E32016 badge lanyards! #Zelda is the theme! pic.twitter.com/lT0ylhqeDu
— Robert Sephazon (@Sephazon) June 12, 2016
I somehow ended up with multiple badges for E3 this year; I also had an exhibitor badge I could have picked up, but I needed an associate present with me who was unable to attend last minute. I think I had enough badges anyway.
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After I picked up my badges, I met up with a few friends, Yoshiller2 and NintenDaan, and explored what we could of E3. The showfloor is locked to everybody, except exhibitors, until June 14th. We went to the mall and I purchased some of those snazzy Nintendo x Vans shoes.
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Monday, June 13th: E3 Day 0
My first full work day of E3 begins.. with a weird discussion!
I was able to attend Sony's E3 conference this year, which was my first ever in-person attendance of a conference. It was super cool, but I unfortunately had prior commitments in Hollywood to attend the E3 Symphony of the Goddesses show. I stayed until after Hideo Kojima, one of my gaming icons, appeared.
I took many pictures of cosplayers at the event and enjoyed the show. Seriously, you guys need to check out Symphony of the Goddesses if you haven't already! I don't want to crowd this thread with too many pictures from this event specifically, so here's my favourite cosplay trio from the show:
So @Sephazon and @RealYoshiller are saying that Bellsprout is safe for human consumption until it evolves. Bruh lol
— Glitch (@GlitchxCity) June 13, 2016
I was able to attend Sony's E3 conference this year, which was my first ever in-person attendance of a conference. It was super cool, but I unfortunately had prior commitments in Hollywood to attend the E3 Symphony of the Goddesses show. I stayed until after Hideo Kojima, one of my gaming icons, appeared.
Our very own @Sephazon is at the @ZeldaSymphony! He's taking photos of the crowd and cosplayers! #Zelda #E32016 pic.twitter.com/seb9C4jZ3G
— Zelda Universe (@ZeldaUniverse) June 14, 2016
I took many pictures of cosplayers at the event and enjoyed the show. Seriously, you guys need to check out Symphony of the Goddesses if you haven't already! I don't want to crowd this thread with too many pictures from this event specifically, so here's my favourite cosplay trio from the show:
We found Link, Fi and Ghirahim at the @ZeldaSymphony, all being very fashionable, as usual. pic.twitter.com/iDNNslG5j2
— Zelda Universe (@ZeldaUniverse) June 14, 2016
Tuesday, June 14th: E3 Day 1
It begins!
As you can see, we had things figured out. While in line to check out Breath of the Wild, I was able to sit in the Nintendo Treehouse audience while Sihgeru Miyamoto was on stage.
Before I was able to enter the amazing Breath of the Wild booth area, I was able to check out the new amiibo they had just announced an hour earlier.
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Expecting more Breath of the Wild amiibo? TOO BAD — WALUIGI TIME!!
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Well, okay, here's the other Breath of the Wild amiibo...
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In order to play the demo, you're given an E3 Breath of the Wild ticket that is stamped when you play the demo twice.
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When you get to the front of the line, you enter a cave that only twenty people are allowed in at a time. The cave acts as a mini theater where you view a new trailer of Breath of the Wild and get an explanation of the demo. After that, the screen the new trailer was played on lifts up like a Zelda door and you enter the Breath of the Wild booth!
The booth was absolutely spectacular; while I didn't access the Nintendo VIP area until Day 3, here is a panoramic view of the booth, as seen from the VIP balcony. The booth was amazing:
1. 40 minute day/night cycle; every 20 minutes would shift the lighting from day to night.
2. Weather would activate occasionally with storm lighting and sound effects.
3. Various objects were animated and included sound effects.
4. The overall area had sound effects dependent on circumstances (crickets at night, for example).
5. Faux grass, trees and bushes were used in the entire area.
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Here are a few in-person shots from inside the booth itself (some include Zelda Universe staff):
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Here are the photos and videos you've all been waiting for — Breath of the Wild!
Please note Nintendo has a strict policy of not allowing full screenshots of demo gameplay. As such, photos and videos are forced to have somebody appear in them. Some of these have been edited to feature better screenshots.
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STORY MODE DEMO:
After I viewed the demo, I had to leave the LA Convention Center to go next door to the Microsoft Theatre to prepare for the E3 Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions show. Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions is the official Pokémon symphonic show featuring music from every generation in the franchise. I'm the Community Manager of the show. I met up with Alex Faciane, Pokékellz, The Completionist, MunchingOrange, ISneakSometimes, JohneAwesome, AwesomeFaceProd, ZeldaMasterLuke, MasaeAnela, NintendoCapriSun, GiancarloParimango11, GlitchXCity, Yoshiller2 and CuddleOfDeath before show as they were my guests for our E3 show. During the show, I was able to catch up with Masuda-san, who was conducting the encore of our E3 show.
After the show, we took a small group photo with Jeron Moore, the Executive Producer of the show.
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Take a look at that exclusive #E32016 floor plan for Nintendo. @GlitchXCity knows what's up. pic.twitter.com/Mkbs8Pzf4m
— Zelda Universe (@ZeldaUniverse) June 14, 2016
As you can see, we had things figured out. While in line to check out Breath of the Wild, I was able to sit in the Nintendo Treehouse audience while Sihgeru Miyamoto was on stage.
