Did E3 Just Gasp Its Last Breath?

Ian Lamont writes "This year's E3 is over, and there's already talk that this could be the last one. Even before the conference started, a slew of studios announced they wouldn't be taking part, citing high costs and other 'business reasons.' At the conference itself, 'there were no huge game announcements, and Microsoft didn't even bother having Bungie show up to talk about the next Halo release, claiming that the company wanted to "shorten the presentation."' Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello said he 'hated' E3's new format, adding 'either we need to go back to the old E3, or we'll have to have our own private events.' Crave also noted there are no solid plans for next year's show. On the other hand, people have predicted E3's demise in previous years, and they turned out to be wrong."

Comments

Old Vs. New

[TitusC3v5]

Old E3: New games, for gamers, and coverage by gamers.
New E3: New games, for the PR/Hype machines, and coverage by journalists pretending to be gamers.

Yeah, no idea why it's dying...

Re:Old Vs. New

[thetoadwarrior]

Old E3: New games, for gamers, and coverage by gamers. New E3: New games, for the PR/Hype machines, and coverage by journalists pretending to be gamers. Yeah, no idea why it's dying...

No problem is that E3 was always supposed to be a industry only sort of thing. To help show off the new & upcoming stuff to get retailers interested to buy up these new games for the holidays. But people posing as journalists kept getting in and with the internet it just got out of hand.

It became less about games and about how much you spent on half naked girls for sweaty virgins to harass. There is no qualification for being a journalist on the internet, which is good for a lot of things, but it's not good for E3 as it was taking the focus off games.

The industry still has a lot of growing up to do. The fact it's probably the only indutry that can't seem to hold a major business event without turning it into softcore porn should concern people.

As much as people want to tout that gaming is growing it's not really. The numbers they use against movies includes everything including controllers, power leads, etc. We're losing imagination and genres because everything is so similar that they dare not risk doing something new. Plus they have to raise prices to keep going and we can probably expect price to rise during the next generation.

Does that sound like a healthy world domination industry? I don't think so. The only thing they do have going for them is that gamers do tend to be more obsessive about their hobby than others so they can count on there being a certain level of sales.

In fact I think the reason they taken to pussifying the term hardcore gamer into core gamer is because it doesn't mean the same thing anymore. It means that's their core audience that will eat up any old shit they shovel they sell as long as it's a sequel, features lots of guns and gang of hulking space marines of questionable sexuality.

Re:Old Vs. New

[PopeRatzo]

it's probably the only indutry that can't seem to hold a major business event without turning it into softcore porn

You say that as if it's a bad thing.

I'd suggest that the more major business events that turn into softcore porn, the better.

Re:Old Vs. New

[Inner_Child]

The industry still has a lot of growing up to do. The fact it's probably the only indutry that can't seem to hold a major business event without turning it into softcore porn should concern people.

You, sir, appear to be forgetting the porn industry. Turning business events into softcore (or hardcore) porn is what they do.

Re:Old Vs. New

[rsmith-mac]

Here here! This year's E3 was a success in working as it was designed. Restricted crowds meant that journalists and buyers could easily see (and try!) everything they needed to, and unlike last year everything was located close-by so that people weren't so spread apart. For an event that's about the quick & effective dissemination of information, this year was marked by... the quick & effective dissemination of information.

The only problem with this year's event was that there was very little to show. The few publishers that had stuff were tempted to throw their own events so that they could hog the spotlight for the day, and everyone else is mid-development cycle after the hulking mass of games released in 2007. The fact that publishers didn't have much to show off and everyone was accordingly unexcited has nothing to do with E3, that's a matter of poor planning on their part.

Re:Old Vs. New

[N3Bruce]

Ever go to a Motorcycle show? Seriously, they are crawling with scantily clad females, along with lots and lots of outrageous costumes, posters, and artwork on the bikes themselves. Heck, I wonder if say the makers of GTA or the like wouldn't do well to get a booth at one of these events.

Re:Old Vs. New

[LS]

The industry still has a lot of growing up to do.

The nature of the discipline of game development is that it requires creativity, and creativity and eccentricity/immaturity often go hand in hand.

