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So, some may say E3 isn't quite what it was. Can you blame them? E3 was at its peak one million square feet of gaming overload and booth babes, where gamers would be sweating over the hype of the event and its booth babes. Today, that E3 is no more, and that makes some people sad.
Fret not! There are plenty of up and coming conventions to be had. The one that comes to mind is PAX, which is quickly becoming a replacement for E3. From a news standpoint it's not there, but from the crowds standpoint its there. Of course, there are the venerable shows, like the Tokyo Games Show and Games Convention Leipzig. But, the big bad American Games Conference known as E3 is just a shadow of its former self, and it makes me sad.
E3 is generally a time of gaming news. Chances are that there will be some of those sort of announcements at the event again. But in the internet age, such news comes every day. Did you know E3 is in two weeks? Do you even care?
For me, E3 has lost its luster. Gone are the day of big booths and busty booth babes. Gone are the days of being really, really excited about what might be announced at E3. (MEGATON) It's just not there anymore, but that's what I think. How about you, what do you think about E3? Share my opinion, or perhaps your opinion is a bit darker or sunnier than mine?
E3 is in fact a shadow of its former self, and the shadow the old E3 left behind has lost a lot of what made E3 in fact E3. It's sad, and perhaps the ESA will release that some day and bring back the amazing Trade Show we know and love as E3.
So the dust has settled this weekend as another E3 wraps up. Did you manage to catch any of the action? Did you care? Were you like me, disappointed because the hype didn't meet with your expectations? All in all a tame E3 expo which was only a shadow of it's former self. Sure there were announcements: Disney movies, Wii-Fit, Echochrome to name a few, it just didn't have the wow factor I'm sure everyone was expecting. Sure we all knew it wouldn't be the same, they told us as much last year. We just didn't think it'd have the energy of a
Librarian Convention during a snowstorm.
Reading the various articles from all over the web, it seemed many journalists, industry professionals and various other attendees found it cramped, poorly planned and lacking in participation. Gone are the booth babes many considered to be the
backbone of the show, the showmanship that attracts large crowds of fanboys drooling, jeering and cheering for their favorite systems and of course the big games never before unveiled.
The most exciting moment for me was when I read that a truck pulling into a hotel underground parking was too high for the ceiling clearance and smashed into the building, good times....good times... Perhaps if Chewbacca went nuts and started biting people's heads off the crowd the PSP redesign would've been more exciting. Maybe if Peter Moore and band didn't suck at Rock Band so much it would've been entertaining. Or perhaps if the first quarter of an hour of the Nintendo press where Reggie rehashed sales figures he used words like "destroy" "annihilate" and "vanquish" it would've been more like a pep rally and less like a infomercial. "With Wii-Fit
we will destroy our competitors this holiday season!!". Sounded good didn't it?
Sales pitches, hands-on gameplay and news is all fine, but E3 used to also be about the celebration of gaming, something we all have in common regardless of who's products we buy. The glamour of seeing your favorite celebrity or sports star getting his ass handed to him by a geek, or a total dork with a booth babe on each arm. Live bands, out of the blue announcements, WTF moments, memorable quotes and cool swag. Not hotel room armchair interviews, poor PR handling and bad camera angles for the conferences.
I've ranted long enough, so let me summarize: E3 2008 needs
soul,
celebration and most importantly
competitive spirit in order to survive. Otherwise turn the show over to the suits behind closed doors and move the action to Leipzig (GC2007) and TGS (Tokyo Game Show) and let someone else host the next big North American gaming event in '08.
In case you missed the Nintendo montage-filled press conference, allow me to summarize it for you:
1. We're doing very well, as these bar graphs show.
2. The rest of the show won't be relevant to you hardcore gamers, so here's 30 seconds of Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Ghost Squad, Ninja Gaiden DS, Phantom Hourglass, Metroid and Mario Kart for Wii. Oh, and let's make this for casual gamers too by showing off a wheel attachment for Mario Kart and say we're "leveling the playing field" for beginners.
3. We are COMMITTED to online play! We have no more than 5 exciting online games coming! Now let's go on to what really matters!
4. You want minigames?! WE GOT EM RIGHT HERE!
5. Let's lose our minds and announce our new bathroom scale with motion sensors, er wait I mean Wii Fit!
What's sadder is that I am not exaggerating.
