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The End of E3?

Posted by Zonk on Sun Jul 30, 2006 02:23 PM
from the over-the-top dept.
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.
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story

Related Stories

[+] E3 2007 A More 'Targeted' Event 76 comments
simoniker writes "Following some rampant media speculation over the weekend, the ESA trade organization has released an official statement on the future of the E3 game trade show, revealing that it is not cancelled outright, but is rather 'evolving into a more intimate event focused on targeted, personalized meetings and activities.' E3 2007 will still take place in Los Angeles next year, according to the ESA's Doug Lowenstein, but 'will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years.'" Which is to say, it's not really E3 anymore.
[+] GO3 Electronic Entertainment Expo To Replace E3? 61 comments
dowlingw writes "With the recent announcement that E3 has been downsized, a similar high-profile event, GO3 Electronic Entertainment Expo 2007 is being held in Perth, Western Australia and promises to showcase products and services from vendors worldwide, especially those in the South-East Asia region. It also looks like everyone might get a similar event closer to home."
[+] Did E3 Just Gasp Its Last Breath? 142 comments
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."
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The End of E3? 50 Comments More /

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  • PAX to fill void? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by aapold (753705) on Sunday July 30 2006, @02:26PM (#15812626) Homepage Journal
    Wonder if PAX could sort of by default become the big gaming convention...

    PAX [pennyarcadeexpo.com]
    • PAX's space isn't nearly big enough; just trying to turn it in to such would kill it too.

    • Re:PAX to fill void? (Score:4, Informative)

      by badboy_tw2002 (524611) on Sunday July 30 2006, @02:37PM (#15812693)
      Remember, E3 is NOT supposed to be a convention. Its a PRESS event. GDC is a convention. It has "convention" in the name even. The general public is not invited, though generally anyone who wanted to go could get in. I've always thought its a pretty terrible event and generally not a good face for the industry as a whole. Most of the real stuff happens behind closed doors, and a lot of the big publishers have their own press days anyways. The real losers here are the small developers or hardware manufacturers (yay Kentia Hall) who are trying to a) get exposure, b) get funding. The indy show at GDC doesn't really fit the role unfortunately, but it tries. I think what's really needed is a serious event for indie developers where both publishers and press attend without some dufus walking around in elf armor.

      • They actually HAD something like that recently... (Score:5, Informative)

        by Svartalf (2997) on Sunday July 30 2006, @02:50PM (#15812757) Homepage
        ...I was just broke and couldn't attend. It was called the Texas Independent Games Development Conference [txindiegamecon.com] 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.)
      • The C stands for "conference" not "convention".

      • Re:PAX to fill void? (Score:5, Funny)

        by JorDan Clock (664877) <jordanclock@gmail.com> on Sunday July 30 2006, @04:07PM (#15813141)
        Actually, the "C" is for "Cookie," which is good enough for me. P.S. This is a joke on the other replies...

      • Remember, E3 is NOT supposed to be a convention. Its a PRESS event.

        Exactly. And this is a huge smackdown of the gaming press. This is the big publishers saying very simply "We don't need to impress you. It's much cheaper to buy you." And it's true! Publishers that spent huge $$$ on E3 can instead spawn publicity that times with game releases much better. They don't have to waste time on demos of half-finished games that will be shown side-by-side to titles almost ready to ship.

        Or they can go dire

      • exactly... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by YesIAmAScript (886271) on Sunday July 30 2006, @09:46PM (#15814649)
        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.

  • Massive damage = walkout? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Lave (958216) on Sunday July 30 2006, @02:26PM (#15812629)
    Hmmmm, Should I say it? Hmmmm,

    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

    ....Sony?

    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*

    • Redundant? Hmm, ok. I thought it was a fair point - but maybe it was more obvious than I thought. Bad me.

      Anyway just correcting my post that should be $599. Sony aren't that mad.

        • Yeah - I know - but I was trying (badly) to make that point. Sony must realise how silly they looked with all the memes that came out of there conference. I think the same information they showed at E3 presented in press releases and "exclusives" would have worked much better for them. And I'm sure they had too.

