Next Generation broke the news yesterday that E3, the gaming industry's largest event, would cease to exist in its present form as major industry players pulled their support citing disappointment in the costs of the show. Shortly thereafter, Gamespot piled on writing that the show hadn't been cancelled, rather greatly downsized.
Now, the morning after, the ESA has spoken up and it appears they're both a little right. Next Generation sticks to their guns claiming, "In a release, the trade body also did not deny our reports that all major operators in the industry had pulled support." This would support their contention that the ESA had no choice but to spin the new, smaller E3 as an "evolution" instead of a last resort. Gamespot rode the downsize pony all the way into town, straplining, "Annual expo to become 'more intimate event,' focus on press events, small meetings." They also discuss the effect this downsizing will have on the city of Los Angeles and certain groups like cab drivers. Good stuff.
So smaller it is. Like the video game expo equivalent of Sodom and Gomorrah, E3 was too far gone. Too many booth babes, too much noise, too many crappy, plastic trinkets, too many long lines. Like angry deities, the gaming industry giants have crushed E3 from atop their Mount, only to see it rebuilt as a convention more in line with the modern gaming industry. Read on for the official ESA release, pasted after the break.
Read - ESA Confirms E3's Fall (Next Generation)
Read - ESA confirms smaller E3 in '07 (Gamespot)
To better address the needs of today's global computer and video game industry, the 2007 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3Expo) is evolving into a more intimate event focused on targeted, personalized meetings and activities, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced today.
"The world of interactive entertainment has changed since E3Expo was created 12 years ago. At that time we were focused on establishing the industry and securing orders for the holiday season," said Douglas Lowenstein, President of the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers and the owner of E3Expo. "Over the years, it has become clear that we need a more intimate program, including higher quality, more personal dialogue with the worldwide media, developers, retailers and other key industry audiences."
The new E3Expo will take shape over the next several months. As currently envisioned, it will still take place in Los Angeles, described by ESA as a "great and supportive partner helping to build E3." It will focus on press events and small meetings with media, retail, development, and other key sectors. While there will be opportunities for game demonstrations, E3Expo 2007 will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years.
"E3Expo remains an important event for the industry and we want to keep that sense of excitement and interest, ensuring that the human and financial resources crucial to its success can be deployed productively to create an exciting new format to meet the needs of the industry. The new event ensures that there will be an effective and more efficient way for companies to get information to media, consumers, and others," said Lowenstein.
Additionally, the evolution of the video game industry into a vibrant and expanding global market has led to the creation of major events in different regions, such as the Games Convention in Leipzig, the Tokyo Game Show, and company-specific events held by Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, and others around the world. As a result, Lowenstein said, "It is no longer necessary or efficient to have a single industry 'mega-show.' By refocusing on a highly-targeted event, we think we can do a better job serving our members and the industry as a whole, and our members are energized about creating this new E3."
Additional details about the new E3Expo event will be forthcoming in the next few months.
(Page 1) Reader Comments
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Also, Gamespot is saying that EA, THQ, Microsoft, and Sony were the major forces that prompted ESA to do someing. Weird considering that those companies have massive booths and very deep pockets for such things- save for THQ. Next-gen.biz is throwing around strong words about the number of publishers pulling out too...
You'd think Nintendo would be on that list also, but I guess not.
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thank god for this.
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Of course, the deed is done now, but they could have gone in completely the other direction if they'd had some foresight a few years ago.
As it stands, E3 is basically done. They're spinning it, but it's basically just going to be a series of backroom dealings at various LA hotels by the sound of it. Which is not much different than any other day in the industry. What made E3 stand out was the show itself, and that's history even by ESA's admission.
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Glad I was able to go to what I guess was the last real E3.
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They could have this downsized show,then have a larger TGS style affair here
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What is likely going to happen now, either the majors will hold their own show(s), they'll be apart of another show, or they'll independently hold meetings behind closed doors outside of the show.
My bigger concern is if this is an early indicator of the gaming industry as a whole. Is the industry downsizing?
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Still, we have what we have - a leaner E3 which will in theory cater specifically to the media and developers. I'm actually wondering if this is code for saying that they're just going to cut access to retailers - by far, I believe retailers were the most responsible for the sheer number of people at the expo the last couple of years (I know it's trendy to point out GameStop and EB, but they're just the largest offenders - I've seen everything from Toys R Us to a podunk gaming store in Wichita at the show).
On the flip side, I wonder if this means they'll open up some of the conferences and talks to more people - they'd only let in 5(!) press per panel last year, unless the press in question wanted to pay for a panel pass. It might be interesting to note some of these panels if they are opened up for everyone.
