Chiming in on Electronic 3

By bobby July 22, 2008 2 Comments

Since the close of this year's Electronic Triple people have been speculating that we might not see an E3 next year. Having moved back from Santa Monica to its old home, the differences between the E3 of two years ago and today were quite different landscapes. There were criticisms that the invite-only attendee list (mostly press) took away the exciting atmosphere and left the place feeling empty.

It of course begs the question of who the E3 audience is. Should those of us sitting at home reading blog updates about games being shown care if there are no booth babes? Isn't E3 really supposed to be a way for companies to spread the word about their games? If the less hectic environment encourages people who thought about sitting it out to go because they'll actually get hands-on time without wasting all day, isn't that better for the fans?

There was no banner up in the hall this year telling attendees they'd "see you next year." A number of big companies have pulled out of the ESA, citing its existence as unnecessary in the current business climate. GDC has become more of a trade-show (which I feel is bad), PAX has roused a lot of the fanboy enthusiasm, and TGS and Leipzig are just like E3 abroad. Does the E3 Media & Business Summit still have a place in the world?

I say yes. It's not going to be the same as before by any means, but I think it's good for the gaming press to have a place to just check out a lot of games and report on that to their audiences. We've really come to expect the Jobs Keynote--big announcements and "one more thing". But we should shy away from this. We are all enthusiastic about games and love to hear about big stuff. But we shouldn't be disappointed in what we don't hear about.

We want Nintendo to announce a new DS redesign but then are pissed when we spend money on the third piece of hardware that does the same thing. Console and handheld redesigns are nothing new. I have all three versions of the Genesis plus the Sega CD contraption and the 32X dongle. I have a GameBoy and a GameBoy pocket. I have a GBA Can't Fuckin' See and an SP. We want to hear about consoles and top-notch games because these are the biggest announcements a company can make. But it's bad, I tell you! Because for every big title there are 50 minor games and at least a handful of those are going to be as fun as the next Metal Gear Solid.

I hope E3 comes back with more presenters next year. Let them fill the halls with more games, not more hype. And I hope the journalists get to cover all these games with more depth as a result.

And thus my challenge goes out to you: disband with your sense of entitlement but retain your enthusiasm. We're game lovers, not conduits of marketing.

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