I'm sitting in a craptacular Santa Monica hotel room just a few blocks away from the strip where this year's E3 will take place, an unusual venue that every gaming journalist we've bumped into can't help but knock. We all loved the old LA convention center format.  We knew what to expect. It was easy -- show up at the big building and scour the floor, walking past anything that was lame. This time nobody has any idea what we're about to experience, and everyone from the PR people to the veteran game journalists seem optimistically nervous. Oh booth babes, we barely knew you.

We also don't know what we may miss.  Having an E3 invite does not guarantee seating at  each major press conference, and there's a possibility that Microsoft's big outdoor event may see thunderstorms.  The thought of jumping in and out of shuttles all day is making people jittery about missing their appointments, present company included.  You can't lurk at E3 anymore.  You have to make appointments with people to see things. This will be interesting because I've never met any the people I'm scheduled to sit with, I have the bulk of my team flying in from different parts of the country today, and we're 30 minutes away from a GameTrailers appearance on Bonus Round. My stomach is in knots!

Nevertheless, I AM F**KING STOKED. I'm here at the industry's most exclusive event, invitation burning a hole in pocket.  Not only that, but being able to provide this opportunity to the opportunity to eight Destructoid bloggers (most are E3 virgins) fills me with a tremendous sense of happiness and accomplishment. It's every blogger's dream to be here, and it's happening for us.

Above all, the fact that we would like to send a HUGE THANKS to the people at Hudson Entertainment for sponsoring our travel and accommodations to make this week possible. Had we not hand a sponsor it was going to all go on a handful of my high interest credit cards otherwise so I'm tapdacing in my white shoes this morning! It's a huge stress to run an independent site and they really took a load off my shoulders, so seriously, thank you for all the support Bomberman.

While Destructoid is still in its infancy and lacking the budget or production equipment, I think you'll find a unique perspective on the event here from the eight bloggers covering the event. We've been lusting for this opportunity all of our lives and plan to make the most of it.  So what can you expect this week? Later today we'll have a chance to take some mug shots and pick up our badges, attend some of the pre-E3 events. Expect sporadic updates, bitching about shoddy hotel internet connectivity, live blogging where possible, shakycam footage of things as they happen, video blogs, short podcasts, and bleeding edge news from the biggest names in the industry.

It should be a week to remember. And so we're off ... thanks for reading Destructoid!  Here's my favorite clip from last year.