There Is No Point To E3 100
Modesitt writes "Corpnews offers some thoughts on how E3 has changed for the worse. Several factors are mentioned, but the increased number of people sporting 'Exhibits Only' badges courtesy of Best Buy, CompUSA, and EB Games is focused on as a cause of the descent of E3." From the article: "The only legitimate purpose to E3 is as a media event, for companies to show off their products to the public via the media (after all, such a tiny sliver of the gaming public could go to E3, even if it was open to the public, that the press must inevitably mediate this process), and it is failing terribly at that. Companies are no longer courting the press, or even attempting to develop new contacts among them; now, it is an established siege war between giant website network and shitty magazines, and arrogant companies who divulge the merest crumbs and act as if this were a thunderous pronouncement from Yahweh."
Bitter. (Score:5, Insightful)
"Worse yet, the private hallways are becoming more and more hostile to media they are 'unfamiliar' with- and by that, I do not mean small, nor do I mean only to Corp writers. Corpnews is a medium-large website in the videogame industry now, and I am not the only media badge to have experienced outright hostility at my inability to name-drop at the front entrance to this or that booth. Companies like Vivendi and EA will ask for a name right off the bat before admitting you to their corporate Shangri La, Blizzard was running World of Warcraft media demos on the noisy show floor, and Nintendo did not even have enough press kits for all media, saying "We only give these out to major media outlets". Well, fantastic, I'll be sure to tell ABC's crack video game department to saunter on by and hear how you plan on not eating #3 dust in the next round of the console wars, smart guys."
The guy's got an inflated opinion of his Blog (that I've never heard of) and he's crying about it.
Re:Bitter. (Score:2, Insightful)
This guy is like the punk kid who starts trash-talking his underground band as soon as they catch a break and become popular.
Re:Bitter. (Score:2)
Re:Bitter. (Score:1)
Uh... NO. Do I *look* like I walk around with a pocket protector in my shirt pocket all day? Or like I'd even wear a shirt with pockets?!
"Real gaming magazine". That's the dorkiest thing I've ever heard....!
Re:Bitter. (Score:2)
Re:Bitter. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Bitter. (Score:4, Insightful)
What we have here is someone with a no-name blog/site(anyone here even know about or visited this site before this article?) whining about how they didn't get as much attention as the big name sites/magazines, and how these companies didn't bend over and let him have his way. I don't blame the companies, it isn't like they have all the time & resources to give an interview with every Random Joe Gamer Site/Blog or give them each a $400+ trinket.
At least some of the other gamer run sites don't let this junk go to their heads, and have provided us with E3 coverage that is often as good or even better then the big name site/magazines.
Re:Bitter. (Score:2)
Re:Bitter. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Bitter. (Score:2)
Re:Bitter. (Score:5, Informative)
Pretty much if you didn't book an appointment in advance of the show, they can't be bothered with you. This is as true for the big guys as for the little guys -- there are only so many half hour press slots at E3, and a good PR perosn works to fill them in advance with the biggest outlets she or he can find for their products. Just having a media badge doesn't count for much if they've never heard of you, and E3 isn't the place to try to make initial press introductions.
As for the "point" of E3, although PR and marketing use it as a great opportunity for press, it's as much for those much-disdained-by-the-poster folks from EB, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart. At the higher, closed-door levels, publishers want to impress buyers with their wares, including what's on the floor and what's several months out past that. At the "exhibits only" level, the idea is for salespeople to get to play the games so they can make informed comments to their customers who didn't go to the author's blog.
Even more... (Score:2)
Ah, E3. Just about the only place where you (and when I say 'you,' I mean us) can see the most awesomest audio hardware ever on one day and witness geeks lining up in a restroom to shake piss-soaked hands with a famous Japanese game designer on the next day. Quite a motherfucking experience. Between avoiding 40 year old boothbabes trying to score a free lunch and running the slalom through stupid fucks that paid $250 a pop to attend, we saw some pretty cool stu
Re:Even more... (Score:2)
Why should everyone know of some guy's Blog where he masturbates his ego in public?
This didn't deserve to be a story.
Re:Bitter. (Score:2)
Re:Bitter. (Score:2)
Thanks, Slashdot!!
