Bad Day LA – Fan Site & Terrorist Weapon

Wow, that was fast! A BDLA fan site… and not bad looking either.
Check it out
Also, stay tuned, we’ll be launching the official BDLA website soon.

In order to help build awareness during E3 we decided to hand out “terrorist weapons”. These were nail clippers that were manufactured in mainland China, had our BDLA logo and “BDLA 9000” logo afixed to them, and then shipped to Hong Kong. (See the image below) From there I lugged 130 pounds of them to the US in my checked baggage. I had to separate the load into two bags, so each bag ended up at 65lbs. 130lbs in one bad was like trying to pull a dead body around inside of a suitcase!

In Hong Kong no one even looked twice at the two unmarked 65lb brown cardboard boxes containing the deadly cargo. Some guy slapped some “HEAVY” tags on the bags and waved me on. Once I got the to US it was a different story. After collecting luggage I passed through customs. That went something like this:
TSA Guy: You live in Hong Kong. Me: Yes
TSA Guy: You’re a game designer: Me: Yes
TSA: Guy: You’re coming to promote your latest game title: Me: Yes
TSA Guy: And what are you bringing into the country? Me: 130lbs of nail clippers.

At that point the TSA guy did a sort of double take and then demanded that I explain myself.
I felt it would be unwise to tell him the truth, that the nail clippers were used as a weapon in the game and that the whole joke was in the game precisely because of the TSA. I tried to avoid the subject, just saying they were for promotion. He was having none of it.
Ultimately he questioned me into a corner and I had no choice but to fully explain what was going on. “They are used as a weapon in our game, the whole thing is a joke on the TSA, etc, etc.”
I thought for sure I was going to end up on a plane to Guantanamo Bay.
Instead, the guy took a beat, looked at me funny and then began to laugh. He asked if he could have a nail clipper.

Buoyed by this experience I made the mistake giving the second customs guy a straight answer about my name.
TSA Guy #2: Huh, that’s a cool name, how’d you get that?
Me: My mom smoked pot.
He neither laughed, nor asked me for some pot. He just glared at me and told me to move on.

Well, at least one guy working at the airport has a sense of humor.

BDLA9000

American

,

6 responses to “Bad Day LA – Fan Site & Terrorist Weapon”

  1. Okay… where did the “9000” come from? And I’m glad you’re not in Guantanamo Bay. I’m not exactly in the condition to go waging a covert operation to free the one truly LEGITMATE American from ebul forces…

  2. this has probably been suggested to you many times, and i don’t know if you plan to in the future. but i think you should remake Alice for one of the upcoming gaming systems (xbox 360, or PS3) with the new graphics systems being used you can really hit a home run with Alice utilizing next generation graphics. it would take that twisted effect to a whole nother level.

    just a thought.

    +Adminmatt

  3. Oh man, that’s just funny. I love the contrast between the Hong Kong security and the “SUPER-CHARGED-AMERICA” security. Heh. It’s proving something. But what, I’m not willing to say. Too risky. May alert terrorists. Can’t wait for Bad Day LA. I’ll watch Team America: World Police and play some Bad Day LA, and I’ll be in full throttle anti-terror mode. Sweet Action! Rock on, American.

  4. i would imagine the 9000 comes from the BFG 9000 in the doom and quake games, which McGee had some hand in…

  5. Ok, here’s the problem with this story. the TSA is (for the most part) concerned with security screening checkpoint. preventing carrage of certain items into the cabin of an aircraft. since you stated you collected the boxes as luggage they were not in the cabin. TSA doesn’t enter into it. They also don’t conduct customs inspections. That is performed Customs & Boarder Protection (CBP). The TSA doesn’t ask profiling questions on your trip, CBP does. TSA screeners don’t have arrest authority, CBP inspectors do.

  6. Ok, here’s the problem with this story. the TSA is (for the most part) concerned with security screening checkpoint. preventing carrage of certain items into the cabin of an aircraft. since you stated you collected the boxes as luggage they were not in the cabin. TSA doesn’t enter into it. They also don’t conduct customs inspections. That is performed Customs & Boarder Protection (CBP). The TSA doesn’t ask profiling questions on your trip, CBP does. TSA screeners don’t have arrest authority, CBP inspectors do.

Leave a Reply