Re:Old Vs. New

[Kokuyo]

The fact it's probably the only indutry that can't seem to hold a major business event without turning it into softcore porn should concern people.

You obviously have never been to any major car convention.

Re:Old Vs. New

[iocat]

Clearly, you haven't been to SEMA... Anyway, as someone who's attended all 14 E3s ('95 - '08 inclusive), I can say that the "Booth Babes" as a concept were way over-rated, over-discussed, and over-focused upon by people who'd never attended the show. There were always a few booths that had some skantily clad women in them, but generally only for stage shows, which also featured scantily clad dudes, and people in costumes. Not much different from any stage show. A few people tried to raise some publicity by dressing their models pretty slutty, but mostly the models (which everyone hired) dressed reasonably demurly. Just about any trade show hires models to work the booth; marketing staffs just aren't big enough (especially as they need to be talking to the press, etc). So, for instance, all those fresh-faced, modestly-dressed young women helping you play Nintendo games in the old days were, in fact, "booth babes." Not too scandalous!

Anyway, from a fan perspective, this E3 was pretty depressing (although better than last year). No pagentry, no mega-booths, just a tiny show floor and a convention center that was depressingly empty. For work, however, it couldn't have been better! Tons of meetings, tons of running into people, and no lines at any of the kiosks or games. The new WBIE shooter PROJECT ORIGIN looks freaking amazing, as does the new Animal Crossing, and Major Minor, the new game from the Parappa Team. Other standouts were Ninja Town or Ninja Land (desktop tower defense with Ninjas), and some of the indie stuff.

Re:Old Vs. New

[LrdDimwit]

> [P]roblem is that E3 was always supposed to be a industry only sort of thing. To help show off the new & upcoming stuff
> to get retailers interested to buy up these new games for the holidays. But people posing as journalists kept getting in
> and with the internet it just got out of hand.

Except that when the guys running the show actually took steps to return E3 to what it was "always supposed to be", it collapsed. It seems to me that the real problem was everybody thought E3 was supposed to be what you're describing, less a spectacle than a trade show, when in actuality E3 really WAS about the spectacle. It was about generating hype and buzz, and getting interest directed at a title not by selling it to retailers (as claimed) but by making a name for the title among gamers. E3 got people's attention, the way all carnival sideshows do. All that other stuff happening in the meetings, that was all important, but the soul of the show was ... the show. Otherwise why did removing the glitz kill the show?

Not that E3 didn't have problems. It WAS getting out of hand. But I think tbe real problem is nobody recognized the purpose of E3 had shifted, so when they tried to fix it, they broke it. E3 had become a glitzy hypnotic attention-grabber for every gamer who speaks English, across the whole world. All those retailers, etc? They looked to E3 to make decisions because they were following the crowd, not because they were the crowd.

Re:Old Vs. New

[Cadallin]

Yeah, what about the various Erotic Industry Expos? And seriously, you're also ignoring tons of other industries where the equivalent of "booth babes" is a major tradition. Motorsports, Cars, Motorcycles, ATVs, etc? But you want to be "higher brow" than that stuff? Why? What does that even mean?

This is just the most horrible legacy of the Victorian era. "In order to be legitimately intellectual, you have to be chaste and restrained." Horse shit, and further, geeks ought to damn well know better. All that legitimate, intellectual Sci-Fi and Fantasy geekdom is associated with? Gee, no deviant or open sexuality there. No sir.

Oh yeah, except that's one of both Sci-Fi's and Fantasy's major features! Do I even need to justify this? Come on! Robert "Nudist, Promiscuous, Free Love" Heinlein? David "Chimpanzee Strippers" Brin? I can keep going all night folks, those are just two examples from different eras of Sci-Fi. Now, except for a smaller number of respected authors (because let's face it, the line between low-brow fantasy and straight up "Romance" novels is pretty thin), Fantasy has suffered from the blight of Tolkien's legacy, and that sad old fart was a totally misplaced Victorian.

