News E3 looking empty this year?

[Tim S]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/05...ty-this-year/1

A number of respected publishers and developers have pulled out of E3 this year, making it look like the show floor may be a bit emptier than usual.

[DriftCarl]

Shame really, I use to look forward to that every year. I wont be on the edge of my seat this year waiting for "news" to come out of the show.

[bowman]

E3 died when they executed it a long time ago. I don't think I've ever even noticed E3 news since then.

[Tile]

Deleted

[freedom810]

Oh well theres lots of other events throughout the year. Liepzeg??

[DXR_13KE]

and it was one of the events i had planed to go before i died..... shame....

[HourBeforeDawn]

ya E3 has been going down hill for a while now, I dont even think about it anymore, in fact until you mentioned it, I forgot that it was even coming up lol.

[Arkanrais]

"Vivendi Activision"
I thought they were called "Activision Blizzard"...?

[Deadwolf]

e3 is kinda waste of time these days any way since most companies are stalked by press everyday about gaming news. e3 was more of a circus o'lay for spectators, being able to get a taste of things to come, only to be let down with production delays and company shortfalls.. leading to a total disapiontment from gaming fans...

[supermonkey]

I was talking about gadget shows and conventions with a co-worker the other day. I mentioned that the National Association of Broadcaster convention felt a little scaled down this year compared to last year's event. He thinks conventions in general are on the way out. In his opinion, now that we're fully embedded in the internet age, the days of consumers flocking to large arenas to gather information about products is coming to a close.

I think he may be partially correct. Pretty much every company will pass out a simple flyer or CD to redirect folks to the company's website "for more information."

Add that to ever-expanding tech journalism, net conferencing, and the ease of e-mail, and it almost seems silly to spend a bunch of money to go on a junket attend a large convention.

-monkey

[CardJoe]

Originally Posted by Arkanrais

"Vivendi Activision"
I thought they were called "Activision Blizzard"...?

They don't have an official name I don't think. I've heard PRs describe themselves as working for both, plus Blizzivivison and variations thereof.

Originally Posted by supermonkey

I was talking about gadget shows and conventions with a co-worker the other day. I mentioned that the National Association of Broadcaster convention felt a little scaled down this year compared to last year's event. He thinks conventions in general are on the way out. In his opinion, now that we're fully embedded in the internet age, the days of consumers flocking to large arenas to gather information about products is coming to a close.

I think he may be partially correct. Pretty much every company will pass out a simple flyer or CD to redirect folks to the company's website "for more information."

Add that to ever-expanding tech journalism, net conferencing, and the ease of e-mail, and it almost seems silly to spend a bunch of money to go on a junket attend a large convention.

-monkey

I think that's a bit of an over-simplification. Members of the public still want to go and play all the newest games at E3, grab all the swag and see all the babes etc - the only thing which has changed is the event. The event is now for trade only so, rather than rushing a potentially buggy product out to demo to some journalists and risking bad PR and getting lost in the deluge of news, it now just makes more sense for publishers to control it themselves and invite journalists to their offices throughout the year when they want and can have a controlled environment.

The fact that Leipzig is now so big it needs a new venue definitely proves that there is still a huge interest in games conventions for the public.

[unrealhippie]

Bummer

[pendragon]

that's too bad.. I miss the days of the free-for-all spectacle of E3 back in the day .. ho hum :-/

[devdevil85]

so......Leipzig = the new E3?

Originally Posted by unrealhippie

Bummer

This saddens me as well because I always looked forward to an event where ALL companies/developers joined together in one place and showed off what they had coming up even if all they had were games/apps/etc. that were still years off and not seen as final product. Now that that was fun, but now what is there to look forward to Joe? I'm dying here....

[TreeDude]

I miss the good old days. Gaming has changed so much in the last 10 years. I wish I had a Delorean....

[devdevil85]

Originally Posted by TreeDude

I wish I had a Delorean....

Me too, just so I could go back to the year 1995 and have a reason to fly to L.A. and see those scantily-plad booth babes! (I heard they've really stifled down the skin showing.... )

"The first E3 was put on by the Interactive Digital Software Association (now the Entertainment Software Association). It coincided with the start of a new generation of consoles, with the release of the Sega Saturn, and the announcements of upcoming releases of the PlayStation, Virtual Boy and SNK's Neo*Geo CD. Specifications for the Nintendo Ultra 64 (later renamed Nintendo 64) were released, but there was no hardware shown."

Good times.....

[TreeDude]

Originally Posted by devdevil85

Me too, just so I could go back to the year 1995 and have a reason to fly to L.A. and see those scantily-plad booth babes! (I heard they've really stifled down the skin showing.... )

"The first E3 was put on by the Interactive Digital Software Association (now the Entertainment Software Association). It coincided with the start of a new generation of consoles, with the release of the Sega Saturn, and the announcements of upcoming releases of the PlayStation, Virtual Boy and SNK's Neo*Geo CD. Specifications for the Nintendo Ultra 64 (later renamed Nintendo 64) were released, but there was no hardware shown."

Good times.....

My sweet spot would be 1999. The release of the Sega Dreamcast. *sigh* Time goes by way too quick.

[supermonkey]

Originally Posted by CardJoe

I think that's a bit of an over-simplification. Members of the public still want to go and play all the newest games at E3, grab all the swag and see all the babes etc - the only thing which has changed is the event. The event is now for trade only so, rather than rushing a potentially buggy product out to demo to some journalists and risking bad PR and getting lost in the deluge of news, it now just makes more sense for publishers to control it themselves and invite journalists to their offices throughout the year when they want and can have a controlled environment.

The fact that Leipzig is now so big it needs a new venue definitely proves that there is still a huge interest in games conventions for the public.

Perhaps that's true. Though, I have to wonder how many people in the general public can continue to afford to go to these kinds of events, even if only to play games and get swag. Maybe it is an oversimplification to say that conventions in general are on the way out, but I think there's at least a nugget of truth in the decline of the mega conventions of the past. I really think this is true when it comes to the trade shows, more so than the "general public" kind of thing.

-monkey

[CardJoe]

Originally Posted by supermonkey

Perhaps that's true. Though, I have to wonder how many people in the general public can continue to afford to go to these kinds of events, even if only to play games and get swag. Maybe it is an oversimplification to say that conventions in general are on the way out, but I think there's at least a nugget of truth in the decline of the mega conventions of the past. I really think this is true when it comes to the trade shows, more so than the "general public" kind of thing.

-monkey

There's always a hardcore appeal in any market - just look at the people who boggle me every year by paying through the nose to go to sporting events and world cups.

[woodshop]

TBH.. I say all the groups get together, make a web site, and post all there news in the form of happy 720p torrents..