Thanks, L.A.! The PlayStation E3 2010 Meetup Recap

One thing I’ve learned since joining the team: Never count out PlayStation fans.

Before starting with the PlayStation.Blog, I was well aware of the legendary community events. And I’d gotten my first taste in March, when hundreds of crazed God of War players packed into a big red tent for the PlayStation.Blog God of War III GDC 2010 Meetup and took disturbing photos like this.

But nothing could have prepared me for the size and intensity of yesterday’s PlayStation.Blog E3 2010 Meetup. If I were Chef Gordon Ramsay from TV’s Hell’s Kitchen, I’d have to say I was “gobsmacked.”

The line kept growing…and growing…and growing… Right: The first 150 entrants got one of these wicked signed Kevin Butler posters.

Devoted PlayStation fans starting lining up 24 hours early in the hot California sun, setting up a Sony shantytown of sorts in front of L.A.-based restaurant Cuidad (great, friendly place, tell Annie we said hi!). Eight hours before we opened the doors, the line stretched to 170 fans. By the end of the night, well over 300 gamers had packed through the doors. What a turnout!

Then Metal Gear Solid mastermind Hideo Kojima showed up, and… well, this YouTube fan video below can do a way better job explaining than I ever could:

Hideo Kojima walks into a bar…and gets the kind of reception only Kojima-san can get!

Amidst screams from the fans, Kojima-san gave out five signed Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker PSP Entertainment Packs (but we saved one signed PSP pack just for you guys, and we’ll be giving it out soon right here on the PlayStation.Blog). The E3 2010 Meetup also had a special guest appearance by Arne Meyer from Naughty Dog, who gave away a one-of-a-kind Art of UNCHARTED 2 Folio Edition that was signed by the entire Naughty Dog team. And “Professor PlayStation” himself, Jeff Rubenstein, confirmed that the first 150 Meetup attendees would be attending the PlayStation E3 press conference (that’s tomorrow at 12pm Pacific!) and gaining access to the E3 show floor. At this point, I think my eardrums burst from the screaming.

Record-breaking attendance, a surprise visit from Hideo Kojima, and new games like Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip, Invisimals, and of course, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Sounds like a success to us!

Now only one question remains: What do we do for the PlayStation.Blog E3 2011 Meetup?