Ten Reasons Why No E3 is Bad For Game Industry

Posted August 1, 2006 by Kevin

It seems like ever since the big announcement earlier this week about the E3 changes, everyone in the press has been jumping to the defense of the ESA and explaining why a different E3 is better for the game industry.

And I thought console fan boys were bad.

Of course, this all begs the question of where were these E3 naysayers before the big cancellation announcement? If E3 was such a bad setup, and publishers were getting such a raw deal, why didn’t anyone in the gaming press ever take notice before now? (I’m looking at you Adam Sessler)

One thing I want to make clear is that yes, E3 has been cancelled. Not changed … not downsized … but cancelled. Not too unlike when G4 bought TechTV and then bastardized the entire network until there was nothing recognizable from TechTV at all. Why did G4 buy TechTV anyway? But I digress. Back to my original point – E3 has gone the way of all the earth, and is no more. That being said, let us reflect and ponder what impact this may have on the future of the industry. We here at Game Lemons have conjured up ten reasons why we think it is bad for both gamers and publishers.

1. Publishers and developers off the hook

One good thing about E3 was that it gave publishers a deadline to make a public accounting of their next “killer-app” game. It was put up or shut up. No more fancy screenshots or scripted game-play scenarios. At E3 all the hype was stripped off and the games were laid bare for all to come and play. Without E3, publishers are now off the hook to backup all that hype generated by their marketing department.

2. Silences the independent gamer voice

A lot of the people who attended E3 were smaller independent bloggers or freelance journalists. With no more access to freely walk around and demo upcoming games at E3, the independent voice will be severely hampered – including yours truly /sniffle.

3. Smaller publishers and developers hurt

In past E3’s, I have always immensely enjoyed scanning the sidelines for smaller games with less of a budget than the major headliners. Most of the time, these games were created by a small team with a lot of passion. E3 was a place where a small development team had a medium to demo their efforts to thousands of gamers. With a more secluded format in the future, these smaller development teams will have a harder time getting the attention of gamers.

4. Stifles creativity

Anyone who ever ventured into the lower conference halls knows what I’m talking about. That was where you always found the quirky new peripherals created by entrepreneurs with a vision. Sure, sometimes they were odd and a little impractical, but this creative energy will no doubt suffer with the new closed-door format.

5. Biased Media

With an invitation-only format, only the big boys are going to be invited. Like it or not, this inevitably creates some pressure for those who are invited to speak favorably of the games they see. I personally don’t think this setup will allow for the brutally honest, hard-hitting journalism we have seen in the past when E3 was pretty much public domain.

6. Stale Reporting

With no major event like E3, updates will trickle out slowly throughout the year. Announcements that would have otherwise been forced to surface in May, will be sidelined until games are “just right”, or when it fits into the companies fiscal marketing plan. Some announcements will never see daylight as things change behind closed doors.

7. Excitement and fun factor reduced

E3 was an exciting time in the industry. It was kind of like Christmas for gamers. We all looked forward to May when we would finally figure out what publishers had up their sleeve. Without a giant, singular event like E3, the industry seems a little bit less exciting. Sure, people will still get excited about upcoming games, but nothing can match the momentum that can follow a really cool game coming out of E3.

8. American gamers shafted

The fallout from E3 being cancelled will end up across the pacific at the Tokyo Game Show. Japanese gamers are really the ones who will reap the benefits of E3 being cancelled as publishers choose the TGS as the event to really show off their big guns.

9. Disconnect between publishers and the every-day gamer

Sure, a lot of the E3 audience was comprised of Blockbuster and BestBuy employees who fudged their way in, but in a way that helped create a more realistic view of the games. Publishers will miss out on real-life play-tests. What more could they want then thousands of gamers playing their games, creating a general consensus of what the end consumer thought of their product? This, of course, is a two-edged sword where bad games get slammed. Maybe this is one of the reasons the big three (Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo) didn’t like E3 – it put too much pressure to perform, where the consequences were costly if things went badly.

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