July 7, 2007 -
E3 will certainly be different this year. But will it be better?GameSpot has interviews with a number of companies who aren't attending for a variety of reasons.
Most notably, Tecmo boss John Inada was highly critical of the new E3:
New show management didn't seem to know what they were doing. I don't have money to waste on an experimental project. Previously, we were not treated very nicely by the old E3 management, so we didn't feel obligated to cooperate this year. I also heard that a lot of the [retail] buyers weren't coming.
A unnamed source described as close to a large, non-attending publisher also cited concerns over flagging retailer participation:
GameStop's not really going to be there, Best Buy's not going to be there. Why should we bother dealing with the ESA's confusion when we can meet with our retail partners separately and then stage our own gamers' day event later on in the year where we set the rules? It just doesn't make any sense.
Comments
at the same time alot of devs can not show their games there,this is the other side of the coin compared to the old E3,hows the electronic trade show is it any better than E3? or is that what E3 was.....
sorry I lost my train of thought LOL
I'm glad that I don't have to stand on my feet in in front of of a video monitor and demo the same 5 minutes of game play over and over and over.
I'm happy not to be shoving my way through crowds of people who have no business being at the show other than to say they've been, many who consider their blogsites and fanboy web pages to be actual contributions to game critique and journalism (present site excepted).
I'm glad I don't have to try and sell a product to people who can't understand me or even hear me when I speak ... and when they ask questions, I can neither understand their take on English nor even hear them over the din of some meaningless (but allegedly hip) noise blasting out of an adjacent booth.
I'm glad my employer isn't blowing millions of dollars on media and messages that have no real effect, other than line the pockets of hotels and restaurants in Los Angeles. That same money can now be used to buy real advertising, real exposure, real promotions targeted on the people who will put the product in their stores and the people who will eventually buy and enjoy the game I'm creating.
E3 is still an important show, but it takes its place as one of several now, not the ultimate or end all. My project team put in no less effort for this than if the show was like the E3 of old. What's truly different is that the guys showing the game have only one mission at E3 ... show our game ... not see the show, or get drunk after hours and show up late for demo sessions, or get their picture taken with out of work C and D list actresses or actors trying to get some nostalgia tour work going, or to get invites to the Sony or Microsoft parties. They are on mission to show and sell our game.
Hopefully, the the people seeing our game demonstrated in our showroom will be for similar reasons. Hopefully they'll be there because they care enough about seeing it to schedule time for it. They'll get the full message we want them to get about our game, not a few minutes caught in passing, distracted by hip hop dancers, flying skateboards, or goofy web media "reporters" telling stories about their adventures as they navigate E3.
That's my rant. This format works for the Toy industry. Let's let it work for the digital game industry too.
Austin GDC is great. I went last year but am not sure if I will make it this year. But if you have no interest in the makings of MMOs, game audio or game writing, then it is not the place for you. I went for the writing parts and loved every minute. We even got to see a sneak peak at Mass Effect.
I am going to invest in GDC, I'll be attending my first GDC in Feb. I'm really excited about it. I'll probably hit up Austin GDC as well.
Pax runs the event and the E3 staff can be cut down to simple middle man work.
Bah GDC is more fun anyways
Key retailers aren't bothering to put in more than a token appearance at best, and small developers and publishers are being shut out even if they express interest. Even a few big developers and publishers are essentially going "We aren't showing up. What would be the point in doing so?"
Unless this year turns out significantly better than expected, or they dramatically shift things around again next year, things are going to fall apart in short order. If no one but the biggest show up, in short order it won't be worth their while to show up either.
That's all there is to it, HA.
I hope at some point we get our old E3 back- this catering to the upper crust of the industry flies against everything E3 was about.
oh well, Good luck GP running all over Santa Monica.