Miyamoto-San being awesome at #E32016 with #Zelda! pic.twitter.com/OjYP6ZDZI5
— Robert Sephazon (@Sephazon) June 14, 2016
Before I was able to enter the amazing Breath of the Wild booth area, I was able to check out the new amiibo they had just announced an hour earlier.
Expecting more Breath of the Wild amiibo? TOO BAD — WALUIGI TIME!!
Well, okay, here's the other Breath of the Wild amiibo...
In order to play the demo, you're given an E3 Breath of the Wild ticket that is stamped when you play the demo twice.
When you get to the front of the line, you enter a cave that only twenty people are allowed in at a time. The cave acts as a mini theater where you view a new trailer of Breath of the Wild and get an explanation of the demo. After that, the screen the new trailer was played on lifts up like a Zelda door and you enter the Breath of the Wild booth!
The booth was absolutely spectacular; while I didn't access the Nintendo VIP area until Day 3, here is a panoramic view of the booth, as seen from the VIP balcony. The booth was amazing:
1. 40 minute day/night cycle; every 20 minutes would shift the lighting from day to night.
2. Weather would activate occasionally with storm lighting and sound effects.
3. Various objects were animated and included sound effects.
4. The overall area had sound effects dependent on circumstances (crickets at night, for example).
5. Faux grass, trees and bushes were used in the entire area.
Here are a few in-person shots from inside the booth itself (some include Zelda Universe staff):
Here are the photos and videos you've all been waiting for — Breath of the Wild!
Please note Nintendo has a strict policy of not allowing full screenshots of demo gameplay. As such, photos and videos are forced to have somebody appear in them. Some of these have been edited to feature better screenshots.
STORY MODE DEMO:
After I viewed the demo, I had to leave the LA Convention Center to go next door to the Microsoft Theatre to prepare for the E3 Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions show. Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions is the official Pokémon symphonic show featuring music from every generation in the franchise. I'm the Community Manager of the show. I met up with Alex Faciane, Pokékellz, The Completionist, MunchingOrange, ISneakSometimes, JohneAwesome, AwesomeFaceProd, ZeldaMasterLuke, MasaeAnela, NintendoCapriSun, GiancarloParimango11, GlitchXCity, Yoshiller2 and CuddleOfDeath before show as they were my guests for our E3 show. During the show, I was able to catch up with Masuda-san, who was conducting the encore of our E3 show.
Thanks for an amazing show @runjeronrun! Wonderful meeting @Junichi_Masuda, as always! Thanks! #PokemonSymphony pic.twitter.com/La2z50BUAg
— Robert Sephazon (@Sephazon) June 15, 2016
After the show, we took a small group photo with Jeron Moore, the Executive Producer of the show.
Wednesday, June 15th: E3 Day 2
I spent most of Day 2 exploring the Sony, Microsoft and Square Enix booths. Nothing exciting happened with Nintendo for me, although I was attacked by Jeff the Pidgeon who threw a french fry at me and then proceeded to bang his head on the dirt. I met up with MasaeAnela and Josh Jepson for sushi when the day finished.
Thursday, June 16th: E3 Day 3
On the last full day of E3, I was invited to the Nintendo VIP area, where I immediately met Reggie Fils-Aime.
I had a lot of great photo opportunities in the Nintendo VIP area, but this was my favourite shot:
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I also found a wild Miyamoto-san wandering in the main Nintendo booth.
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Eventually, I decided to leave the Nintendo VIP area to catch up with some old friends, such as TheJWittz, and meet some new ones, like Egoraptor.
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I also met up with Kit and Krysta from Nintendo Minute, but Kit scampered off before I thought to take a photo.
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The last photo I took was with fellow Zelda Universe staff member, Hombre De Mundo; voice of Mario, Charles Martinet; and video producer, Yoshiller2. E3 was finally over.
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Finally met Reggie! pic.twitter.com/jS8n7BuFK4
— Robert Sephazon (@Sephazon) June 16, 2016
I had a lot of great photo opportunities in the Nintendo VIP area, but this was my favourite shot:
I also found a wild Miyamoto-san wandering in the main Nintendo booth.
Eventually, I decided to leave the Nintendo VIP area to catch up with some old friends, such as TheJWittz, and meet some new ones, like Egoraptor.
I also met up with Kit and Krysta from Nintendo Minute, but Kit scampered off before I thought to take a photo.
The last photo I took was with fellow Zelda Universe staff member, Hombre De Mundo; voice of Mario, Charles Martinet; and video producer, Yoshiller2. E3 was finally over.
Friday, June 17th: E3 Day +1
With E3 finally over, I slept all day. No surprise there.
Saturday, June 18th: E3 Day +2
My first vacation in what felt like years finally began. Goodbye E3!
If my life were an anime, today would be a beach episode. pic.twitter.com/qAeeJHM5NB
— Robert Sephazon (@Sephazon) June 18, 2016
*: Credit to Zelda Universe photographer Hombre De Mundo.
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