Thank you, Harmonix, Nyko, Naughty Dog, and you!

66 Comments by Ross Miller Jul 18th 2008 4:25AM
Filed under: Meta (about Joystiq)

When Harmonix throws a party they get The Who to headline that jam; when Joystiq throws a party, we get Harmonix to headline. The generous devs from Boston brought Rock Band 2 to our E3 afterparty in Santa Monica for the 300 plus attendees to prove their mettle. Take Joystiq superband The Blueberry Muffintops who closed off the night with this rendition of Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" – take note: by this point in the night, we'd already blown out the setup's speaker. Rawk!

So really, our heartfelt thanks to Harmonix for making everyone's night. But we'd also like to thank Nyko for the peripherals, Naughty Dog for the great signed stuff, and of course Mahalo.com for the super generous use of their space. Most of all, thanks to everyone that showed up. We put Joystiq together every day for you guys and it was flattering, and humbling, to see everyone turn out today. This one's for you (hit play now!).

Love,
Joystiq

PS: If you've got any pics, please add them to our Flickr group page.

Tags: Blueberry-Muffintops, E3-2008, good-dog, Harmonix, joystiq-meetup, Nyko, Rock-Band-2, Thanks

(Page 1) Reader Comments

GavinUnit: Jul 18th 2008; 4:33AM

haha this is great

Chris Are: Jul 18th 2008; 4:26PM

Is Justin related to Jack Black?

OMGOMG: Jul 18th 2008; 4:34AM

Sorry to get all random here Joystiq, but holy shit, The Dark Knight was amazing. Just amazing. Looks like you guys had some fun too.

LocalToast: Jul 18th 2008; 4:44AM

Agreed. The empty void created by my absence of this party was filled by The Dark Knight.

Did anyone catch the phone number attached to the two texts to Commissioner Gordon in the van? I'm gonna watch the movie again to try to get that number.

Patrick: Jul 18th 2008; 4:54AM

NO! I'm not some weird nerd!!

I just went to see a comic book movie at midnight... like all normal people do....

Oh no.

Patrick: Jul 18th 2008; 4:57AM

To answer the question, knowing the amazing viral campaign put on by the Dark Knight promotional squad, it's something cool.

J: Jul 18th 2008; 10:52AM

I can make this pencil disappear...

samfish: Jul 18th 2008; 11:08AM

Holy crap The Dark Knight was soooooooo good! Easily the best comic book movie ever. Saying it's awesome is a mind boggling understatement.

The best part of the movie was easily, "Hey, who wants to see a magic trick?"

GavinUnit: Jul 18th 2008; 4:37AM

Good god thats out tonight!

DyslexicAlucard: Jul 18th 2008; 4:40AM

Damn my Canadian birthing! I would have given up all the free Health Care in the world to be there!

DJTyrant: Jul 18th 2008; 4:45AM

Thank you guys for hosting such a great party! I'll bug my g/f to get pictures up on the Flickr group!

Lukeyo: Jul 18th 2008; 4:45AM

wish i could have been there, qq

Benjamin Gilbert: Jul 18th 2008; 5:17AM

Pictures added to Flickr group! Thanks to all the folks at Weblogs Inc for throwing a great party, to Mahalo for having us all (even while some attendees apprently couldn't use the garbage cans...) and to Alex and Eric from Harmonix for bringing out Rock Band 2. It's hard to top The Who, but I had a hell of a time hanging out with lots of great people. Here's to hoping we can do it again soon.

DJMayhem: Jul 18th 2008; 5:32AM

Oh man... thank you guys for throwing a kicking party. It was fun to meet all of you (seriously though, ludwig? he's not as... grand as you'd expect him to be)! The shwag and the entertainment was awesome! It was especially fun to be the chauffeur for so many of you, and the events after the party...

Honestly, I think you guys are right. Even if i say what happened after the party, NO ONE WILL BELIEVE ME. I don't think my family will believe half of the shit that happened tonight. Nothing is believable.

Exempt Chris feasting on unicorn meat and waffles.

Thanks again for all the fucking swag.

Ross Miller: Jul 18th 2008; 10:45AM

I can confirm that everything he says is true. Not just here, but at any time. He's a truth-sayer, I must admit.

DJMayhem: Jul 18th 2008; 5:59PM

I swear, i could write a goddamn post about how crazy you guys are. Justin is the strangest out of all of you.

I'm going to work now. I need to drive my car with the windows rolled down. :P

SeDemon: Jul 18th 2008; 5:50AM

Hey guys, great party, great swag, thanks again!

Parsnipzilla: Jul 18th 2008; 6:30AM

I'd give all the hobbits in the world to leave New Zealand and be there

Chase: Jul 18th 2008; 8:04AM

*tosses panties onto stage/table*

Sora: Jul 18th 2008; 7:36PM

Throw your panties on the stage!
No wait! You're underage!
You send us email every day!
Shop at 'Target'!
You made your freq!
So uber-chic!
You know what you are...
S-U-P-E-R
S-U-P-E-R
S-U-P-E-R
S-U-P-E-R

Sorry...I couldn't resist >_>

E.J.: Jul 18th 2008; 8:16AM

I was lucky to have such an incredible night of playing Rock Band 2 and chillin with the 'Stiq-ers and watching the Dark Knight at 12:40.

