@大漢中: No prob.

BTW, my fav E3 moment was 2005 (I think) when I was standing perfectly still in one of the halls when this woman came running past me, shoved me and ran over my foot with a brick-filled (I assume) roller suitcase. Then she turned her head and shot me a look of absolute evil and hate. Everyone in my group was shocked (and amused).

But I'm sure I deserved it.

sandwiches

@大漢中:

Wait, I retract my earlier comment, sounds like you're a developer. Sorry, sandwiches.

大漢中

@sandwiches:

Have you been to E3? E3 2006 and earlier, of course.

大漢中

Big E3 is good. I sort of miss the E3 Demo Crunch of years past. The timing is shit, too. It needs to be earlier in the year.

cable83

I didn't think it could get much worse than last years. Boy was I wrong.

ƒox

Oh, and not to mention the MILLIONS of wasted dollars on that freak show.

sandwiches

All E3 ever did was halt "actual" production of the games we all love by forcing devs to invest/waste time (often up to and beyond a 1/4 of a year EVERY year) on readying their dog-and-pony E3 wares.

I always hated having to lose development time for that stupid show. What a distraction.

Good. Riddance.

sandwiches

what?

two or whatever years ago when they announced the idea of turning e3 grey, nearly everyone was all for it. an ugly mess you all said. nothing gets done, you all said. a trashy parade of booth babes and freaks. an unproductive funfair for hordes of freeloaders and sweaty geeks with no credentials. a waste of money for all involved, and the whole place could do with some respectable corporatising up or forgetting it entirely.

i wont bother asking what happened to change your minds. you didnt have them made in the first place because you people dont have minds. youve just got a cache of percieved collective, knowledgable opinion you refer to whenever asked for one of your own. execs were saying this, journos were saying this, so clearly it was the way forward for right thinking gamers. and the bandwagon was full and runneth over.

now the execs and journos (the only people allowed in) miss their fucking free mojito machines, glittering t+a and the atmosphere so thick with bodies, sweat and fragrant fanboy essences you could strain it for sustenance, because these people are not gods or even that smart and can be wrong, and cue the sage nodding of a billion born again told you sos.

aestheticity

As Croshaw said in his review of Smash Bros. Brawl.

"Embrace The Spectacle"
(Cue Image of Zero Punctuation Cowboy Hugging Glasses)

Maxyboy13

E3 was the most exciting time of the year for me, much like zyph said a second Christmas. I think the press conferences would be as good as they used to be if they were focusing more on games and surprise announcements, than stats and chest thumping. We need booth babes and the holy land of gaming back, not a bigger version of GDC

Makidian

Back when E3 was a spectacle, it was like the 2nd Christmas of the year. It may have been a money sinkhole back then, but to be honest, I miss the E3 of old.

zyph

Wait, aren't the highly paid executives the people who demanded E3 turn into this in the first place?

It'd be nice if they made up their mind one of these days...

Nirolak

Haters just be hatin', yo!

But, just because they're hatin' doesn't mean they're wrong. This E3 was pretty hoo-hum. Other than FFXIII on 360, most the major stuff was stuff I expected, like Animal Crossing on the Wii.

Salen

Yes, and then two years from now Riccitiello will be saying "This E3 sucks - we can't show our games."

BluFire

@Emiat: Exactly. The one piece of interesting news to come out of E3 this year was FFXIII on 360. Yes, a mighty blow to all Sony fanboys (myself included) who lorded it over the 360, and another indication of Sony not being quite as aggressive as we'd like, but all-in-all, the big news of E3 was about a game we've all been aware of for years.

Where are the epic secret projects being revealed? The announcements of amazing new hardware or a balls-to-the-walls awesome new franchise we can't wait to get our hands on?

All this E3 was good for was giving us a (tiny) little peek at the stuff we already knew about. That's not E3. That's not even Mexico.

Chances

The new E3 just doesn't have the kick of the old version. Yes, the old version sucked up money like whoa, but it also inspired companies to put their best foot forward. With only media there, it's just...lack luster.

