San Franscisco - Metreon

I picked this up directly from the source many years ago when the Metreon opened in San Francisco.
You can't get these anymore unless they're off eBay or something. You used to be able to get them when you visited the Metreon complex in San Francisco. But since then it has been sold off and is no longer held or run by Sony. This was a uncommon shirt but has become rarer with time and the particular circumstances.
I have a ton of graphic tees but I actually have very few that are this logo-small-on-the-left style. They make for more formal-wear clothes and That is something I could use more of. Yeah it's black, sure it's a medium, but the text isn't white! The text is gray, which is a marked improvement over my other shirts. Why? I don't know but different is better, more unique, more rare, and it's a change of pace. The fabric is standard and has a hole in the front at the bottom.
From a quick look at the front of this shirt you might think that it is a cheap tourist shirt from San Francisco, and you might be half right. It just has a little stylized cable car with the words "San Francisco" under it. Really not too innovative, though they did add a little squiggly pen line at the end to make it a touch more creative. If this was the whole shirt I could actually see it as a "throwaway" gift shop t-shirt -I've seen worse-. But wait, there's more... On the back, nice and big, is the Metreon logo. With the words "A Sony Entertainment Center". It's mostly gray text but it has a little bit of red highlighting the crossbars. -it actually looks a lot like the Square Enix logo-. The Metreon is/was a big building right next to the Mosconnie Center in San Francisco that was supposed to be a hub for electronic entertainment and enjoyment. They even opened one in London and Tokyo.
Ironically, I like wearing this when I go to northern California, because more people there will know what it is and can appreciate it. The small lapel area graphic makes it so I can wear this around without attracting too much attention. It is difficult to nail down what this shirt represents. It is kind of a high brand, high technology, and trend forward idea but for like 1998. So it says that I WAS "in" back when I was like 14. This is somewhat relevant now because of Sony's large share of the entertainment market and as a relic of a failed attempt at expansion. It would be like wearing a Windows ME shirt after that disaster or maybe a New Coke shirt -I totally want a Windows ME shirt now-.

It had one of the first IMAX theaters, a PlayStation store, a Microsoft store and all of the games in their arcade were original, you could only play them there. My mom took my two friends Noah, Chris and I to the Metreon on it's Grand Opening in "The City". It was new, it was shiny, it really seemed like the future we were waiting for. I wanted that place to take off, It would really be the kind of place that I could enjoy nowadays, hanging out, playing games, discovering new technology. I think they were just ahead of their time, maybe with time they can come up with something even more awesome. I look forward to that day.