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Do Trade Shows Benefit Gamers?
Thanks to The Adrenaline Vault for its article discussing the actual significance of videogame trade shows, now that "e-mail, Internet press releases, cell phones, faxes, personal digital assistants and the like make communication and transmission of information virtually instantaneous among developers and vendors." The piece makes the suggestion, with regard to "trade shows like Comdex, CES and E3", that: "In earlier days, people were attracted to attend the national conventions because of all the novelty present. Now, new software and hardware products seem more evolutionary than revolutionary, with a lot of copycat items that differ from what is already out there just through cosmetic differentiation." Do shows like E3 matter as much as they used to?
Having actually been to E3 in 2001, I can say that they definately make a difference because they show what exists and what should be given top priority. Looking at the GBA with picture didn't do much for me, but actually seeing it in action impressed me. I was able to get a feel for each of the now 3 major consoles. Smaller manufacturers can get thier products displayed in a place where it can make an impact if it's worth making an impact.
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The only reason E3 matters is because it is a set time for when all the video game companies save announcements for. If game companies made announcements as they come it wouldn't nearly be as suspenseful, hyped, etc.
What they do is they make a pile of secret new games and systems and all that jazz. Then when E3 comes around, bang! they show you all at once. You have lots of anticipation prior to the event and lots of talk generated during and after the event.
If the announcements of new games were spread out they wouldn't have as much oomph in their announcement. Of couse this has harms too. Smaller games get lost in the folds of E3. The big companies make such big announcements, and that makes otherwise huge ones from small companies look small.
I'm a CS guy. I'm going to buy the same games no matter what any of these companies do at trade shows or otherwise. So let the marketing guys do whatever they want.
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E3 used to be for gamers? Where the hell did you get that from? In all of E3's history, they were NEVER open to the public. E3 has never been about wooing gamers. You just can't build a successful business or product just by catering to the few thousand who attend a trade show if they were just gamers. E3 is about wooing *retailers* so that they will stock your product in the coming christmas season (and beyond). E3 is about wooing the press so that they will talk about your product. These people affect a company's sales in huge multiples. Individual gamers on the other hand will maybe buy one copy, so they are hardly the target of this show.
It's the press that have really glorified the tradeshow beyond its original intentions. Back before E3, games were unveiled at CES (Consumer Electronics Show). You'd find some magazine coverage of this show, but it was much more low-key, so fewer people in the general public really paid attention.
Now, you get all this over-hyped "wowie zowie" type of coverage of the show, with trailers being released and television shows going in and showing us what's there, etc,etc. Blame the media for making E3 seem to be something bigger than what it is.
E3 provides a single, physical place where people developers, publishers, distributors, retailers, and even press can meet face-to-face and have discussions. This kind of thing is invaluabe to the industry. The whole public-spectacle thing may be outdated (it is, in fact, my least favorite part of these events) but events like E3 are still 100% necessary for the growth of the industry.
That and a lot of developers spend all their time making their own games; they're too busy to really follow every game in development via the Internet. E3 is a great way for developers to see what other folks are doing and to kind of, you know, party a little. Though in my opinion, the Game Developers Conference is a better place for that than E3...
It may be the only time most game developers ever get to see an actual girl in real life.