In everything I do, I first and foremost attempt to inject some fun, but I also try my best to be humble. So this post will be a bit different as far as the latter point goes. I was recently pointed to a blog post on Kmart’s website (thanks Jason) which outlined the rules to a contest. No ordinary contest though; a contest for bloggers and podcasters. The rules are simple, write a post and tell them why you should win one of the three available prizes. Each prize is the same; a paid trip to this years Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3).

Now, I usually avoid participating in most contests. I’m the guy who bought a scratch-off ticket once, used a lucky penny I got from a lucky hobo’s lucky guitar case to remove the layer of film and found nothing but the numerical equivalent of a Whammy. So I never bought one again. But this is different, this is E3. It’s an event that I’ve paid attention to ever since I was a kid and the only way someone like me could be updated on what was going on in the industry was to find out about it in a magazine month later. So I feel a necessity to make an attempt this time.

So you, the smart, talented, and obviously sexy judge who is reading this may be thinking, “That’s all well and good Steve, but what qualifications do you have beyond simply wanting to attend the Mecca of gaming?” Well, because I have children, and I could really use a break from them. But seriously; I’m thirty years old (soon to be 31), I work a full time job, I have a wife and two kids, and amidst all of my daily duties, I not only try to squeeze in any amount of gaming that I can, I also run a blog and a podcast (soon to be two).

Part of my motivation to do everything I do here is because we have some of the best people any gaming community could ever ask for. My other motivation is my profound love for games. While there have been many hobbies in my life, gaming has been my rock. It has been my constant. It has been my escape from reality and from the people who live there, as well as a way to meet some fantastic people who I now consider my friends. It’s with these people that I keep an open mind about gaming as a whole. We play almost anything and everything out there, so while my excitement at the idea that I could go to E3 is without words, the problem it poses for me is not.

It would be a challenge.

There is so much that happens at E3, that to choose between putting my hands on Mass Effect 3 or Diablo 3 would be on par between choosing which of my fingers I want chopped off. Which…I didn’t read the fine print; I hope taking a finger isn’t part of the contest rules.

I’d say the one game I’d be most tempted to cover while there, though, is Star Wars: The Old Republic. Many of us in our community are very excited about it. To have one of us actually get hands on experience with the game would be a great barometer of what we can expect. Beyond that and certain games like Mass Effect 3, Uncharted 3, or any possible announcement of an impending sequel in the Assassins Creed series, I’d say I’d be most excited to meet the developers themselves. To meet someone who is responsible for bringing me so much enjoyment would be like meeting the guy who invented the Choco Taco.

There is one last thing though. It’s something that makes me who I am, and is undeniably lacking in the city of Los Angeles: My amazing mustache.

We hope to see you at E3.

Steve “Slurms” Lichtsinn and his mustache