EmeraldDragon

bring back the old E3 and CUT OUT opening it to the Public. That's the reason E3 went down hill!

maniacmayhem

Bring back the spectacle and OPEN it to the public!

Lixie

Maybe if the big 3 companies there actually announced something quite interesting then it might have not been as much of a failure as it seemed.....

.....Who am I kidding, BRING BACK THE OLD E3!

Emiat

I'm hoping to head to E for All this year, hopefully it'll be better than that mess that was E3. I have to say though, E3 2007 was probably worse...

Ignatius

THE SITES
THE SOUNDS
THE NEWS
THE FREE BOOZE
C'MOOOOOOOOOOOOON SPECTACLE!

Elsmooth

"hinting that a return to spectacle"

WHA!?

The old E3 hangs on sliver of hope...

大漢中

Return to the spectacle, please!

Yaywalter

Why don't they let X number of people in. First come first serve i guess.
Then again why do we need an E3 when all the info that comes out of that place can just as easily be released by devs over the internet.

deathtastic

@maniacmayhem: How could the previous E3's be ruined by the public when they weren't open to the public?

TGS and Leipzig are doing pretty well (in fact better than E3) and they ARE OPEN to the public.

Facts, they are a bitch.

Lixie

@aestheticity: You make it sound like all of the commenters on Kotaku are responsible for making E3 this way. You wanted this, you did that, etc. And while the gaming public at large may have been responsible, (although I would love to see a reference since that was years ago and my memory is foggy) how are the people who comment on this site automatically the ones who wanted to change it for the worse before?

sarcasmOD

@Nirolak: Thats why they are highly paid, they get lower paid people to make up their minds for them.

deathtastic

@Nirolak: Yes, and Kotaku managed to find the one guy who complained about it this year.

Publishers love this. Trust me. The media hates it because they don't get to have their week-long party, so they go out looking for any quotes they can find even the slightest bit negative to help argue their point. But the industry will never return to the old E3. Might they kill it altogether? They might. But the "spectacle" will never return. *Nobody* in the industry wants it back.

And remember, the media are not part of the industry. (Some of them like to think they are, but that's like Newsweek considering themselves part of the government. Reporting on something doesn't make you part of it, nor should it.) So the media really has no say in the matter.

badasscat

Old E3 was a showstopper, everyone cutting the throats out of everyone else, trying to top each other, and ended up being better for the consumer in the long run. This shadow of its former self is no good. Too toned down to where it's just a board meeting.

Karisu-Zero

[quote]Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America is quoted as likening the event to a "pipe-fitters show in the basement." He may have just been referring to the Imagine, Petz and Ener-G portions of his own company's press conference, though.[quote]

Dang. Harsh man.

McWherter-burned!

@aestheticity: Amen, brotha'.

Furysetzer

E3 this year was god awful, the real big announcement was nothing more than a "we can do that to" (aka ff13 on xbox360) and really who didn't see that coming. After I fell a sleep while watching Nintendo's press conference, I really lost hope for e3.

I hope they put it down like a horse with a broken leg.

liberty0x

@sarcasmOD: no i do not. i am referring to their hypocritical reactions to this thing they have no control over. the people who control it are men in suits who never play games, who are moderately influenced by publishers who sometimes watch games to determine budget and marketing, who are moderately influenced by developers who are sick and tired of games by the time they finally shove them out the door. the 'gaming public' who play games arent responsible for shit except funding everyone above.

i was here, and everywhere else, when the concept of neutering e3 was floated following a particularly bacchanalian year. while i would estimate at least 80% of the commenters present on kotaku at that time no longer attend the site, theyve merely been replaced by similar versions. these may not be the same individuals but they are the same gaming public. and they are part of the same general population.

aestheticity

@badasscat: The publishers might love it but I assure you the people making the game certainly don't.

Plus the timing of the show is facetious at best. It's way too late to build up any hype for your game if you want to release it for the Holiday Season. You're stuck announcing it way before the show so when the show gets going your stuck with you hands in your pocket when people ask you "Is this it, no surprise?"

