The Numerous Problems With E3

Pixelfoot writes "Loud music, scantily-clad models, guys hoarding free 'schwag', these things are all the lifeblood of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, but the writers of Gaming Horizon have had enough. They've got an article entitled Stuff We're Sick of: E3 Edition, going into their biggest gripes about the show and giving suggestions for how to improve it, including the now-popular notion among journalists to include a full day where the show floor is only open to media." I'll buy that for a dollar. From the article: "It seems like everybody has forgotten what E3 is for, exactly. Without droning on about the vibrant history of the expo, it's more than fair to say that E3 is supposed to be a place for people to do their jobs and it's turned into a carnival for looky-loos and swagbaggers."

Comments

Been there done that

[EGSonikku]

As someone who has been to E3 I can agree to many things on the list.

Except getting rid of the booth babes.

Yes, the music is FAR, FAR to loud. Iv'e been to concerts with lower volume. It is absoultely insane how loud some booths go (I'm looking at you Capcom and EA).
There needs to be some kind of noise limit.

Crowds. I don't know if a larger venue exists, but E3 needs it, or they need to split the show up somehow. Being completly unable to move for as long as 10 minutes due to a crowd jam is rediculous.

Food. I know it's a trade show and everyone is meant to be rich but charging $12 for 1 can of soda and a sandwich that consists of A)2 slices of bread from Safeway and b)somthing that may be Tuna is a bit much.

Parking. Either: a) Park near the convention for $25 - $30 or b) park for only $5 further out, but bring your hiking gear. You may also want to hire someone to guard your car.

I'm sure if I was bored enough i could come up with more. E3 is still fun, but it seems like each year these problems have been getting worse. I honestly don't know if I will go next year due to crowds and noise level alone. It is that bad.

But rhe show is *for* him

[brunes69]

The whole point of E3 is to show off games to the media and to the retailers. That is the whole point of the article. It has strayed from it's purpose, mainly because so many unimportant people are now going that it is impossible to *do* your job, when that is the whole point of the show.

Making his job as a reporter easier *would* be improving the show. It is not an amusement park, it is an expo.

He's right, and whoa... also dead wrong...

[BTWR]

he's got some good opinions, and some misguided opinions. First, the good:

Swagbaggers
I agree 100% with this. I haven't been to E3, but I've been to enough medicine conventions to recognize these guys. They suck. I can't ask a single question because the bigshot guy is talking-up the Pfizer rep to get a coveted USB-keychain.

I say that all demos should have a timer built in that kindly informs patrons that they've been playing for five minutes
Another great idea. The demos are for demonstrating the game, not for beating levels 1-4.

Now, the bad...

Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo should all have their conference on the same day, at the same theater, one after another.
I disagree. These presentations are arguably the most important company announcements (at least in MS and Sony's game divisions) that these multi-billion dollar companies will make for the next 365-or-so days. I say let them make it themed to their liking: slick metallic stages, colorful light stages, pyrotechnics, whatever they want. That's like saying all mp3 players should look exactly the same, but with their own features and content.

If you draw an online comic strip, you don't need to communicate directly with the gaming industry.
I'd much rather hear Gabe and Tycho's honest take on the industry than one of the bigwigs "I've-been-bought-like-a-whore" sites.

Why not have a second E3, or similar show, take place on the east coast or perhaps in the Midwest?
Why not have one every week, in each state?

No "behind closed doors"-only content
OK, this guy hates IGN and Gamespot. That's obvious. Well, maybe the reality is that he's jealous of them. I know IGN can be crappy sometimes, and not willing to take a stance and a huge game sucks (or a crappy game was actually fun), but the simple fact is, they're big, and gaminghorizon isn't. Shigero Miyamoto doesn't have room for a behind-the-scenes hands-on demo of the Revolution controller for everyone. Luckily, Miyamoto wants me to see it, so he got 1up, IGN and a few others a demo, so people like me would be more likely to see it.

I'll buy a lobster dinner for anybody who can provide a reason why it'd be a bad idea for the first day of the E3 show floor to be open only to people with Media badges.
How about Best Buy, wanting to see if Halo2 is going to sell "well" or "break all records" from the initial feel? How about other developers, who want to see the competition? It's a HUGE place, and making 1 of the 3 days as media-only cuts the others' days by 33%.

It's not about the media, either.

[Blackwulf]

Ironically, E3's initial purpose was to allow the retailers to see what games were coming out, so they could determine how much shelf space, if any, should be given to the product. The media was just a side part of it in the beginning - the booths were really to impress the retailers into buying their product and putting their product in the stores.

Now, that's changed. The retailers can't get any business done because the media swarms in thinking they should be VIP's and should have first access to all content. And that's why E3 seems to be getting worse every year - it's focus has been lost.

I'd say that there should be a day where there's NO MEDIA allowed - only people legitemately in the industry that have business to attend to. (Not those who buy their way into an exhibits only pass, either.) And before anyone jumps down my throat, I'd be one of the people not allowed in the one day, so I sure as hell ain't saying it for MY benefit.

Take some cues from the North American Auto Show

[AnamanFan]

North American Auto Show has a few things that E3 can take cue from. Most comes from the schedule. The whole show runs Jan 8th - 22nd, BUT:

Press Days Jan 8 - 10
"You must have a NAIAS issued media credential to attend the show during Press Days."

Industry Preview Days Jan 11 - 12
"Industry Preview Days is an exclusive opportunity for companies in the automotive industry to invite their key contacts, suppliers and employees to preview one of the top auto shows in the world. This is the perfect time for companies to share in the excitement of the auto show before the official opening to the public."

Charity Preview: Jan 13th 6p - 9p
"17,500 people attended the 2005 Charity Preview, raising more than $7 million for 11 Detroit-area children's charities. Since its 1976 inception, the black tie event has raised over $58 million."

Public Days: Jan 14 - 22
Everyone can attend.

Obviously this is a car show and E3 doesn't run this long (though it could run longer). But it separates the show for press, industry, and then allows the public to attended. It even puts some good back into the community with a $400/person fundraiser. Just some thoughts.

Re:What a hypocritical article.

[Frizzle Fry]

And, you know, wouldn't stuff like cutting down the volume and keeping the lines moving make the show better?
Yes. His complaints about those things are reasonable. But most of the article is spent complaining both that:
1) There are too many "unimportant" people around and that gets in the way of "important" people being able to see the demos, play the games, etc. The content should only be available to "important" people like members of the press and everyone else should be excluded.
2) It's unfair that they have '"behind closed doors"-only content' for the important people like members of the press and exclude everyone else.

How can you argue both of these simultaneously? Is he so deluded that he thinks that a 19 year old kid writing crap for a random website should be one of the "important" people who gets access to everything? Because you kind of give away that you aren't in that group when you complain that you can't afford a taxi to Nintendo's press conference.

I won't even bother going through the article and finding every other case of this hypocrisy because it is everywhere. But as one example, he says that for him "the most obvious appeal to the Electronic Entertainment Expo is the chance to play videogames that haven't been released yet" and then later says "If you just really want to get into E3 because you want to play upcoming games, you're the problem." Wow.