E3 possibly cancelled from now on

[Steel Onimusha]

I couldn't believe it when I read it. It's shocking news to me. :eek: :(

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

[Rip]

What???? Somehow the information reeks of falsehood, I will wait for independent verification for this to go through, multi-million dollar shows, while mostly shows, are just the tip of the iceberg. Microsoft spends millions to rent huge plots of lands and buildings for press events, far more than it spends on E3, and it gets far more coverage from E3.....it just doesn't make sense in terms of media exposure! E3 def has a higher return on investment than many of the expensive things companies put on......
Interesting and indeed shocking, hopefully it won't be true. (as they have already planned the date in the LA convention center for E3 next year i can't imagine they'd just throw it off)

[Steel Onimusha]

We'll have to wait and see on monday. Hopefully, it's just a rumor.

[Rip]

The E3 website still have info for E3 2007 -->
http://www.e3expo.com/default.aspx
indeed we'll have to wait.

[Marines]

That is not cool. E3 kicks butt. It is the only biggest event we gamers have to look forward to. If they stop it then there probably is going to be a petiton about. If they stop haveing this event then all the gameing companies will have to present their products individually unless they come up with an event them selves. O well. The only thing we can do is wait and create a petition. Over all this a bad deal and some needs to say something about it.:eek:

[Gypsyfly PMS]

I just found this: Gamespot reports downsizing (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6154897.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6154897)

This seems a little more legit. I always knew they would eventually down size. Like I posted on the FD forums, it's turned into a 3 ring circus and not so much about the games but more about taking pics of booth babes(not knocking that if that's your cut of tea, and getting free stuff.

Blah, thank's alot Steel I was supposed to go to bed...

[Steel Onimusha]

I just found this: Gamespot reports downsizing (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6154897.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6154897)

Blah, thank's alot Steel I was supposed to go to bed...

:( I'm sorry, sweet dreams of E3 circuses :rolleyes:

[Rip]

I like mah free stuffs!
But the booth babe thing is just rediculous.....none of em play games and look like they're going to fall over.

[Sargonas H2O]

i think this is related to sony's recent thing. they REALLY got upstaged HARDCORE by nintendo the past two years in a row now. (and they are always right across from each other as well) and i think this is kind of a "were taking our ball and going home" sort of deal, who knows.

All i know is didnt make this one, but i went last year, which by far has been the best ever im told. If i dont go to another ill be alright, but now that i get Exhibitor passes, i sure as heck would like to be able to USE them a few years :)

[Gypsyfly PMS]

Ok, this was the source of the story: MCV UK (http://www.mcvuk.com/newsitem.php?id=24196)

Despite the Los Angeles event's undoubted importance and pulling power, some leading companies - and particularly Electronic Arts - have called for a review of the event in terms of budgets required.


I'm sure the show is getting super expensive for the companies, and this is probably good news for them. And I read in the Gamespot article there was talk of moving the event.

It looks like EA is pushing for it the most, which doesn't suprise me. This is just a wild assumption, but could they be thinking about moving the event to Orlando. We have the second biggest convention center in the world, plus it would be hella cheap for them to set up here, especially for EA based here in Orlando.

[xi Apocalypse ix]

They gotta be out of their minds, what is the Gaming Industry to do without E3? Im going to file a complaint against them. :mad:

[Seatownstriker]

Woah this is crazy if its true.

[Nokarot]

Its on ESReality, too

[H2O SkywalkerX]

wow. i will never get the chance to go :(

[Look Its a Panda]

Is this really that big of a loss? Sure, E3 has it's charm, but developers will most certainly find several other occations to present their new games.
Hopefully this will spawn some gameshows that are open to the general public, and the huge company already got their own events.

Too bad I never did get to go, I was actually concidering to do so next year, but I don't really have any sure way of getting in (since you need to be affiliated with some game-related firm/magazine).

