I went to E3 back in 2003, and it was freaking amazing. Way better than PAX.

Oh well just means we will have to wait longer for in-game preview footage of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.

E3 is, at it's heart, a trade show. So in theory just about anything could show up, especially if you're looking to farm out your project for funding/publishers/etc.

The hype engine and bullshit surrounding the trade show doomed it. It already killed itself off once the year after the Wii/360/PS3 debut debacle.

If you don't remember, I was there, so I'll sum things up: The 360 made a big splash and got lots of coverage, the Wii literally had lines stretching around the convention hall (people would wait 8 hours to play the Wii for 5-10 minutes to evaluate it), and the PS3/Sony booth, which cost around 12 million dollars to set up according to rumor... was empty. Oh people were in there, but I remember sitting up in NovaLogic's little room overlooking the trade floor and seeing the line form and stretch past Sony for people waiting to get in to try the Wii. The next year, Sony said they were taking their ball and going home. Like a week later Microsoft said "hell if they aren't doing it neither am I" and pulled out of E3. Nintendo pulled out shortly thereafter, and E3 collapsed that year into a series of "quiet, low-key press conferences in hotel meeting rooms around the city. I think it stayed that way for another year or so and then tried to come back, and has been kind of a zombie ever since.

E3 was... how do I describe it? Imagine the entire strip of Las Vegas crammed into one building. It was THAT much sensory overload. I met every game designer I ever had a professional crush on in one day. I saw projects years away from completion (I spent an hour discussing Hellgate London with the devs before there was even any alpha work, just some concept art). LA strippers were everywhere in all kinds of cosplay. The japanese companies I think flew cosplayers out to flirt with people at E3. The swag bags were insane. The last year I went, there was a tattoo artist doing ink, with the caveat that they had to tattoo G4's logo somewhere in the art. Even with that caveat the time slots for getting inked would fill up in minutes.

One year in the basement they had a 30 year retrospective of video games, including the most bitchen arcade selection of old 80's games you could imagine. I held court on the Joust machine undefeated for about an hour and was God of the Universe.

I played an 8-player Steel Battalion tournament. Which if you remember Steel Battalion, was almost impossible to get *two* people to play in. But Microsoft set up an xbox live server locally so everyone could play. It was beautiful.

For America's Army the US Army suited you up in a bullet proof vest, a helmet, and gave you an M4 with working bolt action for recoil and had you storm a shoot house. I still have the Polaroid they took and gave to me.

I fucking played Starcraft: Ghost, and it was a nearly finished product at that point.

And I was part of the problem. I had hookups, and passed a *lot* of business cards out for IT infrastructure, but it really wasn't aimed at me. It was meant to be a trade show. But the outside hype grew and grew and it became a TV and media event and grew to absurd levels. It was trying to be a trade show and a spectacle to help break into mainstream at the same time, and the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on parties, booths, swag, booth babes, and everything else made it top heavy.

Is E3 as psychotically amazing as it was? No. But perhaps that's a good thing. I went 3 or 4 times through various hookups, and I'm glad I went, and got to go at the absurd height of the craze. I'd go today if I got the hookup, because it'll still be kind of delirious. All trade shows are. But it won't have the same surreal quality as back when passes *started* at 400 bucks a head.

Fantaz wrote on Apr 28, 2013, 01:19:

Ant wrote on Apr 28, 2013, 00:09:

Fantaz wrote on Apr 28, 2013, 00:02:

Ant wrote on Apr 27, 2013, 22:35:
So I shouldn't bother to go to E3 even if I don't game much? I used to always wanted to go when I was a hardcore computer gamer! Now, I have connections and I can go! Argh, why so late? Argh.

I say if you can go and it costs less < $200-$300 in travel/hotel costs to go then go. If you spend like $500+ or more, or are busy with other obligations at that time, then it's not worth it imo, esp. since you said don't game anymore. Everything is online now, all the videos/interviews and stuff so you may even have a better experience online for E3.

Actually, I live in L.A. area so it is not far. From what I read, it is free to register. Just need to prove that I am in the industry. My colleagues went in the past, and I didn't even know we could do that (didn't think they would accept employer's type of work for gaming). Haha.

Yeah, I wished I knew about this trick like over a decade ago when I was a hardcore computer gamer and started working in the same company! Argh.

If you live near there then go!! definitely go... even for just 1 day out of the 3 days. if it's free then best to go to 1 or 2 of the days, since you'd get too exhausted and tired and probably not worth it to go to all of the days.

Yeah, probably one day since I would have to use a day off. Also, I don't care for video game consoles. I am a computer gamer even though I don't play them anymore these days. Hehe. Does E3 do indie and Flash games?

Ant wrote on Apr 28, 2013, 00:09:

Fantaz wrote on Apr 28, 2013, 00:02:

Ant wrote on Apr 27, 2013, 22:35:
So I shouldn't bother to go to E3 even if I don't game much? I used to always wanted to go when I was a hardcore computer gamer! Now, I have connections and I can go! Argh, why so late? Argh.

I say if you can go and it costs less < $200-$300 in travel/hotel costs to go then go. If you spend like $500+ or more, or are busy with other obligations at that time, then it's not worth it imo, esp. since you said don't game anymore. Everything is online now, all the videos/interviews and stuff so you may even have a better experience online for E3.

