Fast and Furious: A Shadow Complex Twit-Tale

Last night was crazy. I got to meet people who I admire in the industry: Geoff Keighley, N’Gai Croal, Pete Wanat, and Shadow Complex devs Donald and Laura Mustard.

Before doing so, though, I had to drive out to Los Angeles — an hour or so away from my humble home in Rialto, CA. My brother, J-Rock, and I rolled out to meet Geoff Keighley and friends as soon as he threw up the bat signal for a free Shadow Complex code:

Due, probably, to the fact that Keighley had been giving out game codes on his Twitter feed some thought it unfair to actually have to meet the guy for a prized ticket!

Translation: Putting shoes, panks (yes, that’s a “k”), and grabbing keys right now.

But before I tied my shoelaces — bunny ears style — I asked:

Reservation confirmed.

And the race was on. Still had to go refuel since the gas tank was lighting up empty. Shhh! Just say you’re farther than you really are.

J-Rock and I were going so fast that by the time that the “210” update was sent…we were well on our way to the connecting 605. Fifteen miles past Glendora.

Ummm…not really?

We got off on the wrong exit! J-Rock asked a hardcore-looking cholo where Melrose was.

“It’s down three streets that way, ey.”

Rubber was burned.

Time was ticking, the bat signal was fading. My Hyundai Elantra’s speedometer quickly raised from the speed limit to a modest 60 MPH on the Melrose city streets.

Our sole cheerleader hoped we made it:

And made it we did to a round of applause from the industry crowd that greeted us.

Back home after an overjoyed, completely safe and legal drive back…

I had to beat the traffic and make an hour and a half drive in 45 mins, but guess what? Geoff gave me an extra Shadow Complex code to give away to a friend so they didn’t have to!

Luckily for you guys, my closest friends are PS3 owners (yeah, I know, boo!) so I’ll be giving it out to a random reader here. Leave a comment below and/or on my post on Bitmob. I’ll probably keep it going ’til Friday night at 9pm PST and email the winner with the code to get the game in time for the weekend.

Thanks goes out to my brother for making the drive a bit more safe than it would’ve otherwise been by replying to Geoff on my cell phone (directly linked to Twitter updates through Skynet) along the way.

And, of course, to Geoff Keighly, N’Gai Croal, Pete Wanat (who granted me an apropos “Fast and the Furious” Trilogy Bluray Pack upon my arrival), Donald and Laura Mustard for patiently waiting for me after they had been kicked out of Comme Ca Restaurant.

[UPDATE: A winner appears! Ryan Schuster won the code. Thanks for reading and all the great comments everyone.]