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On E3's Awards, Anticipation, Predictions
Thanks to HomeLAN Fed for its article discussing the state of the annual 'Best Of E3' game awards, in which the writer suggests that the "E3 awards are a bit of a sham and... a lot of games that get these awards are either not released in the coming year or if they are they are not as good as their E3 presentations make them out to be." He points out that "...out of the 16 categories that the Game Critics E3 awards had last year, 10 of them went to games that have not yet come out and won't be out until after E3 2004." Elsewhere, GameSpot focuses its 'GameSpotting' editorials on the forthcoming E3 trade show itself, suggesting that the show "is becoming a bigger and bigger source of stress and anxiety to the gaming industry as time goes by", even taking into account the excitement of "the biggest video game convention on God's green earth."
I'm not completely sure this ever happens, but what if one or two of the top ten awards ended up having that game cancelled? I'm guessing that probably won't happen as the developer figures they'll make money on it, but what about all those other "moneymaking" games that got cancelled, a few were on IGN's article the other day about mysteriously disappearing games, and other games too like Interplay and Volition's supposed Descent IV, etc.
the Political Inquirer
"is becoming a bigger and bigger source of stress and anxiety to the gaming industry as time goes by"
... trade shows ... or rather, the insipient demand for new products to be released at the trade show ... puts a lot of stress on mfr's. time and again, i've been to trade shows/conventions where new products were announced, proto's were made, and then 4 months later, the project is -still- not ready for public release. this screws with markets, and is generally unhealthy.
... but its the best policy for tech mfr's ...
its true
at this years music messe, my company (a leading musical instrument manufacturer) opted not to participate - we all still went to the show, and enjoyed it very much - but since we've long since stopped timing our product releases to the show period of the year (and only release things when they're -ready- i.e. manufacturing is producing shelf-storable product), we no longer feel a demand as a mfr to invest so heavily in the show.
its a double-edged sword, though. a lot of customers expect new stuff at the show. nevertheless, it feels better as a company not to have to cater to the mob-think that trade shows == target product release date. 'its ready when its ready' is definitely not something you'll hear much at a trade show
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
But since I can't be, I'll have to make do with the different webcomics that do go there (like Penny Arcade and their dancing robot)
- 05 -16&res=l
Can't find the link to that one,
But this is basically what I mean
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=1999
This is the sig that says NI (again)
While I agree with the overall subject of the article, what is the root cause that is driving the awards?
Who exactly is hypeing these games that gets them the awards? If E3 is such a source of anxiety to the developers and publishers, maybe they should start by setting realistic expectations of when they're games will be delivered. It's not that I don't agree with id's philosophy of "when it's done" - but why show the game that early if they know the game isn't going to be released until *after* the following year's E3?
Do they need all the publicity to hype a game that far out? I would assume that the smaller game developers probably do - but if you look at the ones winning the awards - Doom3, HalfLife 2, Halo 3, they're going to get the coverage in the press regardless if the game is there or not.
I don't know what the answer or the solution is - my choice would be for E3 to have a rule that games to be shown should be released within 6-8 months of the show, but the inevitable "code leak", "revamping", or some other excuse would poke holes in that quicker than anything.
John Callahan of HomeLAN Fed is missing the point. E3 is to games like ShoWest is to movies. Hey, everyone knows that the games aren't finished yet. It's the entire point of having E3; pitch your unfinished game to retailers in hopes of having it finished in time for the Christmas buying season. If all the games were finished, there would be no need for E3. Sheesh, everyone knows that the E3 awards are based on impressions made on the journalists and public. The real awards that count are the IAIAA awards or whatever they're calling themselves now.
Like my bud Greg Kasavin at Gamespot said in his editorial, these games are often at the show two years in a row. Is it stressful? Well yeah, because you're working not only to impress the buyers but other developers at the show. The years I worked at Microsoft's booth at E3, we did our best to impress the press but we worked harder to impress the guys from Blizzard who wandered over to see our game. (And vice-versa). E3 is what it is. Personally I think HomeLan Fed is complaining about nothing and this year's E3 is no less stressful than any other year.
Well, that is unless you're Infinium Labs...
And Yes, I am a game programmer...
E3 exists for two reasons.
1) So publishers can convince retailers to carry their games (which has already been pointed out).
2) So Developers can sign publishers for their product.
3) So Publishers can sign Developers.
4) For the "Big 3" can sign publishers to their consoles.
Essentially, E3 has a huge impact on the financial side of the game industry. It is where most deals are made. You need your stuff to look good so someone can use it to impress someone else.
Its also a pissing contest among peers. Its onething to convince an end user that your game is kick ass. Its another to convince your competitors that you are the 'hot shit'.
Unfortunately, E3 can screw with the schedule of a project. The tightest crunches on any project will be for its Beta / Gold milestones, and for E3. This is because if you show at E3, then people will want to play your game. And if you crash, it gets around.
Ever try to get software to a non-crashing state when its between 40% and 60% done?
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