By now I’m sure you’ve read about our Gamer’s Day announcements (If you haven’t, you should), but what really goes into an event like this? While I’m not going to go into the boring, tedious and careful planning obviously needed for an event like this, I will give you guys a general look into the event to somewhat satisfy the curiosity you may have.

Wednesday
Even though Gamer’s Day was billed as a one day (really a one night) event, for us here at Capcom, Gamer’s Day was a two day event. On the first day, Wednesday, most of us here in marketing as well as production made the 25 minute drive into the City By the Bay to Broadway Studios, our location for the event. Stepping inside, the atmosphere and dcor made me feel as if I had stepped back into a scene from the 20s that you’d see in the movies.

Our U-Haul contained most of the equipment, such as the monitors, console systems, etc. A few of us also took truck full or gear in our cars to help out as well.

To move the gear, we parked in a small alley with backdoor access to Broadway Studios. However, it was on the second floor, so a rickety metal staircase had to be lowered (with counter-weight and all) to give us access. As I carried a big box of equipment up those stairs, I muttered, “Is this thing safe?” This was over-heard by the proprietor of the place (Oops!), to which she replied, “Yes”. I still wasn’t so sure, as it moved and shook like bell-bottoms at a 60’s dance party.

Once all the gear was moved in, we proceeded to setup all the stations. Screwing screws into monitors and placing systems on the stands isn’t so interesting, so I’ll just move on.

After dinner, the producers and other members of Capcom Japan came in to the 1st of their 2 rehearsals. Since I wasn’t staying the night up in the city (most of us got hotel rooms to stay the night to avoid the drive back home), my day ended before this, so I didn’t not get to see it.

Thursday
Word of advice for those of you who ever plan on visiting San Francisco: Avoid Embarcadaro during anytime that even resembles rush hour. I was stuck in traffic there for over 30 minutes in the morning, for something that would normally take less than 10. After finally getting back to Broadway Studios, I got to watch the presentations for the first time.

At around 2:30-3pm, the invitees started filing in. Everyone chatted, mingled and munched on snacks for a bit as we waited for everyone to arrive. The official presentations started at around 3:30pm, with each producer talking about their projects and some walking the audience through trailers movies and videos.

Inafune-san was up first, giving an overview of Capcom’s development philosophies and plans. Next up was Kawata-san, who discussed both Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition.

Christian Svensson got up on stage next, talking a little about our digital initiatives (XBLA/PSN/VC). Mark (Beaumont) then announced to the world our licensing of the MotoGP property, along with the plans to develop a PS2 game based on it. Then, before intermission, Mega Man producer Horinouchi-san showed off both Star Force and ZX Advent.

For intermission, we gave the media a surprise they didn’t expect: A special exclusive short clip of the upcoming Resident Evil: Extinction movie. Trust me when I say, even though it was intermission, no one got up and left their seats until the clip finished.

Midori Yusasa, president of Capcom Mobile came up first after intermission, giving those present a look at the upcoming Mega Man 2, Street Fighter II, Millionaire Music and Shade titles for cellphones.

Our new upcoming IP, Project Treasure Island Z was finally show next by Takeshita-san, who demonstrated the various ways players would need to use the Wiimote to interact with the game. Tsujimoto-san then showed off his million-plus selling (in Japan) Monster Hunter Freedom 2 with a long gameplay video while giving a very detailed walkthrough. Lost Planet PC, Ace Attorney 3 and Harvey Birdman was then announced by our own Jack Symon.

The last presentations was on a game I can’t discuss here. Let’s just say Kobayashi-san presented a title everyone is pretty familiar with, are eagerly anticipating and it looked and played amazing.

The presentations ended a little after 6pm, when the hands-on time began. Everyone proceeded to flood the various stations, eager to get their hands on the demos we had available, a lot of them for the first time. The memorized looks on everyone’s faces was cool to see, and it definitely proved to me that it is almost as fun just watching people playing games on the Wii as it is actually playing.

About halfway through the demo session, a trapeze dropped from the ceiling and two sexy gymnasts put on a pretty amazing live show set to music. It definitely fit in with the vaudeville, old-timey feel of the room, but people were so wrapped up playing the new games that most kept their attention on the screens despite the girls’ impressive display.

Overall, the event was definitely a success. We spread the word about the great new games, avoided explosions, and I was kept fed on all the food they made available throughout the day. What else do I have to complain about?

– Lost