Questioning the New E3

This year's E3 is substantially different than events of the past, with an easily navigated show floor just one of the signs of the changing times. There are a number of questions up in the air as to what the new face of E3 means. Hideo Kojima (creator of the Metal Gear series) went on record at the Konami conference saying that he considers the new format a waste of time. Game|Life's Chris Kohler has a piece up on this subject, and he says that the new E3 is all about the status quo: "Yes, there were press conferences. But when Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony all decide to only show their 2007 games (for the most part) and hold back on announcing huge news (entirely), you know something's up with the venue. At any rate, gamers hoping for some kind of shift in momentum, no matter which direction, didn't get their wish. This year's E3 is all about maintaining the status quo. Typically, it's been the 'battle of the press conferences' to see who 'wins E3.' This year, everybody surrendered."

What new shit?

[Opportunist]

Have you seen anything new lately? What's new about the 2 millionth first person shooter or the n-th RTS game? Or the "08" sequel of a sports game?

It's really braindead. Basically the most minuscle change in an interface is hyped as if it was the pinnacle of development (wow, in Supreme Commander you can now zoom in and out all the way, what innovation! This will change the world of RTS forever!), and a few new units that do essentially the same they did in earlier incarnations, just with different animations, are enough to make a game "totally new and improved".

Or the "new" MMORPGs? Where is the big innovation?

Wake me up when a game company comes up with something REALLY new. Basically I think that's why E3 and other "game conventions" are failing. Why bother going there to see the same old shit in new graphics? And now even without boobies...

E3

[Jaaay]

became worthless after everyone got the internet and gets the latest news constantly, there's no real surprises anymore. 10 years ago it was a more exciting event that most people were reading about in gaming magazines only.

Re:E3 Is Perfect Now

[Anonymous Coward]

Right, bad bad fans, disgusting fans who show their interest in an inappropriate way, rather than applauding the 10th reincarnation of the same old idea.

No, they have a point. E3 was designed as an industry event meant for industry members and press. It was never meant for fans. The idea was to invite a bunch of people together from the industry, then whip out your proverbial cocks and have the press measure them to see whose was biggest. Honestly, the fans who did "crash the show" could be quite the annoyance, especially if they were making it hard to impossible for press people to cover the event and therefore report E3 to the people who either: a) had the decency not to show up or b) could not afford to fly to LA and weasel the way into E3.

If you think that it is a good idea to exclude customers from an ENTERTAINING EXPO , you probably agree to Rock concerts only with music journalists, about as intelligent as excluding fans from E3. But I am glad that the "jouralists" can listen to the "press conference" without being disturbed by common people.

First, E3 == Electronic Entertainment Expo. I would like you to find me an expo/conference not designed for industry insiders and press. As a person who attended RSA Conference, I can tell you the expo floor could be impossible to navigate at times when people who payed for the Expo-only access over ran the place. I think most full conference attendees completed most their time at the expo during the first night of the conference. There are car shows that are the same way. The fact is this happens in every industry (expos that are only supposed to be industry and press).

I do not see how you can equate a rock concert to E3. A rock concert is available to the public through ticket sales by the venue or artist. E3 was supposed to be exclusively for press and insiders with strict control of admission. No matter how you spin it, the fans were "crashing" the show.

Re:What new shit?

[Kohath]

Games are not about innovation. Games are about FUN.

If you have a fun game that people have already played, and you add a minor tweak to it that makes it fun to play all over again, that's a good thing. It's a success. The goal of having FUN was achieved.

New concepts in games that are not fun are failures, even if they are the most innovative thing ever.

If you don't like games or if you're bored with them and you want something different, maybe games aren't really for you. Maybe find a non-videogame hobby for a while.

Re:A bit of history, and this is what you get.

[Darlok]

Yeah. Sucks, but face it. The smaller companies don't have the financial ability to support a show like that -- trust me when I tell you that shows aren't cheap to produce, and "old E3" was even moreso than others. In a very pure sense, the big guys were subsidizing the event that the little guys could take advantage of. Is it any wonder that they decided it wasn't in their best interests to do so anymore? Yeah, the consumer and the market as a whole suffers, but E3 was not, and is not, a substitute for a good marketing plan. It was ALWAYS supposed to be an industry-insider event, so the fact that it grew into a public platform was probably more luck than strategy.

If it survives (and that's a serious IF), I expect costs will come down and future events will have more accessibility to smaller firms. This year was all about appeasing the big players who would have happily scuttled the show entirely, otherwise. The small firms need to band together and find a cost structure that makes sense, and they can afford, if they want this sort of forum. The rabid fan-base will find somewhere else to congregate, without doubt.

Change change change

[d3l33t]

The fact that e3 has become televised, and also streamed live over the internet allows thousands to enjoy the conference without actually attending. Making it perfect to communicate to the consumer on a large scale level, while also catering to the gaming business by allowing hands on demos to a select group. It's evolved, sure, but what hasn't?