E3 Downsized ?

[Alegis 0]

While next-gen bizz claimed that E3 would be cancelled (well, they did say it wouldn't exist in its current form), following article claims it will be downsized.

Next gen article
http://www.gamesradar.com/edge/

I do understand though that lines were getting too full and prices soaring, while information gets spread pretty convenient/fast/easy over the web. I do hope I ever get to see E3

http://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2006/07/7382/

Contrary to reports across the web, E3 has not been cancelled. Next-Gen had hoped that they would blow the lid off of a hot story by revealing that the show had been cancelled, but some quick fact checking shows that they are simply incorrect.
Sources close to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) tell Ars Technica that the show can and will go on, but that big changes are planned. The "Electronic Entertainment Expo" (hence E3) started in 1995 as a small but interesting annual convention for gaming, following roughly six months after the once-popular annual COMDEX computer trade-show in Las Vegas. The show has grown immensely in popularity, and that appears to be the problem.

Sources say that two major factors have led to the decision to transition the show to a more "closed-door" event. Both, coincidentally, were major reasons for COMDEX shutting down: cost and access. If you've never been to E3, let me describe it like this: long lines, truckloads of people, video games everywhere, and really fancy "booths" (where booth sometimes means basketball court-sized display area). As with COMDEX, the major players are reportedly tired of how much it costs to put on the dog and pony show. Turns out it costs millions of dollars to put the sparkle into an E3 blingfest.

Now in theory, these shows are primarily geared towards connecting businesspeople. To that end, E3 was (again, in theory) only open to industry folks and journalists. In recent years, however, the number of people attending have skyrocketed, in part because E3 registration was a moderately open process. The show was getting huge, and just as with COMDEX, the show-within-a-show was born. What I mean by that is that it was no longer enough to go to the show. To talk to someone who actually knew what they were talking about, you'd need an appointment. To see something really special, really worth writing about, you'd need to meet behind closed doors. To find out anything of interest about something that wasn't on a placard, you needed to get in with the right people. With COMDEX the practice started to get ridiculous; major players officially skipped the show but set up camp in Vegas hotels and had their sideshows for a fraction of the cost.

One source I spoke with told me that media access is indeed a problem, but it probably does not factor in greatly to the decision to downsize the show. Nevertheless, there are plenty of complaints from insiders about how "blogging" in particular has made the shows more difficult, if only because floor people are instructed to speak only of what they are approved to speak of, lest another half-baked headline make the rounds.

Possibly more influential is the fact that E3 is viewed by some people as being the Sony-Microsoft-Nintendo show, which it is not supposed to be. Smaller players have complained about this before, but really, that's just the nature of a tradeshow. Not everyone can be Wil Wheaton, can they?

In all seriousness, the days of the big consumer technology trade shows are indeed passing. 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. It was a media circus for the days when you needed a circus to attract media attention. I don't think anyone would say that consumer electronics is lacking for attention these days.

Official word from the ESA should be out tomorrow. Keep an eye on Opposable Thumbs for additional updates. We'll follow-up there.

Edited July 31, 2006 by Jeigh (see edit history)

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

Frankly I'd rather see the dev's pour all that money into actual developement instead of spending cash, time, and resources creating a booth and demos just for a couple day event. Give us information filled press conferences, demos that actually show off the game rather then flashy videos trying to sucker in hype, keep the dev's working on making good games rather then ones that can look shiny in time for E3, and maybe even keep preview videos to real time graphics rather then "estimated graphical performance".While I always thought it'd be cool to road trip it down there and get my *bottom* into E3... I still wouldn't see this as a bad developement if it goes down.

[unimatrix 0]

My PS2 is proably my last console until I have kids. Why? As an adult soon to be returning to Grad school (which I am paying for out of my own pocket), $70 for a game is expensive. I mean that's a good month's worth of other enterainment expenses in my budget and the only time I play games are on the weekends while doing laundry (or on days when I need a 15 minute break, hooray Battlefront II that I just picked up for $20 now that it's in the classic bin). I just don't really care about games much. I have seriously considered getting a new cheap PC (I run macs professionally) and grab my old X45 joystick/throttle just to get a copy of Falcon 4.0 gold (the version of the best modern combat flight sim ever with updated graphics and all the bugs taken out). That's like the only game I am interested in playing anymore...given that I'm going for a PhD in International afffairs, paricularly in the use of the military...not surprising.

[Alegis 0]

It's confirmed
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/


Well, E3 isn't an amusant park after all I guess. Other shows may get more attention now, and dev information not cluttered by long waiting lines.

[pyost 0]

I really don't mind E3 being an event for people with higher influences, if I may say so. Of course, I wouldn't want it to disappear completely, since it is a big thing, but let's face it. Most of us will never go there and read about it in the newspaper only. So, isn't it better for it to stay with only news reporters there than close it forever? And if you went there, it would still be hard to take a glimpse at the bigger projects coming around the curve - again, only the press has access to the "forbidden" areas. We, the mortal people, are anyway satisfied with the information we get from the news. And it should stay that way.