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The End of E3?
Ground Glass writes "Next Generation is reporting that E3 as we know it is finished. The games industry has lost its most glamorous show." Update: 07/30 21:18 GMT by Z : A reader wrote in with a link to an Ars Technica story saying that the event is to be downsized, not cancelled. From that article: "At the end of the day, the reason is very simple: ten years ago, you needed a big trade show to generate buzz and hype. It used to be that COMDEX was a special event because so much new stuff was unveiled, and this was the only way to see it. Now, however, information comes down the pipe faster than ever, and companies are wondering if there's really any benefit to spending the big money on displays only to share the floor with other competitors looking to out-wow attendees." I guess we'll see in a day or two what the future of E3 looks like.
that Spaceworld will be making a return!
Wonder if PAX could sort of by default become the big gaming convention...
PAX
"Waste not one watt!" - CZ
Do I dare?
So.... these rumours, I think, that maybe, the "big-player." Pulling out. Could be.
Based on no evidence other than historical battles, giant crabs and real time weapon change
Too much public MASSIVE DAMAGE? It pretty much provided a focus point for the interweb community (aka early adopters) to turn against them. Maybe they don't want anymore showcases where they have to say words like "six hundred and ninety nine united states dollars" to the world anymore - when a press release would be nicer.
*runs and hides*
http://skeptobot.blogspot.com/ - A site for the Renaissance man and woman
For this generation of consoles... esp. given that E3 is where a lot of the big annoucements are made, and hype generated (or lost)..
I am the maverick of Slashdot
Because it says "as we know it" so that means that E3 is evolving. What is it evolving into? Perhaps E3R1? The Electronic Entertainment Expo Revisited? Only time will tell.
Given the amount of money spent trying to get E3 builds ready, stabilize those builds, then strip out the hacks so that people can get back to work, this may actually be a good thing.
If I have to choose between E3 and essentially getting an extra month of productivity a year...farewell, E3, I barely knew ye.
RomSteady - I came, I saw, I tested. GamerTag: RomSteady / http://www.romsteady.net
When you go and ban booth babes, what's the point of going to E3, anyway?
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
Why is FP Redundant?
E3 represented everything that was wrong about the games industry. The hype. The focus on graphics. The sexualisation. The sequelisation. The CG sell. The marketers.
Playing a video game can be a serene repose from the world, not unlike a quiet read of a good book. But you'd never gather than from the Festival of the Casual Gamer that was E3. There games are presented like six-packs and waxed over automobiles. E3 was like an arms or car show. Games deserve better.
May the Maths Be with you!
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6154897.html
Well, there goes that.
Because a Star Wars game is the closest thing they will ever have to actually putting a man in space!
It's all economics. If large exhibitors think that it's too expensive, E3 could charge less per square-foot of show floor ($x/sq.ft.), and compensate with a higher attendance fee ($y/visitor). Surely there are some values of x and y that make the show viable.
From most of the game news I read I've always been under the impression that most of the actual media coverage comes from the exclusive back room presentations/demos along with keynote types and private interviews. For the past few years it seems like E3 has been getting bigger and bigger while yielding less and less real media coverage (coverage of stuff being presented rather than on the convention itself). Is it really surprising that the companies spending a ton of money on huge booths and rediculous displays while not getting equivalent returns would pull out? Thats more the fault of the exhibitors than E3 itself, but the result is the same.
All the hype E3 generates is pretty stressful, I'm still getting over this year's event.
There are other ways that games can be displayed that don't create a hype explosion.
...I was just broke and couldn't attend. It was called the Texas Independent Games Development Conference and it had all kinds of people that were sponsoring the thing- according to the promoters, it was a stunning success and they're doing it again next year (And I HOPE to be able to attend the next time...). It was intended for Texas indie studios for the large part, but it's a good start in the right direction- and I don't think we need to see something like GDC or E3 (GDC's good for meeting up with the tech companies supplying the resources to make the games happen and seeing the people face- but if it were to shrink or go away, it'd only be mildly annoying. E3, on the other hand... That was a massive resource sink, in all honesty- it may be that it is its time to go.)
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
E3 has been going downhill for a while. Back in 1999 I found 2 days worth of stuff to do. In 2005 I found about 2 hours. Booths are now packed with demo reels instead of hands on play, booth babes have been outlawed, no one gives a shit about you unless you are press, and waiting 2 hours to get into an exclusive area to spend 5 minutes watching a trailer or looking at some new molded plastic isn't my idea of fun. I didn't go this year even though one of my ex girlfriends is head of press relations for E3 and has printed me up any badge I wanted.
