By: roushimsx 
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Gearbox Offices
We walked in not long after we saw the ScrewAttack dudes go in, took the elevator to the 12th floor, and went about signing in with Korri at the front desk and getting briefed about the plan for the day. Then dognose pointed out that we were still waiting for Socksta, so we stood around a bit longer.
I took the time to admire the front desk area of their office. Behind Korri is a large Gearbox logo sign (in case you're not sure if you're in the right place or not) and surrounding the walls are display shelves loaded with Gearbox memorbilia.
On the right was all of their Half Life work, including a complete copy of Half Life for Dreamcast (notable considering it was never released and the number of confirmed GD-ROMs of it in existence is in the single digits) and the Dreamcast Half Life strategy guide. Next was a series of shelves dedicated to Halo (Gearbox did the PC port of the Halo), along with a box signed by the entire team and a Halo 3 helmet that would feel out of place if it didn't otherwise fit in with the theme so perfectly. Ditto for the 3' Halo 2 Spartan statue underneath. Finally, there were shelves dedicated to the Brothers in Arms series. The high point for me on that shelf was the Brothers in Arms Limited Edition tin on display (a european PC exclusive!). Until then, I never knew it existed, and now I'm sourcing a few avenuses for securing one for myself.
On the right of the room was a ton of Borderlands-related memorbila. Huge cutouts of the characters, a lifesized Claptrap, and shelves of other assorted merchendise. It really put into perspective how much of a success it was for them. This might sound a little stupid to most of y'all, but I felt inspired to start playing through the game all over again. As Brick, oviously.
Socksta popped in around 2:20, so Steve and Adam rounded us up and took us to a secret squirrel elevator so we could go to the 13th floor (where we'd spend the rest of our time) and walked us to the break area. All of the offices on the floor had glass walls facing the hallway so you could see in, and maybe this is the OCD side of myself, but I was just impressed with how clean and organized everything seemed to be. With the copious amounts of Gearbox heritage tastefully displayed and the quiet, peaceful atmosphere, it had a total arthouse vibe to it.
One of my favorite displays was behind Hayley's desk, where there was a framed copy of the January 2005 PC Gamer cover (Brothers in Arms Hands On Report) along with framed pages from the issue hanging over a tastefully displayed collection of Brothers in Arms software. I wish I had gotten a picture, but I was honestly too overwhelmed with the experience to snap any photos.
The break area where we'd spend our time waiting had a large, comfortable black couch (that put my own couch at home to absolute shame) in front of a large screen TV, hooked up to a Wii, 360, and PS3. The 360 was turned on with Super Street Fighter IV in the machine and two nice sticks, so some of the guys in the group occupied themselves with kicking the crap out of each other to kill time.
Hayley and someone else unloaded two cases of free beer and we were informed that we could eat and drink all we wanted while we were there. Since I'd just driven quite a bit and was going to have to drive to get back home, I figured it would be wise to avoid the alcohol and went with some bottled Dr. Pepper, instead.
Steve then led us towards the conference room where we'd be doing the demo. On the way there, I couldn't help but admire Randy Pitchford's office. I knew it was his because it was in an episode of the Jace Hall show a while back. It is, quite literally, a shrine to classic video games. In it, he has all of his consoles he's ever owned displayed on shelves along the walls in such a dignified and artistic manner that you'd think that they were priceless artifacts, not something you could head down to Goodwill and pick up for $5-$10. It made me feel a little guilty for the way I store my older consoles in cardboard boxes in the garage since I don't have room for them in the living room. Maybe I'll have to build a new display solution for them.
We walked in not long after we saw the ScrewAttack dudes go in, took the elevator to the 12th floor, and went about signing in with Korri at the front desk and getting briefed about the plan for the day. Then dognose pointed out that we were still waiting for Socksta, so we stood around a bit longer.
I took the time to admire the front desk area of their office. Behind Korri is a large Gearbox logo sign (in case you're not sure if you're in the right place or not) and surrounding the walls are display shelves loaded with Gearbox memorbilia.
On the right was all of their Half Life work, including a complete copy of Half Life for Dreamcast (notable considering it was never released and the number of confirmed GD-ROMs of it in existence is in the single digits) and the Dreamcast Half Life strategy guide. Next was a series of shelves dedicated to Halo (Gearbox did the PC port of the Halo), along with a box signed by the entire team and a Halo 3 helmet that would feel out of place if it didn't otherwise fit in with the theme so perfectly. Ditto for the 3' Halo 2 Spartan statue underneath. Finally, there were shelves dedicated to the Brothers in Arms series. The high point for me on that shelf was the Brothers in Arms Limited Edition tin on display (a european PC exclusive!). Until then, I never knew it existed, and now I'm sourcing a few avenuses for securing one for myself.
On the right of the room was a ton of Borderlands-related memorbila. Huge cutouts of the characters, a lifesized Claptrap, and shelves of other assorted merchendise. It really put into perspective how much of a success it was for them. This might sound a little stupid to most of y'all, but I felt inspired to start playing through the game all over again. As Brick, oviously.
Socksta popped in around 2:20, so Steve and Adam rounded us up and took us to a secret squirrel elevator so we could go to the 13th floor (where we'd spend the rest of our time) and walked us to the break area. All of the offices on the floor had glass walls facing the hallway so you could see in, and maybe this is the OCD side of myself, but I was just impressed with how clean and organized everything seemed to be. With the copious amounts of Gearbox heritage tastefully displayed and the quiet, peaceful atmosphere, it had a total arthouse vibe to it.
One of my favorite displays was behind Hayley's desk, where there was a framed copy of the January 2005 PC Gamer cover (Brothers in Arms Hands On Report) along with framed pages from the issue hanging over a tastefully displayed collection of Brothers in Arms software. I wish I had gotten a picture, but I was honestly too overwhelmed with the experience to snap any photos.
The break area where we'd spend our time waiting had a large, comfortable black couch (that put my own couch at home to absolute shame) in front of a large screen TV, hooked up to a Wii, 360, and PS3. The 360 was turned on with Super Street Fighter IV in the machine and two nice sticks, so some of the guys in the group occupied themselves with kicking the crap out of each other to kill time.
Hayley and someone else unloaded two cases of free beer and we were informed that we could eat and drink all we wanted while we were there. Since I'd just driven quite a bit and was going to have to drive to get back home, I figured it would be wise to avoid the alcohol and went with some bottled Dr. Pepper, instead.
Steve then led us towards the conference room where we'd be doing the demo. On the way there, I couldn't help but admire Randy Pitchford's office. I knew it was his because it was in an episode of the Jace Hall show a while back. It is, quite literally, a shrine to classic video games. In it, he has all of his consoles he's ever owned displayed on shelves along the walls in such a dignified and artistic manner that you'd think that they were priceless artifacts, not something you could head down to Goodwill and pick up for $5-$10. It made me feel a little guilty for the way I store my older consoles in cardboard boxes in the garage since I don't have room for them in the living room. Maybe I'll have to build a new display solution for them.