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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.
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
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.
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.
...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.
Or perhaps Computer and Console Convention, Press Only?
(if you don't get it, abbreviate that)
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
But you can argue that such venues for making announcements, have become irrelevant in this era of multimedia web content. All a Major Industry Company has to do is make press releases that get published on all of the major gaming and tech/new sites and reach a lot more people, much more quickly and efficiently with their big announcements. I think it's realistic to say that the web generates the vast majority of hype for pretty much all things tech nowadays. I'm sure if some sort of measurement was done, you would find that the number of game players that actually go to E3 is probably miniscule in comparison to those that surf the gaming/tech news sites.
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.
Who killed E3?
This is great news, no E3, no G4 coverage!
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
I think you're right on the money here. While the week of E3 is obviously big in terms of the amount of game information, screenshots, etc. released, the number of people who actually get hands-on with the stuff at the convention is rather small. With the continued increase of non-industry people attending, it becomes an even worse deal with the "important" people (read: the representatives of the big gaming news outlets and the retail executives who might influence what gets put on store shelves) either being squeezed out or attending the semi-private showings off the floor. The big publishers would be far better off focusing their E3 money on flying the press to their locations and demoing the games more intimately. They'd spend less money and probably make a bigger splash with the games on which they want to focus, spreading out over the rest of the year.
I don't know how bad it would be for the small, independent developers to lose E3, though I have to say I don't think it would matter much. When I've followed E3 via the Interweb, I rarely, if ever, find out about the "tiny" games anyway. A much smaller convention consisting entirely of those small developers would probably work better for them in any case.
If it's true, I don't think it will be a big loss. As a non-attending consumer, without E3 I'll probably end up with the same pre-release information that I've gotten for years. It will probably be more timely as well given the number of times E3 coverage has made me excited for a game, only to wait another two or more years before it gets released.
Are you kidding me? It's already ridiculously expensive to get in. No, E3 has always been a big self-centered circle jerk for the game industry and media. I won't be at all sad to see it go and be replaced with something more gamer-oriented. The "gaming media" is a joke, and doesn't need a special event in their honor.
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.
The cost of the actual space on the convention floor is probably a tiny consideration to the big developers/publishers. It's often the cost of the "spectacle" that the marketing people feel they need which costs a lot. There's also lost time to developers when they have to put together playable demos of games that might still be two or more years from completion.
Increasing the cost to attendees would end up a losing proposition because you'd end up decreasing the number of press and retail people who would actually attend - those people shouldn't have to pay for a game's advertising (neither should I, which is why I haven't blown cash on subscriptions to any of the big gaming sites).
It could be argued that EA, Microsoft, Sony and the rest could just show up with a display made of pressboard and a couple of LCD monitors on which to show videos of gameplay. But, while that might work once, the next year everybody would try to outdo themselves and their competitors, and you end up with the flashy, noisy, expensive debacle which E3 has become.
That's not news. At EVERY E3, at the main exit, they have a big banner with the date of the next year's event.
Does it make you happy you're so strange?
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.
We tend to abbreviate EEE as E3. Ergo CCC turns into C3... I admit it took me a minute too. :-)
Erotic is when you use a feather. Exotic is when you use the whole chicken.
How the hell is a serious gamer like me gonna to get to see boobs?
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.
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?
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