It was March 2001. I was, like I still am today, a huge Nintendo fan and just 16 years old. I was riding the high off of seeing Nintendo’s 2000 Space World presentation and really wanted to get my hands on the GameCube. I can’t tell you how many times I probably watched the 2000 Space World GameCube trailer; the music is ingrained in my brain.

Around this time I decided to start begging my father to take me to E3. Now E3 isn’t exactly down the street. I live in New Jersey and not just anyone can get in. However, my father works in an industry full of technology so I figured it might be possible. However, he quickly shattered my dreams saying it wasn’t going to happen. Regardless, I kept begging and dreamed of being able to play the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance before they released in North America.

About a month before the start of E3, I got a phone call from my father at work. Apparently, to his utter shock, the customer his company was working for wanted to send some of them to E3 in order to check out the emerging technologies. He was quickly chosen to go, and told me I could come with him. I couldn’t even believe what was happening.

I was soon registering for the show under my father’s company. I had to lie about my age to get in and even had some forged documents, but I never had to use them. They never even asked for an ID when I went to pick up my badge holder in LA. (Note: They always check now, so don’t try anything stupid.)

When I finally got to the show, I was able to get my hands on a ton of new games. Games like Pikmin, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 2, Luigi’s Mansion, F-Zero Maximum Velocity, Kameo: Elements of Power (GameCube), Eternal Darkness and various other Game Boy Advance titles. The game that stole the show for me, though, was Super Smash Bros. Melee, which became the subject of many of my thoughts after the show. I couldn’t go back to the original after sampling the GameCube version.

I was also lucky enough to meet some of the guys that were currently running Nintendo’s official online community known as NSider. Needless to say, they were in utter shock that I actually made it after telling them I was going in a chat room. They probably thought I was some kid lying on the Internet.

More notable people I met included Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario, and Ken Lobb. I even got to sit in during a live interview of Shigeru Miyamoto by N’Gai Coral. It was pretty amazing seeing the man who has, without a doubt, changed my life and made me a perpetual Nintendo fan sitting only a few feet away from me. Just being in the same room as Miyamoto was a magical moment.

At the end of the Miyamoto interview, I did go up to him for an autograph. All these adults hounded him and I was waiting for my turn. I was eventually next in line to meet Miyamoto and he began reaching for my pen and game, but then, some woman working for Nintendo pushed my hero away and said he had to go. It was very heartbreaking, but I was still happy to just be there and to see him. I did eventually get an autograph years later.

After two days, I had to go home. I begged my father to stay for the third, and final day of the show, but it didn’t happen. I ended up getting a ton of Nintendo swag including GameCube and Game Boy Advance style stress balls. Nintendo also gave away Game Boy Advances in a random game, before the US release, but I didn’t win one. However, the guy sitting next to me did win and we happened to run into each other nearly every year of the show that I attended since. I’m apparently his lucky charm.

The trip changed my life and I have gone back to E3 many times since. In 2003, I even ran into the founder of Planet GameCube, and thus Nintendo World Report. Who knew that 10 years later I would be headed back to E3 working for the site he created? I didn’t.

Overall, my first trip out to E3 was something completely lucky and very unforgettable. I got to see the men that inspired me up front and in person for the first time. It also cemented in my mind my life long goal of having a career at Nintendo of America. While I haven’t succeeded in that endeavor yet, each time I go reminds me why I love Nintendo so much. The trip, and much that has happened in my life, has felt like destiny.