It’s Sunday. Everything is calm before the storm that is E3. The Los Angeles Convention Center bustles as crews put together the pieces that will make up the three show floors and media types poke their heads in, looking for posters that might reveal the secrets the days ahead hold. Fawning fans file into queues to pick up badges that will give them access to stand amongst 40,000 other allegedly sweaty, pudgy gamers after spending hundreds of dollars to play games a few scant months before they come out. There’s a quiet excitement in the convention center as everyone imagines what surprises the event might hold.

Everyone’s excited, but some people bring the excitement to a different level. Though not required, an occasional attendee will walk by in public, already wearing their attendance badge to show off that they’re cool. Worse, most wear the badges stamped with the green stamp of shame: “exhibits only,” meaning no behind-the-scenes access, no private tours, and no lengthy sit-down demos.

This is our second year at E3. I remember how excited I was before last year’s show, but there was never a point where I walked around in public, on the streets of LA, wearing my badge. Most of that stems from wanting attractive women to look at me without laughing. But another reason why is that it isn’t that big of a deal.

E3 is great – don’t get me wrong. We’ve spent a lot of money to get here, we have a lot of appointments lined up and we’re as pumped as can be to play Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Borderlands, Blur, Singularity, Bad Company 2 and the countless other games that we’ll get our hands on at the show. But, a word of advice: wearing your E3 badge outside of the convention center days before the event starts in no way increases your coolness. This is a major fashion faux pas.

And while we’re on the subject of badges, one thing I want to discuss is the ESA’s decision to let Nintendo handle the lanyards and badge holders this year. Quite unprofessionally, the lanyards are adorned with advertisements for Nintendo products. The white straps are a perfect match to the white plastic shell of the Wii and are complimented with logos for the DS and the Wii.

While I would be completely comfortable with Nintendo reps wearing these and even third-party employees that are pitching games for the Wii or DS, giving them out to journalists who are supposed to be providing unbiased coverage of these games is questionable. I now must walk up to reps from Sony and Microsoft wearing what effectively amounts to Nintendo merchandise around my neck while pledging to give their games equal, fair coverage.

I’m sure they won’t say anything. But the fact of the matter is that it is unprofessional to give game journalists, individuals that are supposed to remain unbiased, something that they absolutely have to wear during the conference that’s branded with the logos of one particular company over another. Our badge holders last year were generic black holders with a black braided strap, which was appropriate. This should have continued. As a journalist trying to stay reputable and fair, I really don’t want to be advertising Nintendo products everywhere I go at the show.

Now it’s Monday and the fun’s about to begin. Press conferences are starting, announcements are being made and gamers everywhere are scouring the Internet and forums looking for every bit of information they can glean. The excitement is palpable and warranted. But no matter how hard you get from the giant advertisements for Final Fantasy XIII adorning the side of a building on Figueroa Street in downtown LA, please, put your badge away.