And now I’m in the UK for two days, then it’s off to Spain, then France, Italy and Germany before heading home.

I basically live off of Red Bull and Ambien at this point.

Anywho, the point of this trip is basically to reintroduce WAR to the European press. Obviously, we’ll be touching on the new stuff we’ve added and upcoming content, but I intend to focus most of my time talking about the changes we’ve been making (and will make) to the Live game since launch. New, sexy stuff is fun to talk about, but at the end of the day we need to make sure folks know we hear their comments and are, in fact, working hard to improve them game continuously.

Hopefully, some folks in the press will take that part of my presentations to heart, but ya never know.

This is Red Square at night. It was about 3 minutes walking distance from our hotel:

I assume to control traffic, you couldn’t easily drive all the way up to the convention center. As a result, we had to trudge 3/4 of a mile each morning from a security check point in to the show:

Right outside the convention center sits a full-sized replica of the ship that took Yuri Gagarin into space (we could never figure out what the plane was from):

The crowd queues to get in. I’d estimate around 50,000 fans were at the show over the course of three days:

The EA space took up the entire top floor (you can see the stage where Paul and I did presentations in the background, under the big screen):

The WAR booth! Complete with numerous machines running the Russian build of WAR, our own big screen and stage and a kick-ass display from Games Workshop Russia, full of tabletop minis:

A GW staffer shows off a Bloodthirster:

We had some really great cosplayer WAR fans who made WAR costumes and got hired by EA Russia to work our booth:

EA had a face-painter and a spray-on tattoo booth for fans (WAR tats were – by far – the most popular):

The folks who made it all happen – the EA Russia team:

It was a great show, the Russian WAR fans are AWESOME and it was a lot of fun getting to visit a place that – as a kid – seemed impossibly off-limits. Just make sure you always have your papers in order. 

Hickman tried to convince us that saying (phonetically, of course) “gloop cock poop” means something adorable about a child.  I am not certain I am willing to test it personally.

If you’re in the US, remember to vote tomorrow.  I had to sit in line for three hours on Friday to cast my ballot, so no whining from any of you.

• THE HICKMAN and I did a quick video interview for Game Focus in Canada last week.  It’s up on their site now!
• G4′s in the studio today.  I sat down with them for an hour, as did RvR superstar Jeff Skalski.  Paul then kidnapped the film crew and disappeared for four hours.  Lord only knows what they were subjected to, but keep your eyes peeled for us on G4 and its affiliate sites and shows in the coming weeks.
• Tomorrow I have to make a quick trip to Vegas to wave at the GameStop managers shindig that’s going on there this week, but then I’m home through launch, which will represent the longest stretch of time I’ve been in the office in… well… many months.  Aubrey is very pleased.
• Speaking of Aubrey, I fear I’m about to become a Spore Widower (while we don’t TECHNICALLY get married until next May, I feel entitled to that label).  I grabbed her a Galactic Edition because I’m just nice like that.
• Obviously, we’re less than two weeks out from launch.   Energy and emotions are running high as the team puts the finishing touches on WAR.  We’ve got a great game and we know it, now we just need to get it out the door and into the hands of the players.
• Speaking of things worth getting your hands on, I got an early copy of the graphic novel that’s bundled with the Collectors Edition.  It’s very nice.  I think I still prefer the art book, but the graphic novel turned out really well.
• That’s about it for now.  If you haven’t already, follow me and Barnett on Twitter.  Or, if you’re only going to Twit with one of us, pick me.  Paul’s got enough followers as it is.

That is all.

As such:

NSFW Warning: Naughty language within.

So if you’re looking for 50 minutes of bourbon-fueled rage, this is the podcast for you!  As always, leave comments on the host-site so they know we’re famous and that you love us a lot.

Also, regarding the Bacon Salt thing, we were handed little packets on our way our of the show that night and they were filled with this.  I became fixated with the near-poetic labeling on the back of the package.  So, that’s what you keep hearing me read at random times.

Extra credit: Post comments for him too!

Please, do it for The Hickman.

I’ll see you guys at the show!

I thought The Hickman was going to try and kidnap the guy.