Origen - Can it get even better?

During our excursion in LA and Zero Hour, we were informed that XBOX 360 with good supply of accessories and games would be delivered to Origen winners on 2nd of December (the launch date in Europe). I kept my cool there, as I kind of knew already we would get the 360).

The story just got boosted (and I started losing my coolness)! There is a story in xbox.com 'xbox news' section (at least on European mirrors) about Origen and Zero hour and the article ends with this:

"We surprised them with vouchers for their own Xbox 360 and all the kit you could want to build the ultimate gamer den, including a high-definition television. "

HDTV! If this is true, my already anxious wait of two days will feel like two weeks :)

You can find the whole story here. There's also nice video about the opening of Zero Hour that I hadn't seen before.

Origen - Highlights

Here are some highlights of the whole Origen trip and the Zero Hour event:

• The Santa Ana winds (lovely weather to visit LA)
• Stretched Hummer Limousines
• Drinking both bottles of champagne in the limo on the way to Hotel, and finding out us only should've opened one.
• Hearing about the one above for the rest of the trip :)
• Seeing Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s ex-mailbox
• Everyone taking a picture of the XBOX 360 billboard ad while sightseeing (our bus happened to stop at red light there)
• Lost in translation jokes involving British vs. American English
• Private Jets
• The anticipation beforehand and finally the excitement when the hangar doors pulled apart
• VIP Areas at the Event
• Drinking a chilled beer at 1AM (the desert night wasn't much warmer than the beer)
• The Origen spirit of togetherness
• The staff of our trip (thank you all!)
• All the above and more, making this a journey I will never forget

Edited: Check out what the Origen Winners thought about Zero Hour and XBox 360 directly from msxbox-world!

(Note: I'll possibly post some pictures later, and also add links to the story.)

Origen - Day 5

Tuesday 22.11.

My flight back leaves at 20:45, so I spend some time shopping around Santa Monica and visiting the beach again. The last day is mostly waiting and giving goodbyes to the others. At the evening we make one more limo trip and head to the airport. It's time to go home.

Goodbye LA!

Welcome the two week wait for my XBox 360 to arrive at home :)

Origen - Day 4

Monday 21.11.

I got a short rest at the hotel from 2am to 7:30am. There was an hourly coach connection between the hotel and the event location, so heading back to the hotel and back was easy.

There's a plenty of coverage of the event itself online, so I don't go into depths here (and actually I don't remember many specifics, as I was mostly playing). If you like, check out xbox.com, or the msxbox-world and official XBox magazine coverage.

The best main stage event for me, were the Oblivion Demo (the game I'm waiting for the most) and Gears of War (the game I'm probably waiting for the second most) - although I did miss the Frag Dolls on stage during as I went back to the hotel to get some beer with out free coupons..

I didn't play all the games at the event, and I didn't play any one game very much (as I was planning to do so at home). I played PGR3, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, King Kong, Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, Condemned, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved and Ridge Racer 6. (You can check which I liked the most from the previous posts with the top lists)

When it's close to midnight, we head out and make it to the bus, which takes us back (after grabbing our bags from Oxford hotel) to Los Angeles, Santa Monica and our Viceroy hotel. There's a solid snoozy atmosphere in the bus on the way back as everyone is very, very tired and sleeps it off. At the hotel, we head to our rooms and get some well reserved sleep.