My Friend is a Lucky Guy

So why is my friend a lucky guy? Well, James is studying level design and general game development in a college in Arizona. Two years ago, back in 2006 during the last true E3, he told my group of friends and me about how he and a couple buddies would take the week off and go since one of his professors was able to secure the entire class tickets to the event. So they made a road trip of it and began making a list of things that they wanted to do since they had the itinerary of what was going on that year.

Together, they decided that they were going to hit on as many booth babes as possible, check out a few of the developer booths, and check out a lecture that was going to be given by Peter Molyneux, head designer of classic games like Black & White and Fable. There were other things that they planned out but those were the main ones. James also decided to make a bet with his friend. He bet that if met Peter Molyneux he was going to ask him to be the voice of his voicemail for his cell phone.

Well, E3 came and he went to Molyneux's lecture (he said it was excellent) and after it was over there was a chance for a Q & A session with Molyneux where people could line up behind a microphone and ask him whatever they felt like. James decided to do it and when he reached the mike, he asked Molyneux about the chances of B.C. ever coming out. Molyneux basically commented that he couldn't believe that people still remembered the game and let him know that it was still in development. James thanked him, watched the others give their questions, then went to leave as the lecture was over.

It was at this point that Molyneux came up to my friend and commented about what a good question he had. Needless to say, James was floored but he kept his cool and talked about game design with Molyneux. After a while, Molyneux had to get going but James asked if it would be alright if he gave him his resume. Molyneux, unfortunately, had no place to put it for the rest of the day. So, instead, he gave James his business card. (It was at this point of James's story that he pulled out the business card. There it was, Lionhead Studios with the company's address and phone number along with Molyneux's personal number.)

But that's not the end of it. James also made one last request, asking if Peter Molyneux could do the voice mail message on his phone. James had a big smile on his face as he pulled out his cell, had one of us call his phone, and when the voice mail started, there was a distinctly British voice saying, "Hello, this is Peter Molyneux and you've reached James ****'s phone. He's not available at the moment but if you leave your information he'll call you back as soon as possible."

Holy...fricking...crap. It was at this point that my entire group of friends lost it (we were sitting at a diner at the time). If he hadn't had the proof to back up all his claims, I wouldn't have believed but there it was in front of me. It's truly amazing how freaking lucky he was.