          I wasn't even bashing Sony - just pointing out all the ridicule that come to them from E3.

          My personal feelings on the cancellation are actually really positive. Hopefully games like PoP; Sands of

    • Re:Massive damage = walkout? (Score:5, Informative)

      by ichigo 2.0 (900288) on Sunday July 30 2006, @03:11PM (#15812858)
      Here's the funny vid [youtube.com] he is referring to for those 40% that modded him troll. I liked the "innovative gameplay" and "realtime weapon change" myself. 30% Redundant? Maybe. All this sony bashing is starting to sound redundant.
    • 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.

      Or they will just focus on the Tokyo Game Show, which provides a similar spotlight, but on friendlier turf.
  • For this generation of consoles... esp. given that E3 is where a lot of the big annoucements are made, and hype generated (or lost)..

    • Re:Interesting twist.. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by intrico (100334) on Sunday July 30 2006, @02:54PM (#15812779) Homepage
      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.
      • 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
    • Hype? I never heard of E3 before. E3 as an shortcut of EEE whatever that stands for?

      And I don't know ESA. Ehmm, wrong. European Space Agency == ESA. And Microsoft created the European Software Alliance (ESA) in order to look more European in lobbying, yet another hat for consultations [europa.eu].

      So it is rather surprising to me. 'The End of E3', sorry. Does it make a difference? Will I have to miss E3 I just learned about? Will my children ask me about the good old days of E3?

  • I welcome the exit, if true... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by RomSteady (533144) on Sunday July 30 2006, @02:30PM (#15812655) Homepage Journal
    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.
    • What idiot whould put in "hacks" and have to strip them out before begining real work again? You can make copies of a source tree. Fork the code, get it ready for E3, and keep the untouched code in the main development cycle.
    • A lot of companies want the work to go on as long as possible before forking to reduce integration downtime afterwards.

      While a pure branch with regular merge-ins from the main tree is ideal, there are many times where it can be impractical.

  • It figures, really... (Score:5, Funny)

    by FlyByPC (841016) on Sunday July 30 2006, @02:30PM (#15812656) Homepage
    When you go and ban booth babes [ign.com], what's the point of going to E3, anyway?
  • 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.
    • E3 represented everything that was wrong about the games industry.

      Playing a video game can be a serene repose from the world, not unlike a quiet read of a good book.

      And you'll notice just how popular novels have become compared to videogames in terms of mass market. I've lost count of the number of times I've heard people say, "Why must kids waste their time on novels. If only we could get them to embrace videogames in the same way!"

      Don't get me wrong: I love books and my wife's a writer. That doesn't chang

  • Gamespot is reporting it as well (Score:5, Informative)

    by Suddenly_Dead (656421) on Sunday July 30 2006, @02:35PM (#15812683)
    http://www.gamespot.com/news/6154897.html [gamespot.com]

    Well, there goes that.

  • E3 has been going downhill for a while (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Agrippa (111029) on Sunday July 30 2006, @02:51PM (#15812763)
    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.

  • The fun is just beginning (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    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!

  • It's Because they Banned Booth Babes (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Ryouga3 (683889) on Sunday July 30 2006, @03:00PM (#15812806) Journal
    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.
  • 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.

  • Awesome! No G4 coverage (Score:4, Funny)

    by PoderOmega (677170) on Sunday July 30 2006, @03:30PM (#15812938)
    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 [e3expo.com] you'll see that E3 2007 is already underway.

    • Re:Hmm. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Kenshin (43036)
      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.
  • 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 w

  • Wow... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Zimnick (992124)
    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
  • 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!
  • 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.

  • I'm really at a loss here... (Score:4, Funny)

    by CaseM (746707) on Sunday July 30 2006, @04:42PM (#15813282)
    How the hell is a serious gamer like me gonna to get to see boobs?

  • Am I the only one... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by east coast (590680) on Sunday July 30 2006, @05:20PM (#15813454)
    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.

  • on a more serious note (Score:4, Funny)

    by bitt3n (941736) on Sunday July 30 2006, @06:59PM (#15813890)
    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.
    • 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.
    • 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 wou

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