The further and further I get from being prepubescent, the lower and lower my estimation of Tolkien falls. The totally neutered picture of middle earth he paints is really depressing, or alternatively, hilariously homosexual (twelve male dwarves and a histrionic male hobbit - let the innuendo begin). Nobody in his world ever gets to have a non-tragic, positive sexual relationship. Its terribly sad. Why shouldn't there be wild (but female positive, intellectually and emotionally gratifying) wild Elf sex (or wild human-elf sex for that matter) the same way we get human sexuality portrayed in Stranger in A Strange Land? Of course we do, but its rarely handled by writers we actually want to put pen to paper.

Shot in the arm for PAX?

[Kumoe]

So will this make the User-created conventions (eg PAX) more attractive to the gaming companies? They seem to want to be more willing to engage the customer-base where they are comfortable, so hopefully they will start to make these events more accessible.

What's really missing...

[kaos07]

Booth babes!

Re:What's really missing...

[ErikZ]

People laugh, but hot women are a huge part of the Entertainment industry, getting rid of them was dumb move.

Seriously, when was the last time you've heard "I'm sorry, there are just too many hot women here. They have to go."

I thought...

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought last year was billed as the last E3 after it was done...

The Reason The Execs Are Unhappy

[rsmith-mac]

This was an exceptionally insightful comment made on Voodoo Extreme that I am reposting, with full credit to the author. It hits the nail on the head, so to speak.

ProphecyVE

Its become what it should have always been in the first place, an industry trade show. What it turned into before they switched the format was just a nightmare. A huge convention center packed with millions of sweaty nerds all clamoring to see an actual GIRL who is playing a VIDEOGAME. OMGOMG. It wasn't a trade show, it was just a marketing free for all.

And of course the execs don't like it. They got to feel like they were rockstars before, watching guys with huge guts packed underneath Star Wars parody t-shirts salivate for their crappy port of Unoriginal Game 9. At the current E3, they have to act like actual business people, and answer actual questions.

Re:The Reason The Execs Are Unhappy

[mooreti1]

Perhaps E3 has become what the organizers want it to be. Perhaps the execs are held to a certain level of professionalism now. None of that matters, though, if the game studios and designers decide that this E3 format isn't worth the time and investment to be a presence. If an exec doesn't feel like answering hard-hittin' questions from a professional reporter (you go get that Pulitzer, boi!) they just won't go to the show. Period. And if they can't get the CONSUMERS interested in a game then it's a waste of their time.

But, hey, what do I know, right? I just purchase the products.

Re:The Reason The Execs Are Unhappy

[Anpheus]

Honestly, given how little information has actually been released about any games shown at E3, were there "actual questions" being asked?

I don't feel particularly represented by a journalist who isn't a geek. Having said journalists be the only people who can attend an event means I'll get more information on 3Q earnings, less information on the games being presented. You can see a lot of that in the fact that most of the games shown had no playable demos whatsoever. What's the point? Most of the journalists attending probably don't play games.

So, yeah, I'd like there to be pudgy star wars nerds ogling booth babes in between really hard hitting questions about whether or not the next LucasArts game is going to appeal to him. Because if anyone in the world is going to be able to ask questions relevant to the game, it's that guy.

Re:The Reason The Execs Are Unhappy

[bigstrat2003]

Here's the weird thing. If the execs hate the current format of E3, and the gamers hate the current format of E3, why the hell are they still keeping it!? Those are the only two groups of people E3 is about, so if it's not meeting the needs of those groups... change it.

Re:The Reason The Execs Are Unhappy

[6350']

Because E3 isnt about either of those two groups. Its about press and retailers.

E3 is dying

[SnowZero]

E3 is dying, Google trends confirms it.

Re:E3 is dying

[Paolo DF]

aww, come on! Your ID is too small for not knowing that it has to be Netcraft!

Re:E3 is dying

[SnowZero]

aww, come on! Your ID is too small for not knowing that it has to be Netcraft!

Quite the contrary, you must be new here. Netcraft's sole purpose is to confirm the death of BSD. Since BSD is dying, and there can be no doubt about that, Netcraft's days are also numbered. Thus we must seek out alternatives in what little time remains.

Format is unworkable

[abigsmurf]

This was an awful E3 plain and simple.

