No More E3!

DeVS · July 30, 2006, 04:01:53 PM

NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo! I loved E3. Guess now we will be stuck with more lame ass MTV "launch specials". This is a huge loss for end users like us. Sad sad day.

From Next-Gen Biz: http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3538&Itemid=2

QuoteThe Entertainment Software Association (ESA) shindig has been a staple of game industry life since the mid-1990s. However, we understand the larger exhibitors have jointly decided that the costs of the event do not justify the returns, generally measured in media exposure.

Publishers believe the multi-million dollar budgets would be better spent on more company-focused events that bring attention to their own product lines rather than the industry as a whole.

Well placed sources say the news that larger exhibitors were pulling out had prompted urgent meetings among publishing executives. They decided that, without the support of the larger software publishers and hardware manufacturers, there would be no point in continuing.

rocky · July 30, 2006, 04:19:27 PM

NO! this sucks, how will they tell us about new systems and updates now?

gieve · July 30, 2006, 04:25:17 PM

Dont worry, there is still the Tokyo game show and space show (nintendo's show) and many many others to fill the gap. but still........ e3 is like christmas to me, waking up to see what news has been announced........ oh well.... life goes on

mat · July 30, 2006, 04:43:05 PM

It's a joke. Surely, it's a joke. Guys like EA and Sony have never worried about spending a lot of money on promotion, they wouldn't pull out of E3!

...right?

Jax · July 30, 2006, 04:51:40 PM

WHAT!!!

*stroke*

*dies*

*is buried with all his games*

Haoie · July 30, 2006, 06:07:59 PM

Could be a hoax/rumour, I guess.

Not really the right time for 1, though.

Altor · July 30, 2006, 06:24:01 PM

Hmm... Let me get this straight. Here's the sequence of events:

Stampede to Nintendo booth
Lineup for Nintendo booth is so long that those at the back when the doors open never got to the actual booth
Sony lineup peak was 30 minutes wait, generally bombed
RIIIIIIDDGGEE RACERRR!!!!
The great battle of 1103 AD in Ninghoytongchuk, Japan is reproduced in breathtaking quality, giant crabs and all
Innovative motion-sensing PS2 controller is unveiled
Sony becomes laughingstock and subject of every joke made on gaming sites for 3 consecutive months
Sony withdraws funding
No more E3

Blame sony!

Jinnai · July 30, 2006, 09:22:00 PM

Sony wouldn't have been enough.

But you can't blame them. If you ponied up a lot of money on something and it got slammed, you'd be okay with that?

Critical_Impact · July 31, 2006, 12:32:57 AM

Well they didnt try very hard, they just threw the best hardware they could get into a box and made it into another generic console.

Altor · July 31, 2006, 02:08:42 PM

Yeah I know it's not exclusively Sony's fault, but I bet they were a big part of it. Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony probably were the biggest customers for the Expo, with such massive booths. Everyone else has 1-2 games to showcase, Nintendo has like 30, Sony and Microsoft both had tons too.

They got really beat up at this last E3 and ever since then, needless to say. They almost certainly would be doing better in public opinion if they'd just "done a nintendo" and only hinted at what's to come, or not shown up at all.

*tries to resist urge to pun on 'massive damage'*

BTW, a friend I consider to be knowledgeable has told me that the Expo has just been downsized, not done away with entirely. So that means it'll be a one-day thing or just a smaller place for the regular 3 days.

uzumakishade · July 31, 2006, 04:52:03 PM

no its not e3 anymore! they actually renamed it to e3Expo http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/31/e3-killed-reborn-as-new-e3expo/

hope this raises your spirits guys!

yoshi9784 · July 31, 2006, 05:29:14 PM

No, E3 is not dead. They are reshaping the expo because they feel it has strayed to far from its original purpose, costing publishers and a lot of other folks a lot of money needlessly. If you don't know this, E3 is meant to show off a company's wares to investors and dealers like EB, Gamestop, ToysRUs, etc. The whole expo is meant to sell games. A lot of gamers just think of it as just a place to get a sneek peek of what's to come.

Doug Lownestein, the head of the ESA is supposed to make an annoucement today, July 31 about where the conference is going to be held next year. Supposedly it will be at a smaller and more downplayed location. This will surely cut the crowd numbers. Jeez, if any of you went to E3 this year, you would have seen the ginormous crowd at the Nintendo booth to get into the Wii experience.

No worries. E3 is not gone. It may have just lost some of it's luster.

scootdog · July 31, 2006, 06:44:48 PM

E3 was spawned from the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) because video games were taking on a life of their own. Video games are cyclical and have been up and down thru the years like the video game crash of the early 80's and the reemurgence with the NES. Maybe they think it is time to scale back again.

strells · July 31, 2006, 07:28:10 PM

If consumers were allowed into E3 like they are in Tokyo, E3 would be huge again, and profitable. Why it's only for media and industry makes no sense to me.

Steve

yoshi9784 · July 31, 2006, 09:19:35 PM

Quote from: "strells"If consumers were allowed into E3 like they are in Tokyo, E3 would be huge again, and profitable. Why it's only for media and industry makes no sense to me.

Steve

God, they let too many people into E3 already who aren't even in the industry. Pretty much anyone can go as long as they pay $500.