The Game Trust at E3

As E3 fades in the CG staff’s rearview mirror, a few stories, anecdotes, and moments continue to haunt my waking thoughts. “Haunt” is a particularly appropriate word when talking about Epic’s VP Mark Rein and his pink shirt.

If you’ll recall, we included “Jabberjaw” Rein on our “10 People Who We Hope Will Shut The F*** Up” list this year. But bestowing this honor upon him, apparently, only seemed to encourage Rein.

While shooting two episodes of “Reviews on the Run” with Vic Lucas (hi Vic!) last Thursday morning in the glassy, cathedral-like entrance to the West Hall of the L.A. Convention Center (along with fellow co-hosts Jose Sanchez, Steve Tilley, Tom Russo, Yahoo’s Ben Silverman), Mark Rein appeared.

He said hello to everyone between takes. OK, fine. Lovely to see you, Mark. But then he began to linger. And linger. And then he lingered some more.

In fact, for the two-plus hours that we filmed, Rein never left the set. Instead, he stood off to the side, and true to his ego-centric nature, attempted to direct the show as much as Vic would allow him to direct the show.

At first this seemed kind of amusing. He offered $5 to anyone who mentioned the word “unreal” while talking on camera. Ha. Ha ha ha. Good one, Mark. Zing! And when Jose Sanchez, humoring him, said, “This year’s E3 was an ‘unreal’ experience,” Rein ran onto the impromptu set, and crammed a $5 bill into his hand.

A few of the other co-hosts followed suit. And Rein, each time, trotted into camera range, distributing $5 to each.

Oh, and did I mention that Rein was wearing a pink polo shirt? And khaki shorts? The man looked like he was dressed for Piano Camp.

Even worse, between takes the co-hosts tried to give him the bills back. But Rein, despite much cajoling, refused to take them. “Nope, nope, I’m not taking the money back,” he said, turning his pink-shirted back on the waving bills.

If Rein, at this moment, had vacated, all would have been well. But this is when that previously mentioned lingering began…and did not end until we’d wrapped things up two-plus hours later. Honestly, man, don’t you have anything better to do on the final day of E3 than, at best, function as the peanut gallery? (And, at worst, be a nuisance?)

Hey Mark: Go away. Please. And take your pink shirt with you. Daddy’s had a long day at work and he needs you to be quiet until Daddy’s migraine passes.

Tags: E3, epic, five dollars, jose sanchez, Mark Rein, pink shirt, reviews on the run, tom russo, unreal, vic lucas, victor lucas