Re:Bitter. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Bitter. (Score:2)
E3, for all intents and purposes, is a public event -- anyone who truly wants to go and has the means to get there can find the means to get in.
This is true (Score:1, Informative)
Re:This is true (Score:2)
Re:This is true (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:This is true (Score:4, Interesting)
Exactly. It was originally an industry gathering, a true "convention", like there are in a lot of other industries. The media started covering it because, well, games are popular and a lot of games were being shown there. And that has ended up transforming what E3 fundamentally is.
I wouldn't say E3 serves no purpose. But I do think that it's ultimately irrelevant. Nobody buys a game machine because of what goes on at E3. They buy it because of what happens after E3. I could list you so many years and so many companies that supposedly "won" or "lost" E3, or that had particularly good or bad showings, and then went on to do the exact opposite of what everybody predicted they would do in the real-world marketplace (Sega and Microsoft being at the top of the list with their respective late Dreamcast and early Xbox showings).
There is too much importance placed on E3 by the media. It is ultimately a sideshow. It's interesting, and if you read between the lines you can glean some useful info, but it is basically just a bunch of PR reps trying to put their best face on. Ultimately, the companies that show well at E3 are just the companies with the best PR departments or PR agencies. But that says absolutely nothing about either the actual quality of the games or their ultimate marketability and popularity.
(God, did I just use the word "marketability"?! I've officially crossed to the dark side.)
Re:This is true (Score:2)
Re:This is true (Score:1)
Re:This is true (Score:1)
If you are famous, but not a gamer, you can go to E3 and be a pretty face promoting the newest video of what this new game should look like.
If you are famous, and a gamer, you can go to E3 and actually try out the newest build of new game X.
If you aren't famous, but are a gamer (ie: the person they want to buy the game) you aren't allowed to go, and get what bits and pieces G4's talking heads spout out, which is basically nothing more than fluff and hype.
That's where the bitching gener
Re:This is true (Score:2)
But no longer. You are correct that the show has basically become irrelevant. I've been hoping it would come back around, and get honest again, hoping the media would only pass along E3 awards to games that were actually playable on the show f
Re:This is true (Score:1)
There was a G4TV segment on the history of E3 that I think explained this all very well. E3 was actually spun-off from CES.
PlanetSide (Score:1)
The whole / large part of the Development team
of PlanetSide was at E3, inside the "SOE castle".
I totally agree (Score:2)
The press get treated really well, they get all kind of vip treatments and benefits.
Re:I totally agree (Score:3, Insightful)
They have the Best Buy and EB guys there so when they go back to their stores they can say "OMFG DOOD x-product WILL KIK AZZ!!!11"
Re:I totally agree (Score:1)
He's right (Score:1)
Booth Babes (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Booth Babes (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, actually you do... are you for them or against them? Personally, I sure as hell don't mind looking at them...but really they're not necessary if you have a good game. A lot of female gamers I know are very turned off by them as well..so it helps keep down the female gaming population...which is a Bad thing.
Re:Booth Babes (Score:1)
Fix E3! (Score:1)
Re:Fix E3! (Score:2)
Re:Fix E3! (Score:2)
Of course, the linked article gets it wrong, too, in that he makes the leap that E3 is supposed to be all about the press. Yes, the press is important to the event but just as important are the retailers and, in the case of the smaller exhibitors, the publishers.
Re:Fix E3! (Score:1)
E3 not about inner workings of games ... (Score:2)
Not to disagree... Wait, nevermind (Score:3, Insightful)
Also, something that the author forgot to mention, there are a lot of little developers there, making games that might not have distributors yet or need investors in order to continue making their game.
If you don't care about the huge companies, and actually want to see something, then don't head to the big main area: They're only courting the IGN's and GameSpots and EGM's out there, the news outlets with millions of readers (or at least a few hundred thou), because they're just showing off.
The little guys need as much press as they can get, and they will probably be more than willing to show you their game if it means an article on any kind of gaming news site.
Over a thousand games at the con. Look for the 90% that people don't know about if you want to do news!
Re:Not to disagree... Wait, nevermind (Score:2)
You can't go home with a PS3 even if you had money. So it's strictly marketing BS. Big fish have big displays, small fish have their booths. In the end, you go home with a T-shirt.
