There Is No Point To E3

Modesitt writes "Corpnews offers some thoughts on how E3 has changed for the worse. Several factors are mentioned, but the increased number of people sporting 'Exhibits Only' badges courtesy of Best Buy, CompUSA, and EB Games is focused on as a cause of the descent of E3." From the article: "The only legitimate purpose to E3 is as a media event, for companies to show off their products to the public via the media (after all, such a tiny sliver of the gaming public could go to E3, even if it was open to the public, that the press must inevitably mediate this process), and it is failing terribly at that. Companies are no longer courting the press, or even attempting to develop new contacts among them; now, it is an established siege war between giant website network and shitty magazines, and arrogant companies who divulge the merest crumbs and act as if this were a thunderous pronouncement from Yahweh."

Comments

Bitter.

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

The feeling I get from R'ing TFA is that the writer is bitter about people not blowing him as soon as he steps near a booth.

"Worse yet, the private hallways are becoming more and more hostile to media they are 'unfamiliar' with- and by that, I do not mean small, nor do I mean only to Corp writers. Corpnews is a medium-large website in the videogame industry now, and I am not the only media badge to have experienced outright hostility at my inability to name-drop at the front entrance to this or that booth. Companies like Vivendi and EA will ask for a name right off the bat before admitting you to their corporate Shangri La, Blizzard was running World of Warcraft media demos on the noisy show floor, and Nintendo did not even have enough press kits for all media, saying "We only give these out to major media outlets". Well, fantastic, I'll be sure to tell ABC's crack video game department to saunter on by and hear how you plan on not eating #3 dust in the next round of the console wars, smart guys."

The guy's got an inflated opinion of his Blog (that I've never heard of) and he's crying about it.

Re:Bitter.

[Seumas]

Well, as much as I don't care for G4, I have to say that their coverage of E3 was in-depth and quite decent.

This guy is like the punk kid who starts trash-talking his underground band as soon as they catch a break and become popular.

Re:Bitter.

[Anonymous Coward]

I say you are spot on. Kind of funny that they complain about stuff like "giant website network and shitty magazines, and arrogant companies who..." and then go on about how their site is special/different and they should be devoted more attention.

What we have here is someone with a no-name blog/site(anyone here even know about or visited this site before this article?) whining about how they didn't get as much attention as the big name sites/magazines, and how these companies didn't bend over and let him have his way. I don't blame the companies, it isn't like they have all the time & resources to give an interview with every Random Joe Gamer Site/Blog or give them each a $400+ trinket.

At least some of the other gamer run sites don't let this junk go to their heads, and have provided us with E3 coverage that is often as good or even better then the big name site/magazines.

Re:Bitter.

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to write for CorpNews back in the days when it first started as Mr. Kenickie. I was with them for a good five months or so and contributed very regularly. The site is total crap. It was started by some investors who knew next to nothing about the industry and thought that Mr. Poppinfresh and the others were comic geniuses. After they ran out of money a few months later, the site closed down for several years until just recently. Now Pop thinks that he's owed some kind of great honor and respect from major video game companies?

What I don't understand is how they got Slashdot coverage and how they claim they are medium-large. They're just another angry video game blog site that does *not* offer a publisher or developer what they're looking for. They offer satiracal rants about why X game is total crap and why they know how to make it better.

Working for a small video game developer now, I know that E3 has its merits--it's to bring companies together. E3 is an industry trade show, meaning that it's meant to get you talking to other companies in the same industry who are normally across the country. It was never a major media outlet until those in the media decided to start self-gratifying by turning it into that. That's how we got booth babes at every table.

Kenickie

Re:I totally agree

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

Doesn't that make sense? The press is who it's for. The press reports on the shiny video that Sony/Microsoft/Whoever Else shows and the people who already made their minds up use the reporting to say "See, x is going to kick ass!"

They have the Best Buy and EB guys there so when they go back to their stores they can say "OMFG DOOD x-product WILL KIK AZZ!!!11"

Booth Babes

[Anonymous Coward]

Booth Babes, need I say more?

Re:Booth Babes

[ZephyrXero]

" Booth Babes, need I say more?"

Yes, actually you do... are you for them or against them? Personally, I sure as hell don't mind looking at them...but really they're not necessary if you have a good game. A lot of female gamers I know are very turned off by them as well..so it helps keep down the female gaming population...which is a Bad thing.

Not to disagree... Wait, nevermind

[Wraithfighter]

Yeah, the bullshit factor has probably increased significantly over the years, but who cares? It still remains one of the few times when projects are released en masse. The pre-show press conferences are basically the "state of the console" addresses for the big console makers.

Also, something that the author forgot to mention, there are a lot of little developers there, making games that might not have distributors yet or need investors in order to continue making their game.

If you don't care about the huge companies, and actually want to see something, then don't head to the big main area: They're only courting the IGN's and GameSpots and EGM's out there, the news outlets with millions of readers (or at least a few hundred thou), because they're just showing off.

The little guys need as much press as they can get, and they will probably be more than willing to show you their game if it means an article on any kind of gaming news site.

Over a thousand games at the con. Look for the 90% that people don't know about if you want to do news!

Re:Not to disagree... Wait, nevermind

[PyroMosh]

Car shows aren't like that either. Unless you count the ones that aren't trade shows at all.

Ever been to the New York Auto Show? It's just like E3. Some stuff they showed when I went in 2000 never mad it to become production vehicles (K5 Blazer concept based on the old school full size, but built on a Tahoe platform), other things did (Chevy SSR). Neither of those could be purchased at the show. Or immediatly after for that matter.

"Car shows", the things that are organized at your local soccer field, or race track, are an entirly diffrent animal. No comparison to E3, and no tie-in with the industry either.

Re:This is true

[Vektuz]

The point of the article I think is that E3 used to be a 'trade' show, and now its a 'hype' show, and thus useless as a tradeshow. Its for organized PR teams to hype products to consumers, not for individuals in the trade to conference with each others (publishers & programmers, programmers & middleware)

Re:Shitty?

[Anonymous Coward]

You also don't see the unspeakable name of God on the front page either. I know that religion is generally unpopular around here, but it would be nice if the editors didn't go out of their way to offend people.

Re:Shitty?

[jericho4.0]

A) It was a quote.
B) /. is a disscusion site, not 'the media'.
C) /. is most certainly not a professional organization.
D) /. has never tried to better itself, no matter how much people complain or ridicule.