E3 has gotten so boring that most of my friends in the industry don't care to go anymore - its viewed now as a chore.
Odd that this comes out right as Siggraph 2006 starts up
I've been ignoring E3 in favor of TGS for the past few years. I'm not sad to see E3 go.
I have nothing to say.
I can't wait to see this week's CTRL ALT DEL! Ethan will be so upset. Thats like a game that will make you cry.... =(
The show is moving to the Pentagon, and will be held outdoors in a special mock-up of Tehran. Salon.com reports that the centerpiece of the convention will be the sequel to America's Army, Rove: Eternal War. It's a fusion title that melds RPG, strategy "tactics", FPS, and even sports, in a sex-free romp through the Middle East that's suitable for all ages. Those who complete the title are treated to a sneak peak at one of three expansion packs: Syria, North Korea, and China!
I'm not joking about this(see title). Booth babes are tremendously important to bringing in customers, and if E3 sends the message that they're taking a puritanical attitude, they only tick off the vendors who spend lots of money to set up booths, and discourage people from coming to the show.
Now what? Everyone hosts their own separate show, such as Nintendo's SpaceWorld? Different events different times of the year, hosted in their 'home base' where they can limit who enters/exits, where they can fill the place with their own shills, where they can rig any kind of fake demo they want?
This, following on the heels of outlawing booth bunnies--coincidence?
E3 is not cancelled. http://www.clubskill.com/Game_News/3998/E3%20cance lled%20for%20upcoming%20years
It's even on their official site:
"It has been marked on the official E3 website:
Planning is already underway for E3 2007. Mark your calendars:
E3 2007
May 16-18, 2007
Los Angeles Convention Center"
I see dead pixels!
Good riddance. If "the larger software publishers and hardware manufacturers" aren't interested in presenting information about new games instead of showing off boobs and hyping their games then this is only a good thing. Maybe they could spend the marketing money on more finished products instead (I'm looking at you EA and BF2). E3 is a good example of everything that's wrong with the industry.
This convention needs a proper burial. /bagpipes
Who killed E3?
This is great news, no E3, no G4 coverage!
So, either they are basically saying that certain companies are pulling out or it's just a big rumor. If you go here http://www.e3expo.com/default.aspx you'll see that E3 2007 is already underway.
"Instant gratification takes too long." - Carrie Fisher
E3 used to be a fun public event. This made it as much of a marketing/advertising tool as a publishing and development tools for making new deals. A few years ago, they decided to make E3 off limits to the general public and only available to developers and the media. I'm not surprised companies no longer decided the expensive booths was no longer worth the time, effort and development disruptions. If you've ever worked inside a game company, often times you lose one or two months out of the year just working on throwaway demos to play at E3 and is often some of the worst crunch and chaotic times only reivaled by the emminent release of a new product.
Runesabre
Enspira Online
To everyone who's saying "E3 is not canceled!!!" and giving your "proof" as being the E3 website saying, "Planning is already underway for E3 2007. Mark your calendars: E3 2007 May 16-18, 2007" I have something to share with you: that has been listed on the website since E3 2006 ended. They announced those dates, and have said that exact same thing ever since E3 2006 was going on. I was there, I saw the banners all over the exits. Granted, I'm not exactly glad that this could be happening to E3, but at the same time, it's a shame that you're all using something like that as a proof to defent its existance.
What will all the smallfry gaming sites do with their $200 yearly ad revenue besides subsidize a party weekend at E3? Where will we get entertaining drama if we don't have all their editors sharing a hotel room? WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO PICS 344 THROUGH 500 OF THE NEXT GTA?! Oh, the humanity!
I apologize for the extremely poor grammar and bad spelling above. Poetic, I reckon, rushing a response about E3 without reviewing it while trying to do other things.
Runesabre
Enspira Online
Comdex was once a prestigious event, now it's basically gone due to the same forces. Large companies backing out. Why? 'cause they messed with something that worked. Kick out the public, ban booth babes (restrict how I can use the space I pay for, and I stop paying), etc. Rather than keep things fresh, and trying to raise the bar each year for the show, it's the same thing, with less "fun" each year.
I have a hint for anyone organizing any such event; Don't try to make it "better" by restricting it. You aren't going to make it seem any more exclusive or elite, and you're not going to draw any more media attention, or exhibitors.
Another thing that's probably hit E3 is the SAME GAMES being exhibited several years in a row. Companies drag devel for games out over 2 or 3 years now(I have no idea how this can make ANY business sense), which means seeing the same game 3 or 4 times at comdex. If a games been demoed so many times you've basically finished it, there's a problem.