Re:Not to disagree... Wait, nevermind (Score:3, Insightful)
Ever been to the New York Auto Show? It's just like E3. Some stuff they showed when I went in 2000 never mad it to become production vehicles (K5 Blazer concept based on the old school full size, but built on a Tahoe platform), other things did (Chevy SSR). Neither of those could be purchased at the show. Or immediatly after for that matter.
"Car shows", the things that are organized at your local soccer field,
Shitty? (Score:1)
Re:Shitty? (Score:3, Insightful)
B)
C)
D)
Re:Shitty? (Score:2)
Re:Shitty? (Score:2)
We will disagree on your points B and C.
Here's where intelligent discourse might come in, if you're up to it.
What makes Slashdot NOT 'the media'? This website is sponsored, editorialized journalism at its finest - plus a
Re:Shitty? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Shitty? (Score:1)
Re:Shitty? (Score:2)
Despite the idiotic dictionary definition, to be "offensive" requires intention -- that is some kind of "offense" -- otherwise those generating those thought of ill will are just getting defensive for no good reason.
Re:Shitty? (Score:1)
(Not that I have anything against Zonk - no clue who he is).
Re:Shitty? (Score:1)
NObody likes bad fedback... just look at ebay.
The gaming industry sure doesnt so they pack the gibbering fanatics in and then brainwash them in traditional marketing style and then release them back to the world to spre
Wanker... (Score:2)
Whose fault is it anyway? (Score:2)
A) On the one hand, the retailers are running along the exhibition floor. These are the lowest level of marketing: the geek in the store who moves the product.
B) On the other, blogging and those with "media" access have skyrocketed, so that developers are limiting the access to the "good stuff" to media sources that are likely to have a major impact (=broad readership)
So E3 is and has been for some time, a media frenzy. In pseudocapitalistic terms, you've got developers with a
Everything Old is New Again (Score:1)
b) E3 in the late 90s (I used to go when I could) wasn't much better
w00p.
Quit wasting time in line (Score:1)
When I went to E3, I talked to developers that worked on Age Of Empires, Kinetic (for Sony Eyetoy), and others. I saw very informative, very accessible presentations on the Unreal 2007 e
E3 does have a purpose! (Score:3, Funny)
Poor Treatment (Score:1)
Re:Poor Treatment (Score:1)
Re:Poor Treatment (Score:2)
It could be that you simply did not properly exploit your media badge.
Or it could be a combination of Media Badge + Big Name.
On the other hand, I am in the development end of this business. I cannot say that the troubles of small gaming media matter to me nearly as much as the problems of smaller developers.
I do agree that Cox probably has no business
Re:Poor Treatment (Score:1)
E3 is already dying anyhow (Score:2)
I dissent. (Score:3, Informative)
I was at last years E3, as were many of my co-workers. In addition to being a media function, it also lets developers get a look at the competition. E3 serves the following purposes.
1) It shows up new games and hardware to the gaming media.
2) It gets alot of developers and publishers together in the same place, allowing for deal making.
3) It gets alot of publishers and retailers together, giving the retailers an idea of whats coming out, and helps them decide what to put on the shelves.
4) It lets developers see what other developers are up to, and serves as a reality check for your own game. It also gets the delopers out from behind their desks to do something resembling a vactation. It also lets you catch up with friends working for other companies, allowing us to network a bit, let each other know if a given employer sucks or not, etc.
I went to E3 as a develper, and was handed an Exhibits Only badge. The booth babes are getting a bit over done, but they are there more for the retailers then anything else. The booth babe gets the retailer to walk over to the display, and perhaps even see the game.
END COMMUNICATION
Tokyo Game Show vs E3 (Score:1)
Reminds me of ECTS (Score:2)
A few years ago, I was filling out a webform for a ticket to ECTS [wikipedia.org].
I got to the part where you had to tell them your job title. Now, there were about a million slightly different ways of saying you were a marketer, distributor, retail buyer, till jockey, etc, but the jobs Programmer, Engineer or even the more generic Developer did not feature in the drop-down list.
I emailed the organisers to say "Hello? You remember us? We're the guys who actually write the games? You know..?" and their reply was basi
I'm torn. (Score:2)
Yet, I can't blame the developers from being picky about letting in some grassroots media types, such as bloggers, from the insider information. In this day and age, it's tough for the industry to