E3 Grows Up - A Little

Press the Buttons has the news that, thankfully, this year's E3 will attempt to return to the 'industry only' event it was always intended to be. From the post: "The first day of the show is only for authorized media (meaning no more paid-by-the-hour GameStop clerks roaming the floor just for fun and taking up a journalist's valuable time in line for the next big thing) and, as Portico points out, there's now a more dignified dress code in place for the 'booth babes'." I'm glad that PAX exists for everyone to attend, just as I'm glad there are events like E3 where game journos can do their thing. Update: 01/23 17:56 GMT by Z : Joystiq posits that these new guidelines may lead to censorship for mature games. Update: 01/23 22:16 GMT by Z : Additional opinions on this are available from Gamers with Jobs and Heroine Sheik. There's an official response to discussion of this decision from the E3 media relations team over at Gamecloud.

Real article

[GigsVT]

Following the maze of redundant blog posts you end up at this [igda.org], which appears to be the original article.

Framed a little differently though, as it's titled "E3 Censorship".

Media was an afterthought at E3.

[daVinci1980]

It's been said a few times, but E3 wasn't about the media "in the beginning." It was about publishers selling their titles to retaillers, and developers selling their titles to publishers.

E3 is thus not returning to anything, but evolving yet again.

The first day(s) have always been industry only...

[Kaldaien]

This article is a little bit misleading. The first couple of days of E3 have always been used for commercial/press conferences. In order to purchase a pass for these days, you _must_ present at least two forms of industry identification, such as a tax stub, business card, etc... And even in the exposition portion of E3, the first day has had restrictions barring many of the stupid GameStop clerks and such from entering.

On the bright side, GameStop clerks and most of the press are mostly relegated to the flashy wings of E3, rarely venturing into the lower cost booths rented by middleware companies - where the business end of things takes place. That said, it would be folly to assume that all of E3 is intended to be industry only. Publishers do not spend millions of dollars setting up the biggest most saturated displays and loudest speakers possible to entice potential investors, they do it to spread hype among their target audience. E3 can be thought of as a slight continuation of GDC, with the focus on marketing.

E3 makes me want to Cry

[CuriousForge]

I don't understand the obsesion with E3. I have had to attend E3 every year for 7 years straight and I dread it with all my soul. I generally avoid the place as much as possible and only pop in for the meetings I have to attend. I do get plenty of business accomplished at the show, but dread the noise, crowds, and general additude of the average show floor attendee. Honestly, I never really cared about the booth babes... well except for the ones that impersonated real game characters. I always enjoyed those. But, hopefully this change will help reduce the number of random traffic jams caused by idiots gathering around some sad model waiting to get a snapshot. what is the point of that?

E3 a big disappointment

[urikkiru]

So, in 2005 I went to E3 for the first time. I didn't feel too much like an outsider, my company was there to do business, and I had an industry invite, etc. I was excited, and curious to see what it was all about. While there were many cool things about the show, I ended up disappointed for three reasons. First was of course, the booth babes. I thought it was a bit silly. Now, I'm a man, and enjoy looking at women, however having scantily clad women there with absolutely no real interest in the industry whatsoever was actually a turn off.

However, that wasn't actually the worst detractor from the show. The noise levels, and the blaring loud stage performances were just way too much. I couldn't take more then an hour straight of being in the larger show halls, and had to go outside just to keep my ears from bleeding. The noise made it highly difficult to meet with the various people who actually wanted to talk about their upcoming games in any detail, and have normal conversations.

Lastly, something that I just didn't think about before going, was that there is no place to *sit down*. I mean, I don't mind wandering the show floor, but if I'm going to stop for a while in a booth or view/play something, I kind of expect to be able to have a small break given to my feet :P

Anyway, here's hoping that the booth babe restrictions/changes, while not the most annoying thing about the show, will lead to alleviations of the other 2 larger issues(in my opinion anyway).

Re: First day/First two hours...

[e1mer]

In reference to the GameStop employees that are planning on going...

I expect to say this on the phone a thousand times over the next two months.

E3 has instituted a "Priority Buyer" program this year.

If you work at any of the major retailers (EG: gamestop, game crazy, EB, Best Buy),
then you will not be allowed to register for free admission.

Instead, the corporate offices of these companies will be sent a pre-determined
number of pre-qualified passes. These passes are the only people from these
companies that will be allowed to attend for free.

Anyone else from these companies will be welcome to pay 500 bucks to get in.

This means attendance is going to be way down, but the experience will be far better.

***if you don't work at one of these places.***