Thanks for the shirt, stickers and Guitar Hero Aerosmith, Joystiq! Oh, and those blueberry muffintops were delicious.

Skovacs13: Jul 18th 2008; 8:33AM

I had fun at this party thanks joystiq.

BrotherSimon: Jul 18th 2008; 8:40AM

Who is the awful fat kid with a bad voice?

turned it off the moment he started to attempt singing :(

mr mobius: Jul 18th 2008; 8:50AM

That would be the one and only (thanks for that) Chrrrrisss Grant.

BrotherSimon: Jul 18th 2008; 8:59AM

Name rings no bells.

WhoMe: Jul 18th 2008; 9:13AM

Justin sure likes the attention.

mr mobius: Jul 18th 2008; 10:00AM

Okay I may have been wrong. That may not be Chris and my knowledge of who the Joystiqers are has now dwindled down to just recognising Ludwig...

Ross Miller: Jul 18th 2008; 10:47AM

"Awful fat kid": Justin McElroy
Talk, lanky kid: Chris Grant
Short, almost out-of-picture kid: Ludwig Kietzmann
The "other kid" (fill in your own obnoxious description here): me

BrotherSimon: Jul 18th 2008; 10:55AM

So..

They're the staff of Joystiq?

Reason I don't know is because I don't care who runs the site I jus want the info :p

farfisa: Jul 18th 2008; 11:11AM

I thought the "awful fat kid" did a surprisingly good job, especially after his Howard Dean intro (too 2004?).
Would've liked to have seen the score though :)

mr mobius: Jul 18th 2008; 11:17AM

So I had Justin and Chris the wrong way round. Not so bad.

DangerMouse: Jul 18th 2008; 11:19AM

byaaahhhhhh

Doug: Jul 18th 2008; 5:11PM

oOOOOOOOH a comment from Ross Miller. Why didn't Justin take off his pants?

JJ Rooster: Jul 18th 2008; 8:48AM

So what are the new drums pads and guitar like? The drums still sounded pretty "clacky" to me.

mr mobius: Jul 18th 2008; 8:54AM

The lack of volume from the tv may have killed any drowning of that sound though. Maybe not so bad once get the music as well.

Ross Miller: Jul 18th 2008; 7:37PM

Not to mention I'm pounding on them pretty hard. Compared to the first set, the drums feel a lot sturdier and are a bit quieter.

Korova *of the highlands*: Jul 19th 2008; 7:47AM

Drum play looks best on video - its so animated. Singing next. Guitarists reveal care control and concentration.

Jolly good show, ol' chaps.

Bravo, encore (on the East Coast, please)

blakbuzzrd: Jul 18th 2008; 9:31AM

Every time I see Justin playing Rock Band, or even hear about him playing it on the podcast, I notice that he invariably takes vocals. This is in direct conflict with his desire to be introduced at events. If he has the mic, no one will be able to introduce him at the next Blueberry Muffintops gig.

Alex Sohn: Jul 18th 2008; 9:32AM

Yeah justin is even larger and more annoying on video then he is on the podcasts, you can tell he's the loud abnoxious guy at the party who wants everyone to pay attention to him.

Duke: Jul 18th 2008; 9:43AM

That was a pretty cool thing of them to do for your party.

Obie: Jul 18th 2008; 9:43AM

Great stuff guys! And right back at ya, you guys aren't my favorite gaming site for nothing!

DangerMouse: Jul 18th 2008; 10:13AM

my heroes.

Danny F.: Jul 18th 2008; 10:19AM

#*^@**^& >_< Wish I was there man. Looks like you guys had a awesome time. Hope the next one ya throw is close by NY or Las Vegas.

Arsonism: Jul 18th 2008; 10:58AM

Thanks for the invite for the party, but I couldn't drive 1600 miles to get there. I would have, but have you seen the gas prices?

3cubed (4squared plus 2squared): Jul 18th 2008; 11:04AM

Hey Ross, do they have video game conventions in Las Vegas?
If they do you should so throw a party there. I'd be willing to leave Texas for that.

Ross Miller: Jul 18th 2008; 7:39PM

I don't know, especially since I live thousands of miles from Las Vegas. But look into it and let me know :P

evilkoala: Jul 18th 2008; 11:08AM

Thanks you guys! It was great to meet you in person.

GameStache!!: Jul 18th 2008; 11:09AM

Thanks for a fun party! Thanks for the free stuff! Rock Band 2 plays just like Rock Band 1 (that is: excellent). Seeing every downloadable song, along with all the Rock Band 2 content (and some Rock Band 1 content? am I wrong?) all on one song selection screen was pretty nuts.

Double J: Jul 18th 2008; 11:37AM

Wow, Ludwig is a tinier man than I pictured.

Starsmore: Jul 18th 2008; 11:41AM

Yeah, one of the Harmonix guys said they had all the content available for RB1, along with 25 songs for RB2. Including Pinball Wizard. That I wanted to sing but missed my chance to. :(

Seeing my wife 100% Still Alive infront of a roomful of nerds was cool, along with all the compliments on my FRACK OFF t-shirt

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