Activision spared no expense showing attendees a good time at a recent event in Santa Monica to advertise its upcoming James Bond-licensed action game Quantum of Solace, due to arrive on store shelves next month along with the Quantum of Solace movie. They picked up journalists in fancy cars, complete with James Bond girls, and led them to a location where they were given metallic suitcases. Inside was a tuxedo T-shirt, a fake plastic gun, fake bullets, fake casino money, and a fake passport containing the picture and name of the attendee, which was requested previously.

The event was a blast, and we'll be posting our impressions of Quantum of Solace very soon. Meanwhile, we couldn't help but share an interesting story with a fellow journalist and what he experienced when he attempted to take the suitcase, gun and all, on the plane.

Even the great James Bond may have met his match in airport security. Click to see more images from the game...

We won't mention his name, but he works for the Evil Avatar website. He had checked in for his flight with United, asking if he could take the case with him on board if he cleared the contents with security beforehand. The rep said that was fine. So, he went to security, where they closely examined the case. GameDaily's attending journalist, yours truly, was ahead of him and presumed everything was fine. However, when I arrived at the gate, there was no sign of him.

Two hours passed and the plane was boarding, headed back for Denver. Finally, the journalist appeared and took his seat, with quite a story to tell. He was explaining the contents of the case, including the fake gun and bullets from the event. However, when security noticed his fake passport (the one Activision had made for him earlier), Los Angeles security thought there was a false front and detained him for over an hour.

After numerous questions (including why his employer was called Evil Avatar) about wanting to be a spy and "illusions," they returned all his information, confiscated the fake gun and the passport, and allowed him to board. He was a little bit bewildered, but happy nonetheless to finally be on the plane.

So just a word of warning, fellow journalists. The next time you receive a cool little item, such as a plastic gun, a rubber stress grenade for a Battlefield title, or even something as small as a pen knife, it still doesn't amount to the precise attention that airport security pays.

Kinda makes us glad that this journalist opted to have a friend ship him the case...

Look for the full Quantum of Solace impressions next week.