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Were The "Winners" of E3 Enough To Ensure Survival?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the long-in-the-tooth dept.

Now that the industry is winding down after another E3, it's time to reflect on the relative success of the show. Paul Govan reflects with a GeekDad view of the "winners" of this years show. The question is, after the attempts to scale it back to a much more exclusive event, has E3 managed to escape obscurity and defeat at the hands of up-and-comers like PAX? Highlights of the show included Microsoft's new controller-less interface, a sexier PSP, and a myriad of releases from Nintendo.

25 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. Haven't cared much by stoolpigeon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As I doubt I'll ever have an opportunity to go. PAX on the other hand - I haven't made it yet but I will eventually. So e3? meh. PAX? yes- absolutely I am stoked it is doing well as I look forward to being a part of it in the future.

    --
    It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
    1. Re:Haven't cared much by moderatorrater · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That attitude is the one I share, and I think shows the difference between the two shows. After all, E3 is about game companies showing off to each other, PAX is about people who love gaming getting together. I belong to the second group, but not to the first.

    2. Re:Haven't cared much by flitty · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think they both have their place. E3 is used by the consoles to show their latest and greatest reason for existing, and a chance for the gaming market to make a case to the public about it's wares, with it's best shirt on. NPR covered E3 this week, along with other news outlets. I've yet to hear any mention of PAX on national media, even though it seems to be much more appreciated by the gaming community. I think that E3 needs to exist separately from PAX, or else you'll only taint PAX, and kneecap the ability for these corporations to make their best marketing pitches.

      Most gamers know that the claims put out during E3 are crap (my favorite this year "Only the PS3 has the power to run this 40' x 80' display!"), and everyone looks at any claims made during E3 with the appropriate skepticism. it's nice to have that kind of marketing speak segmented to it's own show, and I'm glad it's back to serve this purpose.

      --
      Whether or not there is some sort of god, I'm not supposed to say/god is a word and the argument ends there-Smog
  2. More of the same by Drakkenmensch · · Score: 4, Interesting
    From my personal view as someone who was not able to attend and was left with television and website coverage, 2009's edition was little more than 2008 with booth babes and more people in the background. Press conferences were lifeless as ever, with a few scant release announcement to cut the hum-drum of what looked like a stockholders quarterly fiscal meeting laced with flat corporate-approved jokes.

    In short, can we have PAX yet?

  3. Why did they make it exclusive, anyway? by PhrostyMcByte · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't really understand why E3 can't be more like Comic-Con. Make it a fun event for gamers. It's not like the press will find it any harder to get info. Create some panels, signings, big rooms for LAN games, etc.

    1. Re:Why did they make it exclusive, anyway? by Beelzebud · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Because companies like 3D Realms and God Games made it an L.A. Strippers Convention for a few years there.

    2. Re:Why did they make it exclusive, anyway? by Tigersmind · · Score: 2, Funny

      I fail to see the downside. Games + Strippers? /giggity

    3. Re:Why did they make it exclusive, anyway? by ifrag · · Score: 2, Informative

      How bout anyone with a game in beta has to let people at e3 play it, so they can see how unprepared for release it actually is *cough Demigod cough*

      Good idea, except that Demigod's problems are almost entirely connectivity issues. The base engine performance is actually really polished. On a Local Area Network, all the problems Demigod has in it's matchmaking wouldn't have been seen at all. All their local machines should in theory be able to connect without incident, and none of the little routing issues which it's having now would be shown. So yes, in general it might help, but in Demigod's case the game would have looked BETTER than it does now.

      --
      Fear is the mind killer.
  4. Re:Myriad by FlyingBishop · · Score: 3, Insightful

    http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/myriad
    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/myriad

    It also means 10 thousand. Obviously, though, in this context, it just means "a large number." This usage is a rhetorical device commonly called "hyperbole."

  5. Re:Myriad by BobMcD · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This makes for a good example of why the word 'Nazi' gets used...

    http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/myriad.html

    Some traditionalists object to the word âoeofâ after âoemyriadâ or an âoeaâ before, though both are fairly common in formal writing.

