@DigitalHero: So all those years of E3 coverage for the PS1, N64 and Dreamcast had nothing in them? At all? I think the old E3 had plenty of news for the journalists along with allowing the average gamer to have fun.

I remember magazines having 2-3 pages of E3 info, big or small. Alot of people just prefer the big.

Thassodar

jesus himself is dissapointed in the lack of games!!(and...booth babes of course) For Shame.

Goron2000

This is how many conventions/conferences, game-related or not, look a day or two before. It's not really anything new.

Maybe it's just the angles from the cameras, but those booths look to be the same size as last year's.

StupidDufus

All it did was put a good number of nice-looking women out of a potential job. Those of us that aren't in the vicinity, or those that don't have the free time to make it even if they are in the area, couldn't appreciate them vixens anyway.

But if I was in the area... and didn't have a job tethering me...

muu

I think the gentle weeping was me. On the East Coast.

Aethyr

Pssh...no booth babes..this is not the E3 I want to remember

feegore

Booth Babes!

Helioz

Wrong! /cries.

HenryHSH

My comment was for Colt45J.

DigitalHero

Old E3 was worthless guy for those who went. The new one puts the focus back on games which took the backseat to TNA.

DigitalHero

Yeah. All that matters is the games.

Maldron

E3 is dead to me :( Making it exclusive killed it... killed it like a rpg to the face... R.I.P. Old E3... You are missed

Colt45J

I kinda liked the big E3.

It gave me hope that, one day, maybe, I would exit the conference loaded with schwag.

Also, the previous huge E3 is when you guy launched the new design for this site. I was in switzerland at the time, so I have fond memories of it.

Anyways, yeah yeah, the games, the games.

Woodwater

At least it's in LA this year so I can take the damn train instead of spending the money on a tank or two of gas, plus $100+/night on a hotel room.

So that's good.

jallen

@CreamSodaSlurpee

Yeah I'm the same.

I only really care about the BIG news which comes out of E3. All the small stuff really doesn't interest me that much.

If Nintendo release a new handheld or Microsoft decide to go into the handheld market I'll have a nerdgasm :D

gameradam

Cant wait for the games...

EnigmaNemesis

All I really care about at E3 are the Big 3 conferences. If I was actually invited, then yes, I'd probably be pissed.

CreamSodaSlurpee

@LionheartAce: I was thinking the same thing. Ugh.

I think old E3 was going out of control, but they decided to toss out the baby with the bathwater instead of a viable option.

Mal-Content

I live in Los Angeles, but I still wish I was press.

Megan Fox iz Hot ^-^ -ph15h

There was a time where E3 was all we needed- gamers of all ages would wait and hope for it to come, and the lucky few were given their chance to actually go. For those who could stand the noise, the lines, and the other guests, this was their haven. It was an expo for the gamers, given to us by the industry. They may have not intended it to be as such, but as such it was.

But then, something terrible happened. What was once our haven, our expo, had been taken from us. No longer were there the women we had been promised, the fun and the swag taken out of it. Eventually, we were even denied access to our Valhalla. For many, it seemed as if it was all over. The end had come, and there was nothign left. But, as fortold by the Edda, after Ragnarok, there is still a glimmer of hope. The world may be a better place, after the pain we must endure.

Our reward? PAX.

Moral of the story? Quit complaining, guys. We still get all the news, and plenty of other places to go.

Aerokii

Everything looks so... sterile.

LionheartAce

Reanimated zombie E3 is less than human? Oh, how the mighty have fallen. And then decided to roll in the mud.

wild homes is a box-offfice disaster

booth babes had to resort to prostitution because of the new e3 lol

shinko

@DigitalHero: What I am trying to say, it was a convention for average people to come and see the latest and greatest games, and have a good time.. now PAX is the closest thing to it...

Colt45J

I grew up with dreams of one day going to E3. I had it all planned out.

...then they crushed it like so many tiny ants.

Rest in Peace, E3. You were awesome. Now you are less so.

.Connor

The thing is, I still think I would want to go to E3 if I could. There aren't booths and swag but the games are still there to play so it'd be awesome for me. Unfortunately, E3 is exclusive now so...

Samos42

Also, glad to hear you're OK Brian. When I read the headline, I thought that you were injured and had to be wheeled inexplicably through the E3 hall on the way to the hospital.

gamadaya

I was kinda ticked when they stopped inviting me to the E3. But not so much now since the only reason I went was to get demos/previews of upcoming games.

Now I can do that by downloading them from the comfort of my own home by downloading them from xbox live, without the hassle of dealing with LA traffic.

lordargent

Sidenote: (workmans prospective)
One of my many jobs throughout life was as a "roady".
(floor shows-dogshows-concerts-conferences-etc-etc)
Assembling miles upon miles of steel aluminium tubes...
There is alot of hurt, bruises and fatigue involved in getting "the show on the road"!

Heres to the guys and girls sweating thier ass of tonight assembling the show!

Skål!

