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GDC Losing Focus In E3's Wake?
In the wake of E3's breakup, developers and attendees going to the annual Game Developer's Conference this week are wondering out loud: is the event losing its focus? As GDC expands, what was once (even just a few years ago) a somewhat quiet and intimate affair is taking on the airs of the now-deceased videogame extravaganza. The key for the Conference this year, the first post-E3, is going to be to make sure that the community aspect of the event remains intact in the face of over 12,000 attendees. As conference director Jamil Moledina points out, "The main lesson from (the transition of E3) is that we have to stick to what we do best: providing learning and inspiration to independent developers." Here's hoping the coming week bears that out.
The main reason you go to GDC was to give a passing head nod to guys you used to work with but didn't like enough to bother getting their number when or they left the company.
Or job hunting.
The lectures/presentations are nothing more than public ego masturbations. The last thing the vast majority of game developers want to do with the cutting edge tech we've developed is stand up in front of the entire game development world and talk about it.
Well, someone has to fill in for E3. Why exactly did they stop having E3 anyway? Seems silly.
spend a grand or two after hotels and passes, see same old windbags talk about the same stale ideas, silently chuckle to self that everyone seems to claim expertise in what is probably their weakest area, make weak effort to pass out business cards and ignore the fact that conglomerates are sucking the life out of the business as surely as they did to the music business in the past ten years, silently cry at seeing the 15th copycat game of what was an original idea ten years ago, drink, sleep, repeat, go home
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http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1445
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Motorstorm
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And Virtua Fighter 5, Flow, it's going to be quite a week for Sony.
GDC has very little in common with E3 and the atmosphere is completely different. The main purpose of GDC is for developers to interact with other developers and publishers and for the talent to exchange ideas, and for recruiting purposes.
E3 was a tradeshow for the publishers to interact with the distributors and the media. The problem was that because that was where all the new product is unveiled, it was overrun with people who must have that sneak peak, yet are inconsequential to any potential business opportunites that are to be had. Distributors like Wal-Mart and Best Buy were complaining that they couldn't get business done because the place is just so damned packed with college students, bloggers, and low level game industry employees who weren't there on business.
Big publishers, mostly Sony and EA, looked at the millions they spend preparing for the show, the amount of manhours involved, and compared it to how little was actually accomplished and they said 'screw it'. They realized they could fly all the journalists, executives, and sales people first class to their own offices, wine and dine them, developing a one on one personal relationship rather than being in a flimsy cubicle at E3, yelling at one another because DDR is blasting full volume behind you and Paris Hilton is throwing t-shirts for a game she's endorsing, but can't remember the name.
To a lesser extent, E3 always put a lot of demand on developers for having that E3 build ready for demo. Eliminating E3, or at least having it moved later, theoretically makes things easier. Some would argue, though, that having E3 as a milestone isn't necessarily a bad thing, and for many companies, they'll continue to have some sort of early milestone build target anyway (if you won't show it at E3, you can always show it off at other events, or private showings).
Back to GDC, that's not really an appropriate 1-for-1 replacement of E3. GDC really is supposed to be a gathering for developers, not just one big marketing bonanza. There are some E3 replacement ideas being kicked around, such as the Entertainment for All show, which is actually open to everyone (not just those in the games industry). There is also the Penny-Arcade Expo, a gathering of gaming fans that's getting larger and larger each year. Personally, I think those are better fits for a true "E3 replacement", but one that's really focused towards the fanbase.
-- jchenx
The GDC was in many ways the direct opposite of the E3 and should always remain that way. In this day and age of instant information, are trade shows for videogames even necessary? I would say up until now the CES (previously) and the E3 was necessary, but now it's no longer important. If Sony, for example wants to announce the PS4 in five years, they won't be doing it at an "E3." Why spend all of that money when they can just call up and invite a few of the big news agencies, important bloggers, etc., to their corporate headquarters and then announce the big announcement in a controlled environment? It's not 1983, technology is not changing every five seconds like it was back then. Sure, there are new gadgets/cell phones/gizmos, but the "wow" factor of technology is not like it was in the 80's and early 90's.
"Jeremy, you need to get to an internet cafe and cut and paste some appropriate sentiments about me from the world wide
Ok, so they chucked E3 (to later be replaced anyway) cause it wasn't focusing on the industry and it's people more so than the average day gamer getting into it, and all the hype etc They are saying GDC is becoming the same, more flashy big name stuff rather than it's usual routine.
It's simple, and obvious, make a gaming/technology industry show, that is for the people. Developers, businesses etc are all welcome regardless, and could setup booths of their own. I know, someone will quote me PAX but for every video game or console promoting itself there, there are another couple hundred people sitting around playing CCG's and such which while cool in their own right wouldn't fit in too much with a video game themed place such as an E3-like show. So you host this show, stick it some place neutral for god sakes, no West Coast, no East Coast. Make'em meet in the middle, hold the shit somewhere in north Texas or something. A large building, open to the public via purchased tickets, booths to be rented. No need to fake some industry connection to get in. Keep the booth babes but tame them up some, other wise you run the risk of having your show being labeled as adults only, which would cut into the fan base that could attend.
It would suck, as an idea, if no companies came out for it. If Nintendo, MS, Sony and others didn't show up, you'd basically just have one giant LAN party where people walked around from console demo unit to demo unit playing various games. But it could work. It would solve the "omg E3 ain't what it used to be, cancel it" or the "omg GDC is turning into E3" bullshit and make way for a more open E3-style show that is more accessible to the entire country.
Aw Frell this
Nintendo really needs to start talking about their 2007 plans because right now me and many other Wii owners are starting to wonder if we all paid 250 dollars for another GameCube. Last year Nintendo wouldn't stop talking about how they were going to revolutionize the console world with the Wii and ever since Christmas its like the company forgot they were competing in the console market.
The online stuff appears to be in shambles.
The Wii games so far have been underwelming. Zelda was good, and stuff like Wii Sport only last so long.
The 2007 release list for the Wii is about half to third the size of the 360 and PS3 lists.
Outside of two or three first party Nintendo games I can't think of anything due out for the Wii that isn't crappy PS2 ports or mediocre minigame stuff we already have enough of. We really need to hear from Nintendo about when exactly online games will be out and some news about non-Nintendo game support.
And that's different from any other conference in what way?
... ok, some security cons are different. But then, those tend to be not public.
It's pretty much the same for about any kind of conference I know, that's not limited to game development. You have the same in hardware, databases,
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
E3 (previously): Electronic Entertainment Expo.
The focus of each event seems to be pretty clearly stated in their names.