[EDIT: Joystiq got some good points regarding this; http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/30/e3-canceled-for-next-year-and-beyond/]

[N0M4D]

It is true guys......If it's not in L.A. anymore, I'm gonna be upset. Its the one time a year I get to see my family as well. If it's somewhere else, I'll have to choose E3 or my family

[GeekesS]

Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/30/e3-canceled-for-next-year-and-beyond/)
1up (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3152521)
Slashdot (http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/30/1848209&from=rss)
Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6154897.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6154897)

Or keep up-to-date via Gametab (http://www.gametab.com) where it finds the news for you!

[Apoth3osis]

Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/30/e3-canceled-for-next-year-and-beyond/)
1up (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3152521)
Slashdot (http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/30/1848209&from=rss)
Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6154897.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6154897)

Or keep up-to-date via Gametab (http://www.gametab.com) where it finds the news for you!

Dont forget ign.com, they had a little post on it as well.

They talked about how the costs of E3 is more than the gains. Even if E3 is "cancelled" there will be other venues... I hope.

[PMS HateMaker]

Sounds to me like the first article really nailed it. That's a bummer :( E3 was awesome. My husband and I scoured the net for videos of the new games and or platforms shown at E3 every time they had it. Was always exciting to see what was coming out.

[Look Its a Panda]

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/news/story.php?sid=6154935
http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/esa-e3-changing-no-large-show-floor-191004.php

The new E3 will be a more intimate affair that focuses on "press events and small meetings with media, retail, development, and other key sectors," according to Doug Lowenstein.

[MiZz Psych0]

Aww, I don't want a smaller E3, thats not cool :(

[asphix]

Its not gone per-say.. but the major players have decided to pull out due to the expenses spent, or so the word on the web says. Makes sense to me.

Personally, I think this is a great move. From the perspective of a gamer looking for a place to go and be wowed.. it sucks.. but from the perspective of someone who loves the gaming industry, its one of the best thinngs to happen to e3 and gaming expos in general.

e3 was harboring a lot of bloat, and there was so much focus on the bling... fashon... size and wow-factor of booths and who is who related smut that the original vision of e3 had become lost. From what I have perceived, it was recently becoming less about innovation in gameplay and game creation, promotion of new concepts, industry-wide networking and exposure for little guys who dont have the multi-milion dollar PR bugets, and became more of a TRL / MTV style media fest.

With this, the big publishers and console makers like Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA, Blizzard.. etc etc will host their own shows at different times.. and it will be more about the information, their vision for the future etc etc.. than trying to catch a random passer by's eye. And e3, or whatever pops up to fill its void will be dedicated to the little guys who are in need of an expo to collaborate for media exposure.. which is what its all about.

And all the parties, PR and glitz and glamor will move away from leeching onto an expo and find its own place. I dont believe that will go away.. but IMO its more appropriately found at a LAN rather than an industry expo.

[Rip]

As usual, I agree a lot with asphix on the E3 bloat issue (although I am rather miffed about not being able to go to the parties this year...if they drop them...oh noes!).
But there is a lot to be said about making it more for the games and less for the glitz, and I for one thing its a good thing. Granted the numbers may make it harder for people to get in, but in general, its better that we'll be seeing at E3 what we should be seeing, the technology and the games. Its still for PR and media, but for those of you who wandered around the expo this year, you'll remember the insane lines for the wii (and security was having tantrums about leaving the isle open for fire code reasons), as well as just a heck of a lot of people and very little in the way of really showing the games in depth. It seemed rather superficial, sure you saw cool stuff, but the 'show within the show' (i.e. appointment requirements) made it not what they want it to be. So I see this as a back to basics route for them, and in a way, while I'll miss the glitz at times, I can only laud them for scaling back in a world where bigger = better seems to dominate.
Hey, on the plus side this should make hotels more reasonable for E3 2007.

[PMS Wedge]

I have to say I'm not surprised. I didn't really see much ROI for these companies, and I guess they finally realized the same. Though my opinion was always that E3 was the glitz and glamour show, and GDC was the nuts and bolts show (I think I actually prefer GDC for the substance but I'm a techhead).