Shikome

I thought the new E3 would be better than the old one when it first was announced. The old one was just too flashy and focused more on the hype rather than the games. And then there was the True Crimes: Streets of New York sports car incident. That one pretty much summed up how I felt about E3 at the time. But when the new E3 came around, I realized my mistake. Not open to the public means WAY less videos of people playing games. In the old E3s, I used to be able to find like 50 gameplay vids of any game. In the new one, would be lucky to find 10 per game. Plus, when it was open to the public, better gamers in general got in. People would explore every nook and cranny of the demos, and you would get a pretty good idea of how the game worked. Lots of regular people would write about it, and you always had enough information. With the new E3, all the videos were pretty much the same and there was never any in depth info about game mechanics or anything like that. To top it off, developers seem to not care as much about E3 anymore. So basically the new E3 has both less games and less information.

gamadaya

Games? Games? It's all aabout the booth babes!!! Think about it, without booth babes, E3 sucks!

KM91

@Aerokii: Not sure why folks think PAX took the place of E3. PAX has a couple demo booths, a handful of people selling lame junk, and some annoying smaller developers trying to hype things up and get people interested by shouting loudly and giving away t-shirts.

PAX isn't even one hundredth as fun for exposure to new games as old E3 was.

It's a fun event for the tournaments and other consumer-level stuff, but does not even come remotely close to the spectacle and volume of content that was old E3. It's a gamers event, not an industry event. It has a long way to go before it actually provides an avenue to see unreleased games and get hands on time with more than some upcoming Nintendo DS game and some obscure MMO.

fall

I'm kinda getting tired of hearing people dump on PAX because E3 is now exclusive and, oh yeah, E For All sucks ass.

Last time I checked, PAX didn't advertise itself as a media summit where the latest and greatest surprises on the gaming industry were announced. Rather, it's where the common Joe got to PLAY those announced games a couple months after E3 and talk to the developers and get a feel for how they go about their craft. Hell, we get Ken Levine this year as keynote speaker, and while he may not be Miyamoto-san, he is way up there (and Wil Wheaton was pretty awesome last year).

Damn PAX, though, for getting me all excited bout Castle Crashers and it's STILL not out yet. Come on Behemoth!

mjpm

And that's why Comic-Con kinda took over the role as the extravagant show with awesome booths, babes, ...and not-so babes and guys.

As long as many of the companies put the E3 demos on XBL and PSN, and DS games on the Nintendo Channel, I'll be alright.

ViewtifulJason

@fall: Well, see, that's part of what I was... well, attempting to say. We may not be able to go to E3, but we still get all the news of it. Granted, it's not the same as actually going there, but whne you consider all the other events wer'e given an opportunity to, it's still quite fun.

Trust me, I'm as disappointed as the next person. When I was younger, my life's goal was to make it to E3. I'm not even exaggerating! But in its absence, there lies hope. What we have nowadays is several shows, for both the industry, and the gamers. We have variety, we have so many thigns to look forward to all year round. We've come al ong way.

Aerokii

Why even bother to change the formula? Are they trying to have a grown up atmosphere? I don't think anyone wants it to be just like any other business trip. They want they glitter and glamor. The fun and excitement. You work all year doing serious business working on different aspects of a game. You want to see that excitement for it, you want to see hundreds lined up to play your game, not a bunch of industry people just sitting there laming up the place with boring conferences.

FrankxThexTank

The old, letting anyone in off street, three-ring circus E3 is dead.

Now its what it was always meant to be: a trade show.

Oyn

If you want a theme park, hit up Universal. If you want to hear people talking about new games, take in a conference or two.

justhesh

Damn that looks lame! I am glad I was able to attend one of the real E3 shows in the late 90's using a sort of fake Babbages ID.

New E3 = FAIL.

New games at E3 = WIN.

Vanguarde

@KM91: Then you'd better get ready for suckage.

Robotube

I almost went to E3, the last year it was open to the public. I could have gone. But now, I have to become a game writer to get in. The cruelty!

E3 is dead. The conferences will have 50 attendees and a powerpoint show. Pathetic. Where's Miyamoto jumping on stage as link? Or , this year, a Wii Balance Board?! The excitement is dead. The big three just don't know that no-one cares anymore, and are thus keeping their info for later. Give it a year or two, and E3 will be no more.

Herabec

Halo 4 to be announced and unveiled at e3 this week.

Orionsaint

wow, thats a pretty weak set up. Hopefully the announcements yet to come make it worth while.

get2theDeLorean

@mjpm: E4all was awesome... Did you go? I did... I met Akira Yamaoka, David Hayter, Ryan Payton, got to play Rock Band before it hit and, oh yeah, got to get a hands-on with MGS4 like a year before it hit... Then there was the Smash Bros show... E4all was great.

bobtheduck

For all the people bitching, E3 has never been open to the public. It's a trade show, not a convention. Even back in the heyday you were supposed to show credentials at the door. Anyone who got into E3 without being a retailer or member of the press snuck in or weaseled thier way in because their friend's cousin worked at EB and were some of the people who made it impossible for the old E3 to continue.

agies

Need.... RPGs....

laughingmangits

Wow, E3 has has become kinda pathetic. I mean, I understand most tradeshows are not big, flashy events, but this about videogames, an entertainment business as big and exciting as Hollywood.