    Surely some of the comments offer better fodder for your zealotry...

  6. Summary != Article by Trojan35 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Is it just me, or did the article have absolutely nothing to do with the E3 question in the summary? I was expecting an article on E3's success/failure/survivability, and instead I got a Wii-Sports love-fest.

    1. Re:Summary != Article by PrescriptionWarning · · Score: 4, Funny

      yes, they had a wii-mote in their pants. no they're not happy to see you.

  7. Re:Multiplayer Mario by sys.stdout.write · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah okay, it would be entertaining to play a multiplayer game of super mario...

    You could do this on Super Nintendo! This guy in green clothes named "Luigi" could be moved with another "controller" held by your "friend".

    By friend I mean the kid down the block who always mooched off my Nintendo and smelled a little bit like pee.

    I'm sorry, what were we talking about? Oh yeah, E3 is becoming obsolete. I agree.

  8. PAX is unlike E3 by trevorrowe · · Score: 5, Informative

    I live in the Seattle area and have attended the last 4 PAX events. PAX won't replace E3. Don't missunderstand, PAX is probably much more fun of an event than E3 ever will be. PAX is for the community of gamers, not for the publishers and developers. Sure, there is some spill-over, but PAX is overwhelmingly a gamer convention.

  9. I'd say... by Darkness404 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'd say no one "won" E3. Nintendo's releases were "meh" at best, sure the new Metroid looks good, but Wii Sports and the rest of the "Wii" series are glorified tech demos. The multiplayer Mario game looks sort of OK, but it reminds me too much of LoZ: 4 Swords which wasn't that great. Sony shot itself in the foot with a UMD-less PSP, and their motion control like most things by Sony will be a decent implementation... But far too expensive and supporting only a few games (just look at how little the Six-Axis controller is used). The new motion control for the 360 looks interesting, but like most things done by MS, its going to have a terrible implementation.

    I'd say everyone "lost" at E3, other then perhaps the new Golden Sun DS game I won't be buying anything demoed unless they get really, really, great reviews.

    --
    Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
  10. There are more than a few "winners" at E3 by BaShildy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    All of us on the floor who were making deals, and making important contacts all won this year as opposed to last year where it was very difficult to meet everyone due to how spread out it was.

    E3 in its current form is far more likely to succeed than its previous form. Booth babes and glam weren't the only things brought back this year. E3 was slowly becoming Gamestop-fest where more than 50% of the attendees were game players as opposed to game makers. The ratio was far better this year, with all of the infrastructure that was lacking in the E3 Santa Monica model.

    1. Re:There are more than a few "winners" at E3 by BaShildy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Exactly, this is a win-win situation for publishers/developers and gamers as they each get their own dedicated conventions. E3 and GDC were losing focus and trying to do too many things at once. Now its very clear what each convention represents.

      PAX - For the gamers, Concerts/Fan Events, Game Announcements and Betas.
      E3 - Vendors, Publisher Press Conferences, Developer networking, Private Meeting Rooms, Lineup annoucnements
      GDC - Process sharing, Education, Job Fair, Tech Demos

      None of these conferences are perfect, but I did see a marked improvement in the latter two that I attend compared to a few years ago. GDC was starting to have press conferences, E3 was having hour+ long lines to play games due to the tens of thousands of gamers in attendence, and gamers just wanted a convention of their own to attend. It seems all three conferences are learning their niche and will hopefully flourish as the industry gains value by holding these annually.

  11. What industry? by Culture20 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Pretty bad summary. It was like a past-tense German sentence (apologies to native German speakers), where I didn't know the verb until the end of the sentence. Until PSP and Nintendo were mentioned, I didn't know they were talking about a computer gaming conference. The second to last sentence made my mind race (Controller-less interface for Windows/Office? Neat!). Then I came down to earth; oh, just console gaming.

    1. Re:What industry? by XnavxeMiyyep · · Score: 2, Funny

      It was like a past-tense German sentence

      You should replace Bad Analogy Guy!

