When we were first told that the Lost Planet Launch Party on 1/11/07 was gonna’ be big, I don’t think any of us truly realized the real extent of the word “big”. For example, the picture that formed in my mind initially was that of a medium-sized hall decorated with Lost Planet posters, a few booths and a decent number of gaming stations.

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Then they told us about the huge VIP area. So the picture in my mind expanded a bit.
Then they added the Capcom Store, where fans could purchase Lost Planet at exactly 9:01 pm.
Then they added the Lego building exhibit. The hall in my mind is getting bigger.
Then the signing table for the Japanese Development Team.
Then the T-Shirt Silk Screening area.
Then the Asqew Grill buffet table.
And the Monster drink tables here and there throughout the hall. My mind is running out of room.
And the hand carved ice sculptures.
And the 100+ Xbox 360’s for gamers to check out Lost Planet on.
And then the ROCK. CLIMBING. WALL. (Are they kidding???)
POP!

That was the sound of my imaginary hall going beyond maximum capacity.

We were also initially told that we would have a particular capacity for a certain number of partygoers allowed in, which I have to admit, helped shape the size of my mind hall. But as the community fans responded and signed up, and the word amongst fans spread, that number grew. And grew. And GREW.

So ultimately what I’m getting at here is that I, among others, was not quite prepared for the initial impact that the hall would have when we walked through the front door. Here, let me share the vastness with you.

I think the initial word from each door entrant was “whow”. Not in a lame Joey Lawrence sort of way, but a genuine deep-breath “whow of awe” sort of way. In fact, there were fans already lined up outside when we Capcom Staffers arrived 2.5 hours early. Some had apparently been there since 4:00pm that is dedication!

When I stepped outside at about 7:00 to snag a few shots of the ever-growing line to get in the door, here’s what I saw.

The line literally wrapped around the corner and down the block, then around another corner. And did I mention how huge the hall was? That was a loooooonnnnnng line.

Strangely enough, it was also freekin’ COLD out there, folks. So I have to hand it you guys who stood in line out there in those extreme conditions you wanted to party. In San Francisco, the temperature on an average winter night tends to be in the mid 40’s to 50’s. On January 11, 2007, the temperature in San Francisco was a scarf-inducing 38F assisted by a particularly teeth-chattering wind blustering down the streets. Thus we have reached the real reason I did not venture to the extreme end of the line for photos. I am an extreme weather wuss. (And before you can even hit the “Comments” link, I AM well aware that there are those of you who consider 38F to be merely hot-tubbing weather since you enjoy snow boarding in the nude and your family hails from Minnesota. I don’t care. I stand firmly by my statement “it was damned cold outside”.)

And speaking of cold, here are a few ice sculptures as they were being set up and sculpted. My fave is the Undeep Akrid. You’ll see there were also neato ice displays which continued to melt throughout the night and reveal electronic components and car parts. I was just waiting for someone to lick one of these. I did see it happen, but my camera wasn’t fast enough.

We even had indoor SNOW for the party and the rock climbing wall for folks who wanted to try Wayne Holden’s zip line rock climbing stylings personally. Here’s our very own Brian Dunn demonstrating that not all Extreme Conditions require a jacket.

And what would a Lost Planet competition be without an actual Snow Pirate?

And a Vital Suit made entirely out of Legos…

And good eats, YUMMO…

And the silk screen t-shirt booth…

And, of course, our party goers!

The Lost Planet Development team didn’t waste any time getting warmed up. (In fact, a few had to hold their hands over some warm spotlights just to thaw their trigger fingers out a bit before hitting the Multiplayer Stations.)

Meanwhile, the Multiplayer Lost Planet Competition began and groups began to face off in the elimination rounds. The tournament was headed up by our very own Seth Killian and Chris Tao.

At exactly 9:01pm (12:01am 1/12/07 Eastern), our Capcom Store opened up to sell the very first copies of Lost Planet! The lines were pretty long.

Our Development Team was happy to meet Capcom fans and sign posters and copies of games.

Finally, the tournament was narrowed down to the final players. It was time for the winners to face off with the Lost Planet Development Team!

The action was fast and furious with the Tournament Winners playing as a team agasint the Lost Planet Development Team. In the end, it was incredibly close. The Tournament Winners won the match, but just barely!

In honor of our esteemed guests from over the seas, we presented them with one of a kind Lost Planet jackets.

A good time was had by all and it was pretty amazing getting to see such a talented group of gamers from all over the world face off together.

Now that you’ve caught up on the Lost Planet Launch Party, head over to Brian Dunn’s Lost Planet blog to check out the exclusive interview with Lost Planet Producer Jun Takeuchi!