It should prove to be very interesting. There WAS a lot of excessive bloat for E3 as a show, so maybe this will help streamline things a bit.

[Gypsyfly PMS]

Found this on Bungie:

PAX extending registration date (http://www.bungie.net/News/Story.aspx?link=cometopaxzoom)

I guess PAX, Digital Life, CES, and GDC will see this as a chance to get the attention E3 always had.

[Rip]

A bit is somewhat relative, after all the information released today, it looks like you can expect about 10% of the previous years in terms of attendance (and a july timeframe instead of june!)
I put up as much information as I could reliably find on dpad (http://dpad.gotfrag.com/portal/story/33732/) however there are plenty of other rumors circulating. What should happen here, GDC will be the hardcore tech side of things as usual, the new E3 should be the media and press event.

One interesting effect I havn't considered quite yet is the game release cycle, usually summer is very dead....I wonder if it will just mean E3 is going to have more finalized games than previously (I'm sure sony is happy about that, their 20-30% complete games really hurt them this time around)

[N0M4D]

I disagree.... Sure it may have been chaotic at times, but that's what made E3 so successful. The excitement! I dont see how in their press statement they can say, "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." THEN say, "E3Expo 2007 will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years." So how are they going to emulate the excitement on that type of magnitude? You know this means Good-bye to G4 as well. G4 TV recieves a 78% increase in rating during E3. They earn a whopping $20 million in selling airtime during just those 4 days, much like the Superbowl. E3 has become a TRADITION in the gaming world, and without the way E3 currently is, I would have never made it in this industry.

[justinbaily]

While i've never been to e3 i went to consumer day of ces back in 92 basiclly it was the same thing.....even saw hdtv's well before they appeared in our local target's or wal-mart.

[Rip]

I agree many different groups who have come to take the E3 show as the event it was will have to really change the tune of their song now, even for people like me who are in the media in one form or another will be scrambling around attempting (often in vain) to get into the 'new' show. I do think, however, that while there is a large downscale, the fact that so much of the attention had really fallen from the games doing SOMETHING was necessary. If you look at it, most of the games had been shown in one form or another before E3, the big information was put out before the show even began! And when the companies do that, it reduces E3 to nothing more than an expensive marketing stunt and not the industry announcements they want it to be. Regardless of what it has become, the event has to have a strict purpose for the founders, and i think they found that they were not showing off much of anything new at the show itself, and spending millions of dollars and the studios spending thousands of man hours preparing to show of...so little new is really disheartening in a way. I'm glad I was able to attend this year, and I hope to experience the new E3 next year. But while I understand that there is no way to bring out the excitement and everything, I contend that the excitement isn't needed. The industry has grown large enough that it is self sustaining at this point. We don't need any huge trade show to get interest from the average Jo. You won't see anything near this scale for movies or other forms of entertainment, maybe we will see more formal award ceremonies arise in the future.
And E3 wasn't like the superbowl or the olympics - there wasn't the competition. As soon as it switches to something that can be pinned as a competition, whether it be the rise of say CPL or MLG or WSVG or the Direct TV invitational - or an oscar type thing (on that scale) for video games - then that comparison can be really valid.

Remember, there is always GDC, Digital life, CES...etc. I'm sure at least one of those events (quite probably GDC) will step up in terms of media fanfare. Really, when you can't fit into one of the biggest convention centers in the world, maybe its time to scale back. Who knows, I'm not necessarily sure I like the idea of a dissapearing E3, it seems like we're loosing an icon of sorts, but I also know that the event for most of the people there just wasn't enough new to show. A lot of very nice CG, a few interesting games, but really after day 2 I had taken a quick glance over most of the stuff out there. What I really would have liked was to really talk with the developers and have a chance to do the things that were all only available by appointment, if available at all.

[Nokarot]

http://www.e3insider.com/portal/

[asphix]

I disagree.... Sure it may have been chaotic at times, but that's what made E3 so successful. The excitement! I dont see how in their press statement they can say, "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." THEN say, "E3Expo 2007 will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years." So how are they going to emulate the excitement on that type of magnitude? You know this means Good-bye to G4 as well. G4 TV recieves a 78% increase in rating during E3. They earn a whopping $20 million in selling airtime during just those 4 days, much like the Superbowl. E3 has become a TRADITION in the gaming world, and without the way E3 currently is, I would have never made it in this industry.