The only reason for these shows, is for big companies to hype their new stuff to the public. That's about it. If you've got to the point where the public is bored with your offerings, big companies are better off spending their money on billboards and commercials.
--Not to be worried, Pitr fix.
GameSpot's story on this says that E3 is downsizing and moving. Other sites say it will be split into publisher specific expos. Some sites are even saying it's cancelled completely. I think the "cancelled" camp are just sensationalists trying to get hits. A downsize seems more likely.
It's to bad for all those poor youngsters like myself, who have never had the chance to go see E3. I'm only 15, I've never been near california, I always wanted to go to E3, but never got to!
They banned booth babes... I feel sad.
Fuck that, let's make a new E3, fuck the ESA!
How the hell is a serious gamer like me gonna to get to see boobs?
I think E3 needed a little humility. It was just getting way out of hand. From what I've heard, you spent most of your time looking at demo reels and waiting in line then playing games. This has probably been said before, but this will also give small developers a chance to shine. Developers who might of not had the finances to create a big E3 booth now don't need to worry about it. The pressure to make big publicity is lessened. Publicity can be good, but at a trade show like E3, where big name developers take the spotlight, it can be very hard to get your name out without something big and flashy.
I'm calling bullshit. E3 had twenty seven major vendors last year. Twenty seven vendors do not pull out of the major global conference simultaneously. I just don't believe this is true. Sony has increased the size of their show every year for the last five years, because it's making them a ton of press. Nintendo had booths in all three major halls. Even software vendors like Konami plunk down for huge booths.
This is just another "hi we're going to lie to get traffic then dust it under the rug" tactic, as is becoming frustratingly common with online news sources.
StoneCypher is Full of BS
I too feel that a gamer-oriented convention would do much more good for the industry. Gaming is now enough of a part of American culture that one can reasonably market directly to the consumer instead of feeding a bunch of talentless hack writers who probably should've failed first-year English.
The thing is that most gamers don't *read* game rags like PCG or Gamespot or IGN. That media is strictly for the enthusiast. Most gamers see nice shiny explosions during the commercial break in between segments of The OC, and that and word-of-mouth is what sells most games. The enthusiasts already dig up every morsel of info about an exciting upcoming game as it is, they don't need billions of useless game "media" hacks to regurgitate it to them.
Many of my non-hardcore gamer friends know about E3. When I mention it to them they go "oh, it's on now eh?", but never follow any of its going-ons. E3 has failed spectacularly at gaining the type of mainstream media hoopla they wanted, and really, it was an absurd proposition to begin with. The average car-buying public doesn't watch the Detroit or New York auto shows with irresistable interest... No, they wait until the slick marketing shots come out on TV. Conventions are a terrible way to market to Joe average.
That is... Unless you let them come to said convention. Thousands upon thousands of people flock to the Detroit Auto Show every year, to sit in the new cars, stare at the Ferraris fenced off behind very scary looking guards, etc. Why can't we have this for the game industry? A week-long convention where people get to strut their products out in front of the very people who will be buying them? Why does it have to be one single event? Can we not have the LA Game Show, the New York Game Show, etc etc? Why is that we're the only ones who aren't marketing to the buying public, despite the fact that our "buying public" is a huckuva lot larger than the car-buying public in the US?
I think this proves that I'm no longer a geek: While I appreciate the newsworthiness of this article, am I the only one who has absolutely no sense of loss? Frankly the comings and goings of the e3 thing never really made a difference to me. If I'm looking for gaming news I go to game sites, granted, there is trickle down but I've never once went to a site to see their e3 coverage.
As for booth babes? Please. Being all hot and bothered over women in bikinis and such at a gaming convention is along the same lines as beating off to a Victoria Secrets catalog. I have an internet connection if I was really that desperate for boobs.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Quote: I too feel that a gamer-oriented convention would do much more good for the industry
Ah man, you still don't get it.(or you really do get it, but you're dissimulating for some reason)
The only reason video games became a viable form of entertainment is because they were looked down upon in the begining as "a novelty" or as "kiddy fare" and not taken seriously by the corporate casholes.
That has changed, however, to the permanent detriment of quality.
Any "gamer" convention that becomes popular will be infested with insiders, shills, and casholes faster than you can say "Pac-Man"
I tried and tried, but the VG industry still died
E3 is dead! Long live E3!
It's not stupid. It's advanced.
Your wife, Squire . . . is she a writer? Nudgenudge winkwink!
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
if there are any out-of-work booth babes out there who need a place to stay while they're getting back on their feet, my basement apartment, several bulk packages of Ho-Hos, and a rack of size-2 Seven of Nine uniforms is available to provide you with shelter, food and clothing during this trying ordeal.
how many pairs of boxer shorts should you own?
