While I’m on the subject of E3 please allow me to rant just a little:
Am I the only one that is sick of hearing all of this whiney bullshit from various journalists and other “industry insiders” about the current state of E3?
E3 grew and grew for a long time until the whole thing seemed like one giant, debauched party where games practically took a back seat to booth babes, concerts, swag, celebrities, and cocktail parties. It seemed like it got particularly bad when the big web 2.0 explosion hit and every other gamer with a PC had their own shitty gaming blog (errr… 🙂 ) or podcast and started attending in droves.
At some point I saw a noticeable shift in the bulk of the content of the E3 coverage as well. Personally, I’d rather hear about upcoming games, accessories, and other gaming industry related news and announcements than about what developers you got drunk with or what celebrity was hanging around whose booth. I’d also usually rather look at screenshots of new games and pictures of new hardware than massive albums of dorky looking guys posing with “booth babes” and other silly shit.
Maybe I wasn’t the only one who thought it was getting out of hand as the whole event was restructured for 2007. As a result starting as early as just after rumblings of this first started making the rounds in 2006 I’ve had to endure lame article after lame article of people whining and bitching about how E3 wouldn’t be as good or exciting anymore, often even admitting outright that they were going to miss all of the parties and free swag the most.
The topic of whether E3 “will survive” and “is worth it any longer” is one that still comes up quite a lot on gaming blogs and news sites of practically every size these days. I guess it is hardly surprising since these journalists are some of the ones losing out the most by the E3 restructuring and these sites are often their mouthpieces after all. Still I have to wonder if everyone feels this way. Does Joe Blow Xbox really give a damn about all of the fanfare he doesn’t get to partake in anyway going away? Was he enjoying the festivities himself, living vicariously through these bloggers and journalists, and now he’s depressed because the party’s over? Somehow I doubt it.
Personally I think all of these people bitching and moaning about E3 need to step back and reevaluate what E3 is actually supposed to be. Is it supposed to be a big, fun paid party/vacation for industry insiders or is it supposed to be an industry tradeshow? Maybe I’m the one who has it mixed up? Hell, maybe I’m the only one who sees the difference?
As for whether or not it is still exciting I personally still find it plenty exciting when a new game is announced, some new hardware is revealed, or we’re finally shown gameplay footage from a much anticipated upcoming game for the first time just as I always have since the days when you pretty much only heard about E3 in print gaming magazines.