Entering a massive center where hundreds of thousands of people are gathered and taking up each and every inch of the 720,000 square feet that the Convention Center in Los Angeles is on, you get the sense of the surreal--that of which is caught between the digital world and the world of reality. The light of a million colors flashes on the screens all around. The music blares from section to section as people bustles all about, testing this new game or that new peripheral. Thousands of free giveaways, hundreds of booths of various size, shapes and colors are all centered in this monumental locale. AND YOU. This is the ultimate place for a gamer.
This is... E3.

In June of 2009, David McClam, better known to the rhythm game community as Cena from Cena's Corner, went to such a place for the first time. Through this, he finally achieved the first part of a promise he made to his son 6 years ago.

The second part of his promise gave birth to Team Cena.

Team Cena was created by David as the fulfillment of the second part of David's promise. If he ever went to E3, he would use whatever means he had to give others a chance at experiencing the joy to go to such an event. It was this generous heart that allowed for the birth of one of the largest sponsored teams in the rhythm game industry.

David began the process of sponsorship by posting a Youtube™ video asking people to submit a video application to be on his team. He received over 9,000 views and almost 400 video submissions, a response that he had not anticipated to so overwhelming. It was a grueling three week process, in which he spent countless hours viewing and reviewing the videos to pull out a core group of players that exemplified the tenets of Team Cena. After those three arduous weeks, on July 18, 2009 he announced the team brought together of all genders, races, and creeds with one sole belief: you could play the game and still have fun, and you do not need to be number one on the leader boards to show your dominance.

This is TEAM CENA.

© All photos are copyrighted to Kyle Mercury.