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E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) used to be the biggest event for videogamers. This event was the crown jewel when it came to announcing hot new IP releases, new hardware announcements, and even company mergers. Then at some point all the flare of showroom booths took over. In fact, the convention got so bad at one point the organizers put an end to E3 all together. Oh the backlash from this announcement was terrible
With the entire backlash thing happening, organizers decided it would be best to host E3, just in a new format. This was the year of a small gathering in a dark hotel room. The cries of outlawed booth babes ran rampant across the internet. This was not overblown marketing campaign of prior E3’s. The outrage was fierce among gamers. Sadly, the more serious E3 did not last and it didn’t take long before we quickly started approaching what E3 once was: booth babes, elaborate showroom booths, and rating who “won” the press conference “war.”
I have been watching E3 for years (more than I will admit here). It is like watching a bad soap opera. “Gaming news sites” now rate booth babes, big news leaks happen before the show even starts, and last years press conferences were lack luster at best. If this is the crown jewel of game conferences, why does it seem like nothing more than a gathering of frat boys looking to salivate over women anatomy while throwing ping pong balls into red Solo cups?
On the flipside of this coin, the E3 turmoil has led to some other conferences bringing forth the goods. PAX is a gaming convention designed around just being a damn gamer. It has been so well received in fact; the Penny Arcade crew designated a second conference just for the east coast gamers (PAX East). GDC is another convention that continues to see more limelight with big game and hardware announcements. Sure, GDC is more business oriented than what PAX is, but between the two there is a ton of good developments that fill RSS feeds. These are the conferences I get excited for.
E3 is quickly approaching, and again there is drama surrounding it. The registration system is complete shit. There were many reports of bad emails, lost registration info, cracking down on what sites get media passes, and so much more. This really starts one thinking, is E3 really all that it is cracked up to be? Are the smaller conferences taking over and providing the substance gamers really need, be it industry and business news or the sheer joy of being a gamer?
What say you, community?
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