MehGinla

If E3 was open to the public (at least the games and booth babes portion) then I would take a train all the way to LA ( I hate flying) just to go. Or not. I really want to go to Comic con this year but I wont. It's just to freikin far away.

Netnavi

...I thought it was pretty cool. :\ then again, this was my first E3.

man in gauze is king ramses II, silly.

E3 will never be the same as it was

darktorns

I say can it entirely. We have the technology to do away with it. Nearly all the major publishers already do a press day where they show off all the new goods. Gamers don't get to go anyhow, so what's the point? Just do up the press days, and skip the unnecessary expense of E3 and the artificial deadlines it creates.

wild homes got the wrong bloke!

blackjack, hookers, etc

frostcircus

I don't see why E3 is even around at this point. Didn't every main publisher have a pre-E3 event? Can't companies just do press conferences at their home base? It just seems kinda redundant, when everything that was there, can be done individually, cheaper, and easily more thoroughly and on an individual scale, and not an "ok, 10 minutes are up, next in line!" thing going on.

When everybody has got their own pre-E3 event, where they show off the games, that they're going to show off in a few weeks, why bother showing them AGAIN, later on? The press coverage and videos all over the web? Didn't we see a new mirror's edge video right after EA's E3 thing? Why not just let journalists bring back videos of their gay old time at the studios?

Talleh

@wild homes has been retconned!:

I agree, why dont they just release the information over PS3 and 360 consoles in their respective networks. Give us screenshots, videos, demos of their games and information thru viral sites.

ichiban1081

I'm not certain we've established what E3's purpose is.
Is it a consumer event? A developer conference? PAX, or GDC do those respective things better. I do think it's good to have one central event for announcements and hype; it really energizes the community. So in short, E3's purpose is a press event. Ideally, it would offer the press chances for interviews, demos, and screenings, in an easy, efficient way. This does not require over the top budgets for displays or booth babes. As fun as a giant videogame party for the press is, I don't think it's in the industry's interest to have that. Something that showcases new games in an easy, professional mannner would be ideal for E3, At least, that's how it would be if I ran the ESA.

AllegraStreit

I think I speak for everyone when I say: MORE BOOTH BABES

LittleBigPlaneteer

Was it not these ass clowns that transformed E3 into its current state because they were more concerned about their bottom dollar. EA in particular led the charge. Now they're complaining.

So easily it slipped their minds on who exactly afforded them their luxuries and lifestyles. Maybe when gamers get disenfranchised with it all and it eventually effects sales, they'll get a clue...

jynxce

I can understand the fact they have alot of work of pre-E3 getting ready, demos, booths, announcements, all that is alot of prep work but it benefits them in the end announcing new games brings excitement from fans. If they seriously hate it stop attending.

If they keep on complaining about the lack of space come see me i have about 100 acres that can be converted into something bigger than E3 if you don`t mind coming to Illinois.

slyzxx786

You know why the execs hated E3? Because they had to WORK!

boopadoo

Old E3 was amazing. New E3 is like being a little kid excited about your birthday, and then only getting one action figure because your parents forgot about you.

Placentasaurus

I don't know if they need to return to the spectacle, but it couldn't hurt to hold E3 earlier in the year when new games get announced instead of the middle of the summer doldrums when we already know what is coming this holiday season, and have nothing much to play at the moment.

Gouki4u's avatar has a severe case of Jekyll and Hyde

Wasn't EA one of the first companies to push for the changed E3?

Tubatic

E3 never has been a consumer event, despite the fact that people would swindle their way in with fake credentials, or, towards the end of the "old" show, with a business card.

The last two years have been quite nice in terms of productivity - I would have never been able to see as many games in a meaningful way.

So here's my suggestion: Why not keep stuff in Los Angeles, make the demo rooms upstairs media only, maybe with some retailer section, hold the whole thing in May again *and* have one big hall, e.g. the West or South Hall filled with games *and* open for the public who pay $10 or so to get in.

