No more E3?

[GK Punk]

Damn it. I was afraid it was true

[ThirdMarioBro]

My official responce:
This is probobly the worst thing I have heard all year.

1. Small conventions suck. Holding pre-E3 conferences entirely behind closed doors with atendance in the hunderds, locks out almost all but the most of the major press, and sends us back to 1996. Private conventions suck, are entirely one-sided, and get ignored because we don't give a sh*t, and rightfull so. All those fans screaming for their exclusive propaganda filled Spaceworld type shows are insane. E3 is a middle ground; a place where everyone is equal. Any other setting is just a spawning ground for PR bullsh*t.

2. The excitement is gone. No more gamer Christmas, and no more build-up to the big unveiling. No more press conferences with the big video reels. All of the excitement gone.

3. For the press, this will probobly work out better because coverage will be more even and spread out, but it was always worth the misery and extra work. It was fun, excteing, and establishments such as outselves got one chance out of a year to spend time together in person. That goes away as well.

4. If/when another shows comes up to replace it, it will undoubtably be smaller, and probobly wind up in Japan or some other simi-unaccessable location. TGS is completely out of reach to most of the industry, and it will probobly rise up to replace it in the near-future.

5. Fragmented shows ruin the fun, organization, and hype.


This is the worst thing I have heard all year. It seriously blows. I can't understand how they possibly believe they aren't getting enough media coverage. Are they angry Entertainment Tonight and Extra don't have E3 segments all week? Not gonna' happen, especially with smaller PR-crap filled shows from individual companies with small budgets and limited media exposure. The industry is shooting itself in the ass here, and the gamer is going to pay hardcore for it.
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My Personal Responce:

*goes into corner to cry*

[Mecha Cow]

What the f*ck?

So we can have comic book conventions, but gaming, which I thought was 'big business' these days, suddenly doesn't get enough press any more? What would get press then? E³ was exciting as hell, I know I don't give a damn about a couple of random screenshots every now and then.

Meh. Let's hope this doesn't last, or something else comes up to take its place.

[ThirdMarioBro]

If they do, it'll be in Japan, and we'll all be fu*ked. I don't want propaganda shows like X06 and Spaceworld. They sucked ass, and they are boring as well as limited in who can attend.



*edit*

New news shows the possibility that the show will be stripped down to a smaller venue and become more of a "meeting room conference" bullsh*t setup where the public wouldn't even notice it that much. This is a sad day for gaming. It also means I'm stuck working at a place where I get to work my ass off at home writing about sh*t I''m denied access to because I'm not important enough for them and my superiors are getting VIP invites and I'm doing all their work. Suddenly life as a game journalist just became a lot more boring of a desk job. Fu*k that sh*t.

[Peanut]

It seems to be true and believe it or not, I'm not really bothered by it.

E3 has become, wether most of us would like to admit it or not, a joke in almost all cases. Besides the fact that the majority of it is nothing but marketing glitz and know-nothing booth babes trying to give a hard on to some Wal-Mart managers, it has become more and more hectic and less and less useful at letting us faithful see what we want to see. Every year companies are pulling more and more bullsh*t to try and "win" E3, and that just makes the show a joke all together.

It has gotten much bigger than it needs to be and for what? So we can have 100 articles about a single game that all read exactly the same? So big companies can halt production on large projects just to try and complete an E3 demo for the show?

Losing E3 would be a big loss to us "hardcore" of the community, but maybe it needs to happen. Really, what reason does EA need to go to E3? Just three or so weeks ago they had their own huge event. Less hectic, less pressure, easier access to people who needed to be there. And that example could go for many more companies than just EA.

Not having E3 would take a lot of fun out of that time of the year, but on the other hand, having it scaled down is a good idea. Why have it open to that complete mass of people that has no reason to be there? Doesn't it just make the job of getting the information out to the public even more difficult than it needs to be? I'm all for E3 getting smaller.

Either way, the ESA will have a statement by tomorrow.

[JameO]

Im with Peanut on this, though sure it would be awesome to be able to go to it, but hey, if gamespot or places like that can do the same sort of thing, to cover every little conference, then im good to sit and watch a screen.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Open to the public?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA



They're not going to open to the public. They want to downsize the show back to 1995 when 100 people were allowed into press conferences, and they could just do everything in a day. THey want the buisness part to stay, but the glamour part to go. Opening to the public? The show would have to have been twice as big as this year to accomidate that size of a crowd. Go to TGS. It's five times more crowded there than E3 ever had a prayer to be. Kids in Naruto outfits, 300,000 women dressed as Cloud, and a bunch of buisnessmen trying to squeeze past that. They'll never open to the public.

TGS will just raise up to replace it anyway, but I'm pissed because I know I'll never be able to get in again. My bosses will get VIP invites, and I'll get to sit at home in my boxers like the typical aging loser I am and do all their work for them like a good little minion. It's like you finally get into the goddamn club, and then they say your membership level isn't good enough and kick you back out. Pardon me, but I'm ****ing pissed off right now. It makes my job harder (no downtime in the summer from now on), and I get less out of it.

[Peanut]

Who said it's going to be open to the public?

[Barkworm]

Originally Posted by ThirdMarioBro

If they do, it'll be in Japan, and we'll all be fu*ked.

At least us Germans still have the GC which is almost as big as the Tokyo Game Show. But yeah, the whole thing sucks.

[KROW]

A good idea (I think) would be for each company to hold an E3-type show for their respective products in various locales. For example, Nintendo can hold an E3-esque convention in Washington, while Microsoft holds one of their own in New York, and Sony hosts another in California. They would still allow fans to attend, but the crowds wouldn't be so massive (maybe).

Of course, there are drawbacks to this idea -- such as various expenses -- but at least those of us plebians who aren't exclusive VIPs to the industry could still attend.

Anyway, it was just a notion.

[Dr. Doom]

E4, anyone?