Scenes from Activision’s End of the World Party

Partway through Activision’s E3 event, held last night in downtown Los Angeles’ Staples Center, I suddenly thought of that scene at the midway point of Scarface, panning out from Tony Montana’s mansion as he sits on top of the crime world. Montana had it all, and there was nowhere to go but down.

Activision’s party had all the swagger of a company on top of its game, with rap stars, pop icons, DJs and rock legends setting the publisher’s top franchises to music. Usher opened the two-hour hit parade, and Eminem closed it with a 5-song set and cameo by Rhianna. In between were performances by Jane’s Addiction (with a hammered Perry Farrell), Chris Cornell, N.E.R.D., Rhea and a 100-person choir, who contributed to a live rendition of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. How do you win back a press that has grown wary what seems like a disregard for new ideas? By loading them up with free beer and wine and putting on a show that may have cost $6 million.

To be honest, I’m not really interested in talking about the games, and neither was Activision. Each performance was tangentially related to one of the publisher’s heavy-hitting titles — Call of Duty: Black Ops, DJ Hero 2, Guitar Hero: Warriors or Rock, Tony Hawk: Shred and True Crime: Hong Kong — but nobody dwelled on the relationship. It was all about the subtle message: Activision is part of popular culture, perfectly in tune with the desires of that prized teen-to-twentysomething demographic.

Of course, even the proudest game companies are vulnerable to decay, as proven in the past by Atari, Midway, Sony and even EA. Its worth noting that Activision’s event showcased no new IP. None. That makes me wonder how long the publisher will continue to milk its Heroes, Hawks and Duties and whether it’ll ever find something new to exploit. But Activision wasnt interested in answering those questions. Activision, the world in its hands, wanted to party.

In that spirit, here are 9 crappy photos taken from my nosebleed seats. (In order: Eminem, Eminem, Rhea, N.E.R.D., pole dancer, Tony Hawk, Jane’s Addiction, Usher, Deadmau5)