This approach actually works - see Games Convention in Leipzig, the probably biggest game show on the earth at the moment, that does exactly those two things together.

robur

We need E3 because games get TONS of press during E3.

livingaftermidnight

@BryanH: Actually, there were many great games I want to play: Prince of Persia, Mirror's Edge, Warhammer Online - the problem might be that they were all known already because E3 was so *late* this year and companies did their own events to show them off because there was nothing happening in May.

robur

The problem isn't with the spectacle, the problem is with presenting things that people want to see. There was nothing that made people crap their trousers (aside from FF13 for the 360, and as mentioned before, that's not even really a new game).

Give us games we want to see, and E3 will be awesome again. Please don't bring back the booth babes, blaring music, and general sensory-killingness of E3's past. Just give us games. Give us some new stuff. That's all people want.

BryanH

@deathtastic:

Because huge spectacles build hype and hype is an important part of business. With everyone saying, "Why do we need an E3, anyways?", I ask this -- why does every other industry in the world have E3-esque conferences? The electronics industry has several, PC manufacturers have several, toy manufacturers have them, and even table-top RPGs have conventions.

MasaMuneCyrus

He hated it because it was another year of EA showing it's crappy games.

RANGE_BALLS

Heh, I highly doubt there is anything to be done to bring back the excitement of previous E3's. There's just too much money being thrown away and almost no incentive for most companies to participate. E3 has always been a business conference, not something for your average gamer who thinks they deserve to attend, simply because they keep up on what's going on in the gaming community - or don't, either way, it's not something geared towards them.

I can't tell you how many times we went to E3 and hung out with other programmers, artists, etc., only to be jumped by a barrage of people who had no reason for being there who weren't even trying to be nice or intelligent, but annoying; easily one of the most unenjoyable things about E3.

@wild homes got the wrong bloke!:
I completely agree. The media makes these conventions seem way more glamorous than they really are, if only to rub it in average Joe's face that he doesn't get to go (this happens a lot, trust me). Most if not everything is already announced through each developers own web-sites and the media is quick to cover these announcements anyhow (typical news, I know; but it's simple, free and effective). Everything else that goes on at E3, pitching, schmoozing or what have you - doesn't need to be publicized the way it is and can simply go on as a behind-closed-doors deal.

:(

i_9

Unless we get the old E3 back, I'd rather have each company host their own event. Remember when nintendo used to have Spaceworld! I'd love it if that returned.

akif24

@i_9:
Point well made. Another reason why some media are painting conventions in a glamorous way might be to persuade themselves of it. ;) That way, the crazy amount of things to see and to cover appears at least a bit more worth while.

One of the reasons for E3 used to be that one could get a complete overview about all the new stuff that's going on and coming out. Even Kentia Hall had its place, even though the signal-to-noise ratio was pretty high there. Still, there would be games that would appear relatively out of nothing, creating a huge buzz and maybe even trends. Those "Have you seen xyz? You MUST SEE it!" talks one would have at editorial meetings in a crowded hotel room. Half-Life 1 or Grand Theft Auto 1 come to my mind. Even the Wii with its insane queue. Of course, with all those developer days, there is less and less reason for one big show really.

I agree about behind-closed-doors stuff. Covering spare time events such as dinners and concerts should only be reported if something substantial comes out of it. I don't want to read from reporters covering the politics beat how they are schmoozing with the President and his aides in private planes either.

robur

Throw in my vote for just canning the thing. The weeklong party doesn't help make the games any better, and it's a waste of money either way. GDC and TGS work just fine.

arstal

"Two nights later in Los Angeles at our corporate conference, a breakthrough. Breakdown? Breakthrough. It was the oddest, most unexpected thing. I began writing what they call a Mission Statement for my company. You know -- a Mission Statement -- a suggestion for the future. What started out as one page became twenty-five. Suddenly I was my father's son. I was remembering the simple pleasures of this job, how I ended up here out of computer design school, the way an expo sounds when one of my gamess performs well for an audience... And suddenly it was all pretty clear. The answer was fewer games. Caring for them, caring for ourselves, and the players too. Starting our lives, really. Hey, I'll be the first to admit it. What I was writing was somewhat "touchy feely." I didn't care. I had lost the ability to bullshit. It was the me I'd always wanted to be."

