GDC 2007: Fils-Aime gets to one-up Harrison

Yes, folks, for those who may not have been aware of it, this would be a good time to point out to you that the Internet (well, it was actually just Digg…) has practically imploded (yet again) for the better part of today.

The reason for this? One line out of Reggie Fils-Aime‘s mouth, spoken at this year’s Game Developers Conference and directed at Sony‘s Phil Harrison. One line which may actually end up immortalized in video game history books, web comics, blog entries, and trivia centers for years to come.

As eloquently documented by Wired’s Susan Arendt, this was how the whole thing went:

“Kick his ass and take his name!” someone shouted from a few rows behind me.

“Who?” answered Reggie in mid-autograph. “Phil Harrison, front row!” Sure enough, there was Phil Harrison, seated dead center, front row. Looks like he could show up on time for NintendoÂ’s keynote, but not SonyÂ’s.

With a grin and a chuckle, Reggie replies, “Some would say weÂ’ve already done that.”

Touchdown. The crowd goes wild.

We’re pretty sure this was all said in the spirit of friendly competition, and that any added color that others may have perceived in that exchange were most probably based on their own console preferences and biases.

For all we know, Harrison and Fils-Aime may have gone off together afterwards and had a successful Molten Core run with the rest of their guild in World of Warcraft. We’ll never know.

Yes, folks, for those who may not have been aware of it, this would be a good time to point out to you that the Internet (well, it was actually just Digg…) has practically imploded (yet again) for the better part of today.

The reason for this? One line out of Reggie Fils-Aime‘s mouth, spoken at this year’s Game Developers Conference and directed at Sony‘s Phil Harrison. One line which may actually end up immortalized in video game history books, web comics, blog entries, and trivia centers for years to come.

As eloquently documented by Wired’s Susan Arendt, this was how the whole thing went:

“Kick his ass and take his name!” someone shouted from a few rows behind me.

“Who?” answered Reggie in mid-autograph. “Phil Harrison, front row!” Sure enough, there was Phil Harrison, seated dead center, front row. Looks like he could show up on time for NintendoÂ’s keynote, but not SonyÂ’s.

With a grin and a chuckle, Reggie replies, “Some would say weÂ’ve already done that.”

Touchdown. The crowd goes wild.

We’re pretty sure this was all said in the spirit of friendly competition, and that any added color that others may have perceived in that exchange were most probably based on their own console preferences and biases.

For all we know, Harrison and Fils-Aime may have gone off together afterwards and had a successful Molten Core run with the rest of their guild in World of Warcraft. We’ll never know.