...has been having more and more gaming content as time goes on. With E3 "retooling" Comic-Con may get more and more important for consumer-directed news about games. Unfortunately this year Nintendo focused on DS and DS Lite and didn't bring the Wii kit. I predict this will change.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
I wonder if the big companies that are leaving happen to be Microsoft and Sony. I could see them wanting to pull out after what happened with Nintendo at the last E3.
Hobby Robotics
It's not a convention, it's not about unveiling new stuff... it's about free stuff, booth abes and after parties! It's a fricken junket for the overworked and underpaid.
It may not make sense from a game companies point of view but only in the sense of tangibles, the intangible value is being largely ignored. I have a feeling the "dissatisfaction" with e3 was brought on by the larger companies such as EA or Sony. E3 can be a scary place for them because with the exception of booth size advertising dollars mean nothing there, its put up or shut up. Look at the results of this years E3, Nintendo gets a huge boost, Sony pisses down its leg, a few small developers get some much needed press and the rest is pretty much business as usual. Scaling down just means more expensive real estate for the big guys and no room for the little ones.
The hype that surrounds E3 is viral and the show and attendees are only the begining. Websites basically shut down for a week covering nothing but news from the show. The Wii has gone from complete underdog to possible champion mainly due to E3 so how can it no longer be valuable for a company that actually has something to prove? The bottom line is if you cant stand up to your own hype then E3 is a disaster waiting to happen, if you let the products do the talkig and have something to show E3 can be all the difference in the world.
I wonder if Nintendo feels that way.
Press releases don't let people try out hardware.
That is the biggest problem with E3 right now. It's full of gamers. The fact that the GP thought PAX would be the replacement for it shows how off track it is.
I know that sounds stupid, but hear me out.
The cost to the exhibitors (Sony, MS, EA, etc.) of putting on E3 is huge. They spend far too much money to piss it away on gamers who will only sway themselves and 2 friends. The show was originally envisioned to be attended by buyers and other high ups, whom if you convinced of buying/distributing your game would result in thousands of sales.
If an attendee is going to deliver 1,000 sales, you can afford to spend up to $50-$100 on them. If an attendee is going to deliver 2 sales, you can only afford to spend $0.10.
Companies are paying per sq/foot charges and booth construction and design charges more in line with the 1,000 sale attendee, but the show is full of 2 sale attendees.
You could see this with the Thursday this year where only conference ($1,000 fee) attendees could enter before noon. You could also see it with the prohibition of retail associates (Gamestop mall employees) from attending without special permission this year.
E3 probably needs to change to keep the riff raff out if it wishes to survive in its current form.
On the other hand, there is a void in shows for the actual gamer. These can be made to work, with the proper cost structure. I wouldn't be surprised to see the ESA (people who put on E3) create a gamers convention or at least associate themselves with one. These shows work well in Japan, and PAX is off to a good start in the US. Many of the larger exhibitors will likely welcome a show of this sort, whereas the people with under development games would rather have a true industry only press event/trade show.
E3 sure has changed a lot. The action truly did used to be in the back rooms. That's where you had to go to see Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors back in the day.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
Don't you mean down the tube?
The things that run a long time and don't die are Mumble World conferences run by MumbleCo as a combination conference/marketing event for Mumble and it's partners.
Something else will come along. Don't worry.
-dB
"It if was easy to do, we'd find someone cheaper than you to do it."
Send your booth babes in wearing bikinis made out of $100 bills.
doomed E3. When more consumers than press people started going to E3, there had to be a decline. All those consumers meant that E3 was more expensive (concessions, security staff, etc had to be increased with relatively little gain on the other end). And then E3 came to rely on the consumer attendees as much as the press attendees. And then they did away with the booth babes, causing consumer attendence to plummet. Thus, good bye E3. In it's present form anyway.
In the months before and after E3, there's hardly anything released anymore.
It just takes too much time on everybody in the market that they have to stop and work on their E3 presentation / demo / trailers in double overtime to get their things done.
Then after/during E3, they get a small vacation before resuming normal operations (which is understandable).
I'd go to say it's near two months of time taken from the entire industry from preparation to the end of vacation time which could be spend on game development rather than fancy trailers and demos that are gonna be almost nothing like the final product.
However, for the biggest titles, E3 is one heck of an hype machine. It jumpstarted the expectations of millions of fan that are pre-ordering before they even saw the cover of the game's box.
The number of "million sellers" of next year is going to be a big joke and every title will lose money. Say bye bye to E3 waste of money and to the old industry.