Journalist first or fan first?

Finally got my internet back after a huge storm in the D.C. area. Enough time for a quick night update.



I didn't go to E3 this year (never have been, in fact... and I still have the gall to call myself a video game journalist), but I did just receive a 2 DVD documentary on the show from E32003.com. I'll have a full report after I watch the whole thing, but there is one question I have after watching the XBox press conference. My question is this:



What's with all the hooting and hollering?



Most of the people at this press conference are "professional" journalists, correct? Yet as soon as footage of Conker's Bad Fur Day or Halo 2 comes on the screen, the audience morphs into a pack of rabid fanboys. With all the clapping and cheering going on, I'd be surprised if anyone was actually taking notes (plenty of time for that back in the hotel room, I guess).



I understand that most of the people working in the video game journalism industry were video game fans long before they were journalists. Some polite enthusiasm for the games is all right, maybe some light applause after each section of the presentation. But what I saw and heard on this DVD went way past polite appreciation. It sounded more like fans cheering on their favorite sports team than journalists covering what is probably the most important XBox press event of the year.



An interesting effect of this phenomenon: One can pretty accurately gauge the press' anticipation of a game by the amount of noise its video receives. You could almost hear crickets chriping after the True Fantasy Online demo, but it sounded like a bomb went off when they showed Soul Calibur 2. It's pretty obvious which one is more anticipated by the press.



I'd also like to know what kind of a press conference includes absolutely no questions from the press (or was that just not on the video), but I'll save that question for another day.



P.S. To the journalists who cheered and whistled when they showed the bikini clad butt from Outlaw Volleyball for about half a second: You like girls. We get it. Thanks for sharing.