NeoStarr

I said years ago that leaving the fan out of a show that was highly anticipated would not be a good thing.

Watching the press conferences of Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, it seemed like when there was applause, there was only 3-5 people in the audience at times. There was no excitement. No energy.

You want to create buzz. And the only buzz we're going to get is going to be relayed by the handful of attendees. I think they need to have days where they open up the event to anyone. Generate crowds. Allow hands-on gaming time. Generate some anticipation.

Starcade

It doesn't have to be the full blown spectacle it used to be, but the companies have to give us the huge news that we expect to hear. The companies seemed to have held back or not created anything worth buzzing about.

Ryodestined

@NeoStarr:

what's that from? :o

And I'm surprised to hear this from EA's CEO...just me or ever since they flopped Hellgate, do they seem a bit less demonic?

Hisdon

Can we get a consensus that E3 needs to close and have it open to the public? That seems to be what everyone wants.

nou_phabmixay

They just need to make it less about oh look how where selling and trying to show of with rather boring speeches you'd hear in a bored room - well named. It needs to show off games not be a bunch of statistical crap, they need proper fans there to give the place atmosphere and help them do more pleasing conferences.

Ryuujin1024

With so many other conventions out there such as the GDC, PAX and a couple of others (Quakecon!), E3 simply isn't justifying it's existence anymore.

i_9

If they simply had E3 earlier in the year you'd get to announce way more stuff for the christmas season. That alone would make E3 worth watching.

RaepGoblin

@Hisdon: Jerry McGuire.

NeoStarr

@Ryuujin1024:
Again, E3 was never meant to be that. With retailers in the fold, the noise factor was up a bit higher to woo them into ordering more of game X instead of game Y, but with the July date, the order books have been written already.

I for my part can live with the fact that no one next to me is jumping up and then down on his/her knees crying during a press conference. Note the word - it's not fan conference. ;)

robur

E3 was ok this year... don't know what you guys are fussing about... brought into perspective a buncha games I haven't really been looking at. I do miss the spectacle of the old E3 though. I also miss having bible thick EGM also... but whatever

JustOneFix

I havent been to E3 in over 5 years and I certainly don't miss it. Although that one year a woman in a wheelchair practically leapt out of her chair to catch pokemon plushies .. only to be trampled by a pile of biz-dev guys. Which goes to show.. you can dress some people up, but you can't take them on the circuit!

cyr3n

I would rather see it an all out gaming orgy with crazy things happening, wizards and things blowing up. Kinda how it always used to be in my mind. One day....

ViolentSpank24

@Lixie:
The previous E3's were open to the public on Sunday my man who has no knowledge of anything.
And this isn't about TGS or Lipzieg, it's about whats wrong with E3!

maniacmayhem

@maniacmayhem:
No E3 was ever open to the public. Or open on a Sunday, for that matter.

They used to be open Wed-Fr, the last two years that changed to Tue-Thu which actually sucks cause Tuesday you have to split yourself in half now between press conferences and developer appointments.

robur

So true. It was wak all around.

Frologic

@AllegraStreit: This is a great point! It is more of a press event than anything. Energize the press, make them excited about what is to come, and maybe they will pass that excitement on to the rest of the gaming public. If the gaming public wants to get in on the action, there is always PAX.

Sensai-N

Definitely needs to get back to bigger and louder. Last year it was one main exec saying "give me my old E3 back". Now it is a majority. Our organization focuses on these events for our business, and E3 doesn't even rate in the top 5 anymore (GDC, PAX, TGS, GC, Comic Con).

Though those other events don't kick off with a Kotaku - Golden Gopher party... so it's kind of a toss-up!

ItsAllDeadly