Foxkei

San Francisco Metreon. June 14, 2008. Today was the day I met a gaming legend, the creator of Metal Gear series, Hideo Kojima. How many MGS fans can say that? Besides Mr. Kojima, I also met Kenichiro Imaizumi, and Yumi Kikuchi. This is a dream come true… I am content.

As part of the MGS4 World Tour, Kojima Productions are traveling around the world to hold autograph sessions and to meet the fans. A few lucky cities get to host this epic event and San Francisco was one of them. Fortunately, I live close to SF, so attending this event was no-brainer.

I was planning on going alone since I didn’t know anyone who wanted to go, but yesterday I got a call from my friend who said her boyfriend and her are going too and that I should go with them. Yay for me because standing in a line for God-knows how many hours is not fun. The signing session was from 4:00-6:00 pm, but knowing a lot of people are going to show up, we decided that we’d leave at 10:00 am.

We got there at 11:07 and there was already a huge line. I asked the first person in line when he got there and he said last night at 2:00 am! That’s dedication. Anyway, we had walk for a few minutes to reach the end of the line… we passed 200 people and took our spot. I was kind of worried because I didn’t know if they could get to us within two hours~

People passing by kept asking what the line was for and we’d tell them, but the temptation for telling them something like “free plasma TV” or “free iPhone” was there too. Oh, and there were some really, really well-dressed cosplayers. At first, I thought they’re with Konami, but then I noticed they were standing in line just like the rest of us. Meryl and Old Snake were specially really well done.

The line kept getting longer and longer by the minute. When they opened the doors, there were approximately 600, if not more, people standing in line. It was ridiculous. The staff began passing out wristbands to see how many people they can get to and guess what. The cut-off line was right in front of us. They only had wristbands for the first 200 people and we were the 202, 203, and 204 person in line! o.O

Yeah, I was worried. However, they announced that they might have time for some more people if everything goes smoothly. I knew in the back of my mind that we’d get in, but still, I was really worried. Fortunately, the first 200 people went in quick. The staff told us the rules: “One signature per person. No pictures WITH them (you can take pictures, but don’t ask them to take a picture with you standing next to them). They’ll only sign the MGS4 cover or MGS4 Gunmetal PS3″. Those were the rules, but KP was very nice and cool about it. Mr. Kojima signed whatever MGS related thing people gave him.

A few minutes after the first 200 people went it, the staff came back with new wristbands! They didn’t have a whole bunch (maybe another 200), but I was just glad I got mine. Mr. Kojima, here I come!

So after five hours, we finally got to go inside the PlayStation store in Metreon. I saw Aki Saito talking with the girl in front of me. She had brought Smash Brothers Brawl for Mr. Kojima to sign~ When we were waiting in line a few hours ago, I told her they wouldn’t sign it because they didn’t MAKE that game, but she didn’t listen. Hah! Aki told him the same thing and gave her MGS4 cover to have it signed. I talked to Aki and said I’m a big fan of the KP podcast where he occasionally appears. We then chat a little bit more and he thanked us for waiting in line for so long. Hehe~ Oh, and I saw Ryan Payton heading outside. When we were standing in line, I heard the staff say he wasn’t signing autographs today~

And then it was my turn to get my stuff signed! First off was Ken Imaizumi. Since I’ve listened to the podcast, I knew he spoke English. While he was signing my game, I took a picture and I told him the game was great and that I’m really like KP Report where he also shows up frequently. He shook my hand and said thanks. He also said “thanks for waiting in the line for so many hours” and I replied “thank you for having this tour and session”. Next up was Mr. Kojima.

I was shaking. Literally. I couldn’t even talk at first so I just smiled. Hehe~ He smiled back and started signing. I took a picture and said “When [MGS4 Spoilers], I cried”. He looked up and laughed. And then he told me he liked the shirt I was wearing! I was smiling from ear to ear. He shook my hand and I thanked him. It was surreal! By the way, he’s a very nice and down-to-Earth guy. He truly deserves to be called “A Gaming Legend”.

Next stop was Ms. Yumi Kikuchi who is the Beauty for Raging Raven. She is even prettier up close. As soon as I got there, I said “I love you”! Her face became red (you can see that in the picture) and she started to laugh and began signing. I took a picture and then said “Let’s get married!”. Obviously, she wasn’t expecting that… her face became even more red and she burst out laughing along with Mr. Kojima who overheard me say that to her. Actually, all the staff around them were laughing too~ Heheh. I said I was just joking and thanked her for signing my game. It was a fun moment.

I took some more pictures before receiving the MGS4 dogtag and heading out. Below are some of the pictures I took. Still can’t believing I just met Mr. Kojima. This has to be one of the most memorable days of my life.

.:: images ::.

sorry about the watermark thing. It wasn’t suppost to be in the middle~

 

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