Still... unless they're putting in new rules about booth sizes, much stricter controls on what content can be at the booths, and how much "private access" can be offered (another, understated killer - why have a show to unveil new product if you won't let most of the attendees see it or play with it?), you'll quickly see that the new E3 is the same as the old E3.
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I think all three of the big players were uncomfortable squaring off against each other year after year in the pre-show press conferences and that is why they pulled out. Now they'll have their little "focused" shows were it can be all about them and make comparisons between the companies more difficult. A win for the companies and a loss for the consumers.
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its the end of the Game Industry as we know it!
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i attribute this to the ridiculous costs of gaming for both companies as well as the end-users...
an expensive game console that only sells 3 million units at launch does not provide a very... reliable-seeming avenue for a game developer, especially when the costs of development in some cases require multi-million dollar budgets (plus advertising!)... they raise the price of the game on store shelves, and in turn (i believe) they will see lower sales figures in almost every case.
the game industry sees only the hardcore gamer, and the hardcore gamer is becoming increasingly frugal, picky, and informed...
to the big companies, at least, this calls for downsizing, outsourcing, and cutting corners - ANYthing to maintain the profit margins seen from developing for the PS2.
the real answer to maintaining these profits? not a costly unreliable supercomputer; a gaming revolution ;)
-"superfan" tactics.
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thank god for this."
From this comment, I'm going to assume that you work within the industry for a media outlet or game studio of some kind. I'm also not directing this exactly towards you, but many others who share your opinion. While I understand that EB and gamestop employees may have caused you or others to wait in line for long periods of time at E3 this year and in the previous years, I find it very troubling that you, and many other "Industry Insiders" have such a deep hatred for the very people who day in day out push your products for minimum wage. You act as if you have a dedication to the gaming industry because you work for some developer or media outlet making $30,000+ a year to write about video games or make them, when the average gamestop employee is doing there job selling your product for $5 an hour.
While I understand they may be an inconvenience to you at E3, they have every bit of a right to be there as you, or anyone else does for that matter. Do you realize how much sales stores like EB Games and Gamestop contribute to the gaming industry? Yet people like you piss on there employees and dismiss them as "annoying fanboys". They may be fanboys, and they may be annoying, but they are every bit as instrumental to the gaming industry as some piss-on reporter at a hardly known gaming mag.
I'd also like to have it be known that I don't work at EB or Gamestop, this is just something that I hve trouble understanding. It's just that some of these "industry insiders" are such elitists it makes me sick. They act as if millions of people worship them because they get to play/make video games for a living, as if they are entitled to more than the average gamer. Big fucking deal.
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MS and Nintendo received large amount of praise and good press from E3 this year. Sony received nothing but bad press and ridicule.
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Bad press? It was all videos and transcripts of what they did, that't not bad press, that's just bad Sony. d=
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"It will focus on press events and small meetings with media, retail, development, and other key sectors. While there will be opportunities for game demonstrations, E3Expo 2007 will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years."
Translation: it's not going to be at the convention center, there are not going to be booths and conferences and keynotes (well, maybe keynotes) and all that jazz. It's going to be like a real low-key industry convention, as happens in various industries every day that you never hear about. Ever go to a hotel and see a sign outside that says "Welcome members of the furniture refinishing industry!"? That's now E3.
My guess is the larger developers that still choose to bother going will have a room or two rented out where selected members of the press will get to see new games. That'll be about the extent of the news coverage. But that's really no different than many of the events publishers already host themselves outside of E3. E3, as a show, is no more.
I know it's hard to accept, but that's the reality of it. It says so right there in the press release. No more "large trade show environment". That *was* the show. What's left is the back-room stuff that you never heard about until later anyway.
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I think that you'll find, if you ask most bitter, cynical industry assholes like myself, that the people bitching about fanboys at E3 are using the retail label as shorthand. Obviously retailer representatives have every right to be at E3, but counter clerks don't. It's not about equal opportunity, it's not about being nice, it's about doing your job or not being able to do your job.
If, for example, I'm being paid to do competitive evaluation (and a lot of people are) during the show, and I can't get to more than a few booths a day to do it because there's constantly a four-hour line of VERY young folks in front of me, bragging about how they started a blog two months ago to "get free E3 passes" then yeah, I think it's legit to complain.
Sure these guys are the fans, and they're contributing a lot to the industry by buying (or even selling) our product, and that's awesome. But E3 is not a fan show. GC Leipzig is. TGS has a fan day. There probably will be another fan show in the US any day now.
E3 was a show that our bosses all expected us to do work at, and it was getting really hard to do in that environment. And of course, as we all know that environment was tacitly encouraged by those very same bosses, with the ridiculous over-the-top booths and babes and so forth.