You'd at least expect something flashy and exciting like the red carpet, but no...E3 to me seems to have become plain and underwhelming. It's too bad.

fenderfuel08

Sure the games are important, but so is the image of the industry. E3 won't survive like this, it's no longer than only known game convention among it's consumers. Hasn't been for a few years, but we decide if we care about E3, if we don't care the journalists don't care, if they don't care the developers and publishers don't care and if they don't care then there's no E3.

By the look of it someone jumped the gun and numerous developers/publishers that hold water in the industry don't care. There's different, mostly professional reasons as to why that is but the public perception is otherwise, whether it's true doesn't matter because it's right.

Absent Blue

E3 is E3 and shall forever be E3. It doesn't matter if there is a lack of boobs now as compared to the overwhelming amount of booth babes from before. The main focal point of E3, was, is, and will always be video games.

So what if it's toned down. It lets everyone look past the breasts in their face and see what they went to the show to see and report on to us, the gaming public. Now at least they might focus a bit more on the games.

Alaron

@fall: That's not the point of PAX at all. PAX is for (gasp) Penny-Arcade fans and the things they like. It never tried to be anything else.

justhesh

I want to see the Sony and M$ press info and revelations. That's about it for E3 as far as I'm concerned.

sascha23

@Alaron: I beg to differ: [www.e3girls.com]

ThisIsSick

wow thats it huh...

darktorns

@Brian Crecente: Right.

phinehas

@Orionsaint: Are they going to try and make up for the lackluster halo3 by being like "SIKE THERE'S MORE GUYZ LOL!"

FrankxThexTank

I just can't wait to hear more of that velvety voice!

Heh, I remember skipping school many years ago just to keep updated on the E3 news.

ServiceMaster

@CreamSodaSlurpee: Yeah, the important stuff for me is going to be over by midday tomorrow. It is sad though...

d3ath_fly

E for All could be the best conference ever in the history of the universe but I'll still hate it because of it's horrible, horrible name.

dowingba

The last true E3 was 2006.

Part of the allure of E3 was actually being there among the 100,000+ people in the noise, decadence, and extravaganza.

E3, the gaming mecca.

It was an experience unlike any other. Exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. Unfortunate that E3 is now a mere shell of its former self.

At least there's always the Tokyo Game Show.

大漢中

I loved the old E3, it was like the Super Bowl of gaming, now they fucked it up and it's like the Arena Bowl of gaming. :(

WPack911

Goodbye E3.

Helllllo Comicon!

boopadoo

I'm sure there'll be the same every three feet, two or more people trying to pass out three or more lanyards... some things may never change.

MelodyKitn

@LionheartAce:
Like my genitals.

.....too much?

Terrorsaur.

It's real sad, especially when looking back at how epic E3 used to be. However as a couple people already said, it's the press conferences from MS, Sony and Nintendo that are what I tune-in for. Largely because it outlines plans for the year to come.

Replica23

Old E3 was off the hook! SOME OF YOU JOURNALISTS BITCHING ABOUT HOW E3 WENT TOO FAR WITH THE T&A SHOULD HAVE YOUR HEAD CHECKED OR GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS, CONSERVATIVE MORONS!
And if anybody whose familar to the old ways of the gaming trade shows -- E for All sucked ass last year. Its gonna suck ass THIS YEAR due to lack of game devolopers willing to participate.

smokinbettycrocker

@smokinbettycrocker: No journalists bitched about the T&A, they bitched about all the plebs who's only link to the games industry is having a job in a games shop filling E3 up to the brim. E3's job is to allow the games press advance access to games to generate buzz amongst consumers, not to give self-important shop employees the chance to pretend to be an industry insider because they've played Gears of War 2.

photoboy

@photoboy: True, yet the few that actually generated word of mouth interest among their friends also helped to push obscure titles along. Given how jaded most people are with both marketing and press pr, anyway. Double edged sword, and it really won't be the same again, for better or worse.

akanekun

E3 was for the industry, but tongue-in-cheek for the gamers.

Now they've reigned it in and it's for the industry. Why attend Comdex these days? Or a convention for "Pro-pane and pro-pane accessories?" I was going to say a packaging industry conference with footage of boxes, but I've seen those and at least they have a couple cool things like robots at work...

When it's all whitewashed and strictly business, it gets really boring. Hopefully they show us some cool press releases, but IMO if E3 is going to shun gamers, we'd be better served if the companies just released online press kits around traditional E3 time. You can do addresses, just record them first.

But as much as I'd like to see something cool from E3 - I'll be recording G4's coverage - E3 isn't about us anymore, and it's time to move on.

fuchikoma

I like the description. You should write a novel, Brian.

michaelleung