      --
      I put the 't' in electrical engineering.
  12. PAX != E3 by pcgabe · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The question is, after the attempts to scale it back to a much more exclusive event has E3 managed to escape obscurity and defeat at the hands of up-and-comers like PAX?

    E3 is about games.
    PAX is about gamers.

    They're fundamentally different, and not really in competition with each other. I'm not sure where the submitter even got this question; E3 battling obscurity isn't mentioned in the article, nor is PAX, nor other expos at all.

    --
    Don't put advice in your sig.
  13. Re:Heard of E3. Never heard of PAX by 2short · · Score: 4, Insightful


    Well, what one random Anonymous Coward has heard of may not be the best standard. Just FYI,

    The impressive E3 attendance being reported here: 41,000
    2008 PAX attendance: 58,500

    I'm not sure why E3 is described as trying to "escape" defeat at the hands of PAX. How about, Can E3 recover from the defeat PAX has dealt it?

    More to the point though, E3 and PAX have different goals. E3 tries to generate press for it's exhibitors. PAX tries to generate enjoyment for it's attendees. So your having heard of E3 while PAX is better attended may indicate the success of both shows.

  14. Re:Watch and decide for yourself by nutshell42 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Project Natal is useless and the way everyone's going gaga over it is ridiculous.

    It's in no way precise enough for precision input (just look at the breakout demo). It's not bad but lacks that last bit that would make it useful. Add the lack of a button-containing controller (oh yes, you can just use gestures...well, the demo of the UI and the paint stuff shows why that doesn't work. You have to flail around like crazy for everything) and the fact that many people have neither the space nor the physical ability for kickboxing in their living room and you will realize that Natal Sports is gonna be like Wii Sports. Timing games with a few exaggerated gestures for the casual demographic.

    I don't go gaga about celebrity appearances and imho the voice acting in the Alan Wake demo was just awful (pity, I *really* looked forward to that game). The one moment of brilliance in MS' press conference was the Modern Warfare demo. Holy shit I need that game.

    OTOH Sony's blinkendildo could actually be useful if their accuracy claims are true. It might enable RTSes on consoles that don't suck or table tennis where you can actually put some spin on the ball. I'm also a sucker for Last Guardian (kitty dragon ftw.) but the PSP Go didn't deliver (too ugly, too expensive).

    I couldn't care less about Nintendo.

    --
    Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
  15. Re:Myriad by cheftw · · Score: 2, Funny

    Some traditionalists object to the word âoeofâ after âoemyriadâ or an âoeaâ

    I object to those words certainly.
    How would you even begin to pronounce them?

    --
    Always back up, never back down. ---- Think you're cool 'cos your uid is prime? Take mine, modulo the one digit integers
  16. Re:Myriad by arb+phd+slp · · Score: 3, Funny

    Surely some of the comments offer better fodder for your zealotry...

    Zealotry was originally a political movement in first century Judaism which sought to incite the people of Iudaea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the holy land by force of arms, most notably during the Great Jewish Revolt (AD 66-70). Zealotry was described by Josephus as one of the "four sects" at this time.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zealotry

    I don't see how that applies to the GP.

    :p

    --
    There's a perfect xkcd for my sig but I'm too lazy to look it up. sudo someone go find it.
  17. Re:Heard of E3. Never heard of PAX by 2short · · Score: 2, Interesting


    "The problem comes when one notes that generating enjoyment for attendees (and thus drawing huge numbers of them) is quite possibly the single most effective tactic for generating press for the exhibitors."

    I'm not sure that's true, though I agree that the rise of blogs moves things more in this direction.
        Industry big-wigs making a lot of announcements about the fabulous things they are going to do in the coming year, even if it is half vaporware, makes great fodder for people who want to talk about the game industry.
        Fun for attendees chiefly means playable games. Barring massive changes to the industry, Games aren't fun for lots of people to play on the same day the press first hears of them.
        PAX is great for letting people play your game and go tell the world how great it is. E3 is better for showing a mocked up demo and telling the world how great it will be. The former is perhaps a more honest strategy, but I don't expect marketing departments to reject the latter on that basis.