Okay, this one is from E3 -as you can see...- but I wasn't there to pick it up.
Also it wasn't free. In 2002 I was sophomore in high school with no connections to the game industry. Growing up as a video game nerd I had heard about this Expo for years -along with others like CES, Comdex, GDC etc-. I talked about it a lot and my mom looked into it for me. While she couldn't get me in -since there's a strict age limit- she was able to go herself via a press badge for one of the publishers she works for. Even though I couldn't be there in person I had her check in on the latest stuff, take tons of pictures and get lots of swag. They don't give these shirts away for free but she bought one as a souvenir. The design is limited to the expo that year and you can't get them anymore, I'm going to keep this one for a while.
I was so excited about this shirt I couldn't care less what the quality was like. I mean, in general this is a very cheap shirt to make: white, small logo on the front, 3 colors -red, yellow & black-, and the shirt itself it Fruit of the Loom, but purchased in mass quantities. Back in the day -high school- I had some graphic tees and stuff but this was probably my first convention shirt or at least my first professionally sponsored event shirt. In regards to the quality, it has lasted this long, so it can't be all that bad -almost 10 years-.
A lame aspect of this shirt is the redundant design, that is to say, they put the same thing on the front and the back. I've described this logo before on an almost identical shirt but the design hasn't seemed to change much over the years. My biggest problem is that you can barely read the text around the yellow and red "E3" on the front, where it says, " Electronic Entertainment Expo". Below that has the date and location of the conference, "2002 Los Angeles • California". At the very bottom is their website:
http://www.e3expo.com
When I'm feeling open enough to wear a white shirt this is definitely a candidate for the day. It has been in my ongoing lineup since back in 2002 and I don't see it leaving any time soon. This is especially fun to to wear around other nerds, particularly ones who haven't/can't go to E3. Back when I was it high school this was double edged sword since I wasn't able to go either. Finding this kind of crowd can be a bit tricky when everyone at work has access and many of my friends get in too.
With a big E3 on the back of your shirt people are bound to ask questions. In my circles, pretty much everyone knows what it is. Though there are some on the fringes, parents, girlfriends, teachers, random people on the street who have never heard of it. Explaining the convention to someone who has never been to a tech conference can be a bit strenuous to say the least. If nothing else this shirt is an awesome memory of how excited I used to get about new games and tech. Hopefully, I can keep up that same spirit as we go into 2012 and further.
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