Actually, I live in L.A. area so it is not far. From what I read, it is free to register. Just need to prove that I am in the industry. My colleagues went in the past, and I didn't even know we could do that (didn't think they would accept employer's type of work for gaming). Haha.

Yeah, I wished I knew about this trick like over a decade ago when I was a hardcore computer gamer and started working in the same company! Argh.

If you live near there then go!! definitely go... even for just 1 day out of the 3 days. if it's free then best to go to 1 or 2 of the days, since you'd get too exhausted and tired and probably not worth it to go to all of the days.

nin wrote on Apr 27, 2013, 22:36:
Ant, the glory days of E3 are long gone.

Does anyone have a time machine so I can go back during its glory days?

Fantaz wrote on Apr 28, 2013, 00:02:

Ant wrote on Apr 27, 2013, 22:35:
So I shouldn't bother to go to E3 even if I don't game much? I used to always wanted to go when I was a hardcore computer gamer! Now, I have connections and I can go! Argh, why so late? Argh.

I say if you can go and it costs less < $200-$300 in travel/hotel costs to go then go. If you spend like $500+ or more, or are busy with other obligations at that time, then it's not worth it imo, esp. since you said don't game anymore. Everything is online now, all the videos/interviews and stuff so you may even have a better experience online for E3.

Actually, I live in L.A. area so it is not far. From what I read, it is free to register. Just need to prove that I am in the industry. My colleagues went in the past, and I didn't even know we could do that (didn't think they would accept employer's type of work for gaming). Haha.

Yeah, I wished I knew about this trick like over a decade ago when I was a hardcore computer gamer and started working in the same company! Argh.

Ant wrote on Apr 27, 2013, 22:35:
So I shouldn't bother to go to E3 even if I don't game much? I used to always wanted to go when I was a hardcore computer gamer! Now, I have connections and I can go! Argh, why so late? Argh.

I say if you can go and it costs less < $200-$300 in travel/hotel costs to go then go. If you spend like $500+ or more, or are busy with other obligations at that time, then it's not worth it imo, esp. since you said don't game anymore. Everything is online now, all the videos/interviews and stuff so you may even have a better experience online for E3.

Ant, the glory days of E3 are long gone.

So I shouldn't bother to go to E3 even if I don't game much? I used to always wanted to go when I was a hardcore computer gamer! Now, I have connections and I can go! Argh, why so late? Argh.

I remember some time ago how exciting it used to be when E3 was right around the corner - what awesome games were going to be shown? What trailers would blow us away. What highly anticipated games would finally be playable? Who would have the best booth (and booth babes, natch)? It may be all but dead now, but there was a time when few things brought a gamer more excitement than seeing what came out of E3. Fun times.

A lot of little guys make make backroom deals at these trade shows, its not just for direct IV feed from the Big Publishers. IMHO PAX is a much better venue for that type of thing now though.

E3 seems like a fine time to release a trailer and call it a day, since more eyes are on you. Trying to do a full court PR press is useless though since most info is lost in the deluge. The worst thing you can do is rush a build out the door. THAT people will remember

Even for those that think such major press events are necessary, the timing of E3 gives it very little utility by default. With the major release season being in Q4, by the time the publishers really want to ramp up media hype, E3 has come and gone, and they're instead going all-out at Gamescom and TGS. Really a US-based gaming press event has to go into that mid-late Q3 window to have maximum promotional impact, or go even earlier than it is at present (perhaps late Q1/early Q2) to start teasing stuff as well as to promote those Q2 releases that are already out by the time the other major events come around.

Julio wrote on Apr 27, 2013, 19:34:
There are plenty of ways to get game news out directly to gamers (such as this site). E3 is a cost that has little value, so it makes sense that it's dying. Game companies should give the money to Blue instead

And me!

There are plenty of ways to get game news out directly to gamers (such as this site). E3 is a cost that has little value, so it makes sense that it's dying. Game companies should give the money to Blue instead

Dang it. I might be going to E3 for my first time too. Why are all companies leaving? Argh!

ViRGE wrote on Apr 27, 2013, 18:10:
And at the same time PAX isn't nearly as accessible as E3 since it takes place at a much smaller venue.

Not sure I agree, considering you need a press badge to get into E3, it's significantly less accessible. E3 is dead. PAX is already way better than E3 ever was, and it's still fairly new. It's also got about twice the attendance of E3, so venue size doesn't seem to be the issue.

This comment was edited on Apr 27, 2013, 18:51.

Redmask wrote on Apr 27, 2013, 15:53:
Costs too much money and PAX makes more sense anyway.

The advantage of PAX is merely timing; it comes in August instead of June, so games are closer to completion. Otherwise it has the same fundamental problem of dragging developers away from their projects and requires them to hack out a demo build. And at the same time PAX isn't nearly as accessible as E3 since it takes place at a much smaller venue.

Regardless of what happens to E3, PAX will exist. But PAX will not replace E3.

E3 and the like make little sense in the post-print media world IMO. Have something cheap and local, put it on the web for all to enjoy.

Yeah. E3 is a major waste of dough. Time to stick a fork in it.