Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing Experience

Star Wars Celebration was filled with so much amazing content, no wonder it was a four day event. You had so many great surprises like the new teaser trailer, the real BB8, the Star Wars Battlefront trailer, the Star Wars Rebels season two trailer and premier episode, and the Rogue One teaser; the new Star Wars Anthology film. Those surprises alone made the trip worth it, but there was even more amazingness to be found on the expo floor. In this article, I will be talking about one of the coolest experiences available to the guests in the expo area. I’m talking about the Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing Experience.

By now we all have seen the amazing trailer for the new Star Wars Battlefront video game and are probably well versed on the info released about the game, including the new Battle of Jakku free DLC, available to those who purchase the game. Well, on the expo floor EA had an inclosed round booth where they were showing people a five minute pre-beta video of actual game play footage. I won’t be covering that here. Instead, I will be talking about the adjacent section of the booth where you found people dressed up as X-Wing fighter pilots and saw them sitting in a small cockpit without wings. It was odd at first, until you realized what was going on.

The great team at EA and DICE, had an awesome experience available for free to all guests who attended Star Wars Celebration. The experience was a chance to put yourself in a small trailer for the game. Thats right, you would be immersed into a trailer of yourself, as an X-Wing fighter pilot, fighting off Tie Fighters, for the new Star Wars Battlefront game. Its all fine if its for fun and people are watching you do it, but its even better when they provide you with a free youtube clip of the whole thing for you to  share with all your friends and family.

So on Friday, after EA and DICE had their panel for the new video game, the X-Wing experience booth opened and the line began to grow. I was able to line up and secure my spot for my 15 seconds of fame. The line was at about an hour and a half when I got there, but I heard the line got as long as two to three hours at one point. When I got to the end of the line, there was a staff member with multiple iPads available for me to check in, fill out my information, and take a picture of myself to insure that I would be sent my own trailer.

Once I got close to the front of the line, I started to see how all the magic happens. The first thing I saw was a group of four computer stations with staff members, continuously working around the clock, editing videos of guests doing their best X-Wing Pilot acting. You could see them snipping the video and placing it into what looks like the X-Wing footage of the trailer. Its kind of cool to see them do the edits. They are constantly looking for the best facial expression footage of the guests, to make the trailer more realistic. They honestly were doing an awesome job and were very friendly, having conversations with those in line behind them.

Once I was in the very front, I was told to head to the wardrobe area where they would get me dressed and ready for my role as an X-Wing fighter pilot. The staff members here were very nice. They try to pump you up and get you all excited so you can do your best fighter pilot acting, once inside the cockpit. When they start to dress you, they first give you hand sanitizer to rub on your hands. Its all because the fighter pilot gloves go right on first, and I’m sure many hands would be wearing them. They then move you to the other side of the wardrobe area where another staff member fits you with your pilot outfit (just the top) and your helmet to complete the look. From there they move you to where the assistant director will place you when its your turn to go. They brief you on what to do when you are inside the cockpit. They told me to move the joy stick around, but don’t pull it as it was loose, and people have been tugging on it too hard. They also told me to feel free to push buttons and really get into it. They said when I saw the video ahead of me, move with the picture to add realism.

Finally my time to shine came. They slide forward this cockpit shield and reveal the seat where I would be sitting. Behind it you see a giant round blank screen where the background images would be projected, including my R2 unit. A staff member comes up in front of me with an iPad and asks me for my name. Then he holds the iPad to the camera in front of the cockpit and yells out the take number. He waits for them to roll sound and speed via headset. He gets the cue, tells me to have fun, and walks away. Two other staff members push the cockpit shield to where the seat is and the joystick arrives nestled in between my legs. I’m surrounded with buttons and cockpit windows. I suddenly realize that I’m about to take off and fly in my own X-Wing! A small screen in front of me counts down from 3…2…1…. Im immediately flying through the canyons chasing after a Tie Fighter. The images bank and turn, so I bank and turn with them. I make some faces to resemble the negative G forces you would feel in flight, but nothing extreme. Just the subtle faces as in my head, I was an experienced fighter pilot and the G forces wouldn’t affect me as much. For those brief moments, it made me feel like a kid again, in my make believe X-Wing, fighting the Empire, hoping the Rebel Alliance would be closer to victory thanks to my efforts…

And just like that, it was over. They opened the cockpit, I step out, they remove the gear, and I’m off into the expo floor, looking to top the experience I just had….an amazing experience. This by far was one of the coolest things offered on the expo floor. I will never forget it!

As I said, they send you a youtube link with the video to share. If you haven’t seen it already, check it out at the link below!

Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing Experience – Abe

So what did you think about the Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing Experience? Did you get a chance to try it? Let us know!