Microsoft probably had the best show of the three big companies purely for the FFXIII coup (biggest announcement of the show was a port. That about sums it up) but still took a few hits on it's blatent ripping off of Eyetoy and Mii's. Not to mention the pulling back of the Bungie announcement which was a smack in the face to fans. Overall though they same out slightly stronger than they went in.

Sony's was mediocre. Most the time they talked about games we knew were coming and the new announcements were only pre-rendered footage. They came out the same as they went in.

Then there's Nintendo. They couldn't have chosen a worse strategy if they'd tried. The Wiimote add on was interesting but they showed it off with yet another mini-game collection. The Wii is hardly lacking in these. Worse still, Wii music was unvieled and shown to be a pretty rubbish toy that looks like it'll be fun for 5 minutes at most before you never play it again. Animal Crossing was a reasonable unveiling but everyone knew it was coming and it was just too similar to the GC and DS versions with no innovation other than a well designed mic (that apparently is great for picking up voices across the room.

Nintendo fans were promised hard core games to fill the empty schedule up till xmas and we get more of the same crap we've been seeing from lazy third party publishers and Animal Crossing. Nintendo have serously alienated a good portion of their gamer fans and lots of people will either have their console gathering dust for a long time now or simply flog their console.

Overall E3 should get gamers excited but all this show has done is make them bored and that can't be healthy for the industry.

Sure it may have only cost them $500,000 rather than $2,000,000 for a stand but what good is that if you get very poor PR and make people wonder why they have your console over another.

Hopefully they'll pull something out for Leipzig or else it looks like we'll have to wait till TGS for reasonably exciting announcements.

It's different now.

[Grey Ninja]

A few years ago, I would have killed to go to E3. But I was but a humble student, with no game industry affiliations, and more importantly... broke.

Since then, I've graduated and become an actual developer. I go to two events a year. PAX and GDC. E3 is obviously something I could go to, and I might if I was in the area. But it doesn't have much draw for me anymore. And I could honestly care less about the booth babes. I want actual content, and E3 isn't even a shadow of what it once was. That would be PAX. I get PAX for the consumery-side of me, and I get GDC for the professional side. There's no place for E3 anymore.

Re:It's different now.

[chubs730]

No. He could.

all it will take

[thermian]

This year there were reduced presentations, next year, it may be that many big companies don't go at all, so visitor attendance will reduce.

That'll be what kills it when it dies, because the attendee's won't think the price worth paying if too many major players aren't coming.

Since they will have to find somewhere to showcase their products if it does die, there will either be a new event created, or they will find some other way of achieving the same goal.

Personally I'd like to see smaller events round the globe. Speaking as a brit who doesn't like travelling into the prison state any more, I can't see myself attending any large events which are US only.

Re:all it will take

[8tim8]

>Since they will have to find somewhere to showcase their products if it does die, there will either be a new event created, or they will find some other way of achieving the same goal.

From what I've read here and elsewhere, the point is that E3 is dying because there are zillions of other places to hype a new game. E3 represents a significant expense for companies: they have to rent the booth space, fly people in, house them, etc., and they get zero dollars of productive time from their workers during E3. At the same time, they have to compete with every other company at E3 for space and peoples' attention.

Alternately, a company can throw a new preview vid up on the web for almost nothing, or they can interest a blogger or review site in interviewing one of their superstar programmers about their exciting new game, and they can do all of this at a time when they get all the attention themselves.

It sounds like the uber-hype event that was E3 was killed by the internet.

Its partially the economy

[nurb432]

As an economy tanks, 'discretionary entertainment' funds is the first to go.

Nice trolling

[SmallFurryCreature]

But E3 is a well known games trade show that any gamer knows about. Since this story is in the game section the slashdot editors probably didn't think they needed to explain what E3 is.

What next, explain what the hell NASA is?

Maybe they should mention when they found water on mars they don't mean the candy?

and E3 stands for Electronic Entertainment Expo, bit to long for a headline and anyway then you would have been trolling about how it doesn't include music or video but just games despite the fact the former come in electronics as well.

Re:Nice trolling

[Dun Malg]

Worse yet, the full name is now "E3 Media & Business Summit."

My god, I swear a necktie appeared around my neck when you said that.