The video game world will call Los Angeles home next week for E3, the annual expo that draws more than 50,000 people to see all the best that’s about to become reality in gaming.
From virtual reality to the year’s biggest new games, there’s plenty of hype to follow (in addition to checking out BestBuy.com/E3).
But what are Best Buy’s resident gaming experts most excited for? We’re glad you asked.
David Poole from the Pleasant Hill, California, store
Proof he’s a true gamer:
500 – Number of physical games he owns, in addition to every single piece of Nintendo hardware ever created.
4 – Age when he started gaming.
3DS – Gaming device he keeps in his pocket for impromptu customer demos.
Six – Years working at Best Buy plus the 27-year-old is also a video game journalist in his spare time.
What to watch for:
David’s been to E3 before and has his eye on a handful of games for fans to monitor closely.
“Battlefield 1 will be a great EA title and Titanfall 2 will be, too,” he said. “Nintendo is going all Legend of Zelda this year. Also, look for Microsoft’s Gears of War 4. Sony’s going to have some games we haven’t played yet like Horizon Zero Dawn.”
And gaming isn’t just a hobby for David; he has a degree in game design from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
“I love relaying my passion of gaming to my customers and sharing that detailed product knowledge with them,” he said. “And this time of year is one of the best to do it.”
Sid Demesa from the Atwater Village store in Los Angeles
Proof he’s a true gamer:
He has a tattoo of the four PlayStation buttons on his forearm. Seriously. (See photo above.)
Legendary game director Hideo Kojima gave him a signed limited-edition Metal Gear PSP.
This year is the 24-year-old’s sixth trip to E3. For the first three years, he had to be lucky enough to find a way in (i.e. being first in line for Sony’s community meet up to snag passes). Since then, he’s gotten in because he helps set up Sony’s booth.
“The first time I got to E3 it was like a club,” Sid said. “With music bumping and everyone lining up to play new games – it felt like home.”
What to watch for:
That’s simple: No Man’s Sky.
“I’m so excited to see a game with a scale like that perform on a console,” he said. “They put an entire galaxy in it. And the ingenious part is they made an algorithm that then created unique planet after planet based on just a few sets of rules they made.”
The biggest perk of E3 for Sid is being face-to-face with the people who create these worlds.
“Meeting developers is what it’s all about,” he said. “They want nothing more than to show you what they’ve been working on.”
Alan Rios from the Bunker Hill store in Houston
Proof he’s a true gamer:
Bought a GameCube just to play Super Smash Bros.
Owns numerous consoles and a gaming PC.
What to watch for:
The 22-year-old Geek Squad Agent sees VR being the biggest headline-grabber.
“It was teased last year, but over time, we’ve seen the VR hype continue to build,” said the budding developer who is studying computer science. “And the fact PlayStation VR comes in October to Best Buy, and that we already have Oculus in our stores, shows the hype is real.”
While he’s never been to L.A. for E3, he has a tip for how to stay plugged in from home.
“Watch the live feeds of the press conferences online. I do it because I love to be up to date,” he said. “For me, I like seeing all the details and building my own opinions of it instead of reading about it.”