[Blarg]

LOL, I've been to E3 a few times, and the junk ain't THAT great.

Tip: Key to tradeshow goodies is that nobody likes repacking merchandise and hauling it back to the truck, which can often be kind of an ordeal, and you sometimes have very little time to do it.

So on the last day, sometimes earlier, you can sometimes scoop up all kinds of goodies when it looks like things are starting to wind down. Sometimes it works to just bluntly ask about it that day, but sometimes it's better to take the people by surprise. If you get along with them, asking can work great.

This can be a real money-saver if you bum books off the strategy books publishers. Those things are kinda pricey.

The other tip is, for the super great merchandise, come as early as humanly possible. Even the afternoon of the first day can be too late for lots of freebie merchandise. There is never even close to enough, and the standards for who gets what and how many get way way tighter even on the first day. Like, at first maybe you get a t-shirt and a CD with bonus levels and some figurines or goofy toys, then it gets down to worse and worse items and your choice of only one.

Oh, one last tip. Sometimes you can weasel your way into lots of free beer on the last day. And there are definitely parties going on. If you see cute girls handing out stuff in the aisles, it's sometimes a party invite. Which means, dress non-uber-dorky too, if possible. They pick people out at random for their look just like bouncers do at nightclubs. That also means that if you hope to get an invite to the EASports party, take off the Blizzard t-shirt, etc.

Oh, finally, don't forget to get all the sucky toys and figurines you can, even the ones that suck. Girls adore that crap, and people with kids will be thrilled to get some.

Hmm...and bring some strong plastic bags to carry the stuff. You'll need them. The grocery kind that you can wad up real tiny in your pocket are good.