But no, I don't see the bitching as "F*** you, I'm an insider and you're not!" so much as "I'm trying to get some work done, and these guys are here to enjoy themselves".
There's no baseball fans or even non-essential club employees at the Winter Meetings, there should be no fans or counter clerks at E3. Hell, they probably shouldn't even have 99% of devs there at all -- just publishers, people that talk to them, PR and press.
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http://ea-sucks.blogspot.com/2006/07/ea-what-piece-of-sht-company.html
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Every year PAX grows exponentially, next year it will be moved to the much larger Seattle Expo Center. That's good, in my opinion, I thought that the Seattle developers were being a little ignored by having it in CA every year.
Anyway, there will be alternatives. Watch Comic Con's video game area blossum as well. Remember not ALL of the companies want out of this, in fact I guess that Sony was the real big opponent of this. They were upset at the lack of interest in their booth.
If you ask me they are a little butt-hurt because there was a huge Wii line all around the Sony booth, nobody cared about playing PS3 titles, and none of the people working in the Sony booth knew answers to any relevant questions about PS2 or PS3. I was shocked at how awful Sony was this year.
Also, Electronic Arts has come against E3 before in the past, just do a google search.
Big doubts of Microsoft or Nintendo having anything to do with this, as they both had their strongest E3 since I started going. E3 2006 will go down as my favorite.
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- JC
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Cameron, CES is the largest consumer electronics trade-show in north america, and second only to CeBIT world-wide (last I heard). So no, I doubt it'll be anything like CES ;)
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EA cannot afford another godfather.sony cannot afford another PR disaster. If you own the content, why not control who has access to it? So lets cut the fanboys, lets cut the hardcore that influence everyone else, cut all the streaming videos, cut the prices on the booths, and put a nice dark room in the back to show all the new wares. Dont know about you all but Im excited!
These companies actually beleive that since once you get rid of the fans that they will be able to concentrate on thier product. Do they think that an event focused on need for speed and the next madden will get them any more sales? Forget it. They want to kill sites like joystiq, where trash that these copmpanies put out become exposed. Bad press will soon mean no access- AT ALL. Hasnt anyone noticed all of th e kiss-ass writing going on at ign nowadays?
Just remember, the little guys will always suffer- if it was the independents complaining that they cant get to make much noise at E3 the bigger boys would be laughing thier asses off. The independents should just form thier own show. Show your hot games in your own forums so that companies like shitty EA look bad when they are just showin gmadden or fifa AGAIN.
All these companies forgot we buy the games. Who needs customers anyways?
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http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=pub&aid=7556
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E3 was designed for the industry to show their products to the press and to the purchasers for retail outlets. Those are the people who determine the amount of exposure a game gets and how many copies will be on the shelf. Over the past few years, though, those people have been greatly outnumbered by people who are just there to see and play the games, and maybe tell their friends -- and it was making it harder for the marketers, press, and retail purchasers to do their jobs.
In response to this, many companies showed their games by appointment only at recent E3s. While this certainly made it easier to make sure they got their message out to the outlets they wanted, I'd imagine they started wondering why they had to build a booth and hire people to staff it just to have private meetings with reporters.
Of course, the other problem that this "smaller" E3 solves is just that: it's smaller. At E3 04, I was barely able to walk by every booth in the first two days, much less get enough of an impression of anything to write a decent article. In most cases it was just a way for me to say "That looks interesting. Maybe I can find out more after the show." I'd imagine without the big houses there, it will be easier for reporters to see more of everyone, and perhaps let something obscure get some decent exposure.
I guess my point is that there really hasn't been a reason for most professionals to go to E3 for some time. All that you can hear over the shouting is more shouting, and there's really nothing communicated.
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Anyhow, looking forward to some sweet graphs and charts at the 2007 Electronic Entertainment Expo Expo at the L.A. Howard Johnson Johnson.
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I never said Bush himself did actually attack the E3, or anything, but that because of his actions during his terms, he has caused such a blow on the US economy, that even a multi - billion industry as the Gaming industry feels it, and feels it hard.
And remember, with great power, comes great responsibility. I won't be blaming Bush about 'everything under the sun' but his responsibility is, among other things, to protect the US economy.
I got much more on Bush but that's not really fitting for this subject. I could also give my share of links, but I won't do so here.
I'm not sure if you live in the US, Eric, but if you do, look around. Do some research on things. Open your mind for new ideas. This is not critisism, just a suggestion. After that, I would love to have a good, honest debate on all kinds of things with you if you please.
- JC
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As for not worth the cost they should have opened it up to the public. This move is killing E3 so I'm going to keep the hour of silence my roleplaying site will be having to honor the death of what E3 was.
This all very depressing as its the end of many peoples dreams.
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