One interesting thing to note is the fact that none of these team members actually work for Nintendo. They are actually employees of a staffing agency. Not saying they didn’t know the ins and outs of the games on display, but this was much different than the press tours I had been a part of before, where there were actual Team Nintendo members running the show. Not that this was disappointing in the least. There are only 4 main people on the team that travel, and the rest of the people who work at the tour are locally hired staff. Not too bad of a gig really. You get to wear the cool jumpsuit and play a truckload of GBA games for a couple of days!

The GBA jumpsuit in action

Advance Team Slackin' off!

Only one of the people there actually attended E3, and that was Rob Neill, so I caught up with him after I got out of the booth and asked him a few questions.

Billy: Okay, Game Boy Advance aside, at E3, what was your favorite GameCube game?

Rob: Smash Bros: Melee definitely. All the classic characters smacking people around…I love it.

Billy: What else did you find interesting?

Rob: Pikmin! It was visually creative. Wave Race was cool too. We got to show up about 45 minutes before E3 opened and we played 2 player for a long time.

Billy: So how’d you get this job?

Rob: Well I sort of fell into it. Actually I’m an actor and with the strike that’s been happening there hasn’t been a lot of work. Somebody approached me at a poetry reading I was doing and offered me the job.

Billy: What game are you most looking forward to on GameCube?

Rob: I’m looking forward to NBA Street if it ever makes it to GameCube. Otherwise, it’s Super Smash Bros. Melee. It’s clever, and has killer moves. Tossing opponents into the screen is my favorite.

Billy: So what's your favorite GBA game that you've played so far?

Rob: Castlevania! For sure! I'm about half way through it.

Billy: So what are your thoughts about this tour?

Rob: It's pretty crazy when we have like 150 people in the booth. When we are at events like the Taste of Minnesota for example, tens of thousands of people come through!

Billy: Any final thoughts you'd like to leave our readers with?

Rob: The Game Boy Advance is just like reading! Parents get your kids a GBA! I'm kidding.

Billy: You should really tell people that!

Rob: Probably not.