This weekend I had the opportunity to go to G.A.M.E. (aka Game and Music Experience) held by Gamespot. Our duty was to play the newly released America’s Army: Rise of a Soldier on Xbox. Having only practiced a few days in advanced (and some of us not at all), Valkyrie, Jinx, Katscratch, and I took on all challenges, 4 on 4, hour after hour. Most people don’t realize how tiring it is to do this. Gaming for 10 hours at a gaming event != Gaming for 10 hours at home. Not even close. First try sitting on a stool for 10 hours - ouch, my poor back. Next try sniping a guy while trying to answer the question “So, what’s a Frag Doll?” to the guy just passing by. Then take into account that our booth was right next to a stage with non-stop LIVE music performances, which forced me to practically have to scream at Jinx (who was only one seat away) in order to tell her someone was shooting her from the left side! Throw in some random flash photograpy and people filming you out of the corner of your eye and that’s a lot of stuff going on. Of course I really have nothing to complain about because we love what we do when it comes down to it, right?

So onto the event. You would think that us girls would just want to be away from it all during our breaks, but surprise surprise. While I was trying out the newest DOA 4 on the 360, I found Katscratch playing one of hers and my favorites - Tetris Attack/Dr. Mario on the GBA SP! I introduced Valkyrie to We Love Katamari, which I’m not so sure she loved, and Jinx found the bizarro superman version of herself - the other Jinx. I briefly saw the Black demo, which was unanimously one of the coolest things there, as well as Quake 4. They even had free screenings of Grandma’s Boy, a movie about what else? A video game tester. Of course, what’s a gaming event without G4 who had by far the coolest controller I have ever seen - a GIANT NES controller! And who better to play it with than our former Frag Doll Eekers!!

As for America’s Army, I’m not sure people really knew who they were playing with because 3 out of 4 of us had jackets on (yes, it was freezing) so we really did not look like a team. More like 4 random girls who just wouldn’t get off the stations! Regardless, we kicked butt. Those who beat us got shirts as usual, and fortunately we didn’t give out many. Unfortunately, the shirts got stolen after the first day. Doh! So if you see anyone out there with an “I play with Dolls” shirt, please give them a hard time if they somehow “acquired” the shirt and have no recollection of what the America’s Army game is. :| Oh, and there was this one little possibly-worth-mentioning group of dudes who just couldn’t get enough of us. They kept getting back in line to play us over and over again! I think they must have played us at least 20 rounds. I have to admit, they gave us a little bit of a challenge, and just enough to walk away with copies of the America’s Army game. I GUESS they might be worthwhile enough for a picture.

You guys weren’t bad, but keep practicing.