Is the superbowl still the superbowl when it becomes 60% about the ads and 40% about the game? How would you like it if the game was paused every 3 minutes to accomodate an action packed, exciting ad for the next, best upcoming product?

Thats what was happening to E3. It was more about marketing than what E3 was initially about. E3 isnt about marketing in the traditional sense. Its about collaboration between the industry. An expo's main purpose is for industry insiders... reporters are a by-line. The fact that people think it was "tradition" to have these giant shows that serve no purpose other than to promote, and advertise brand-names within the marketplace is a shining example of just how misconstrued e3 has become.

While I certainly dont want to see G4 go away.. I think its beneficial to them in the long run to try and pull ratings from quality programing (live LAN coverage? Worth while video reviews, previews... etc rather than leech off an expo. If they cant do that maybe they deserve to fizzle out.. as they're really not contributing anything.

E3 should be about the engines, concepts, design. It should be about bump mapping, modeling techniques, lighting and rendering, story board techniques... It should be about interactive story telling and how to best implement it under circumstance x, y and z. It should be about particular games and how they do all of the above sucessfully. It should be about industry leader *insert name* talking to his peers about this new method of plot delivery he believes will further the industry and revolutionize the media.

E3 should NOT be about Xbox 360. It should NOT be about Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo. It should NOT be about Wii. The expo became so bloated with marketing hype for brand names franchises and products that the purpose for the expo has all but dissapeared. We focused more on brand names, and game titles (the physical name and the hype it drives) than we did the essence behind what makes the products what they are.. what makes those game titles sucessful.. etc etc etc.

(example.. halo 3 at e3-2006 was nothing but a name and a short movie.. It could have been announced elsewhere with just as much sucess.. now if Microsoft/Bungie wanted to talk about the engine to their peers.. discuss how they are doing things and how its beneficial to developers.. thats different. Dont get me wrong.. I loved hearing about halo 3.. But I can do that any day.. At e3 I want to hear about what Lucas Arts is doing with the new Euphoria Physics engine and how it will change the average gaming experience.. I dont want to see a movie clip followed by a brand name. Thats a waste of my time. Sadly, Halo 3 recieved more attention than a lot of what was showing at e3.. as useless as it was.)

I'm not saying there isnt a place for something like E3 (in its present form). But IMO the marketing bloat is best found at a LAN.. however, people are even saying that marketing in that area is having a negative impact. (http://www.twitchguru.com/2006/07/12/the_death_of_a_lan_party/) If there is a place for all the media bloat, they will find a place for it. Most likely (as RIP said) some sort of "annual gaming awards ceremony" where the purpose is to celebrate, promote and reward brand names, franchises and achievements within the industry.

E3 is certainly not the place.. and while it will be a change to see e3 take a step back.. how does that saying go... "one step back, two steps forward"? Somethign like that. I believe this will be for the better.. and most people within the industry, once the implications of the change sink in, will mostly agree.. as at e3-2007 they will actually be among their peers and be able to communicate without having to shout over the heads / fight through the current of numerous journalists, consumers and spectators....

It is however, just my opinion.. and I want to point out that I respect yours.. I just dont agree with it ;)

[Rambo Rachel]

I think it's just going to be press only from now on... :(

[edx]

Honestly I think Superbowl ads are hilarious;)

[asphix]

Honestly I think Superbowl ads are hilarious;)

I do too, and they're arguably why the superbowl is worth while for a bunch of people.. but at that point you'd find yourself in a chicken-egg type scenario and have no choice but re-evaluate your whole purpose for being there. Is it for the ads? Or is it for the game? and depending on your answer, you either cut back on the ads, or get rid of the game and have a "OMFG COMMERCIAL FEST!!" in its place.

With that said, its understandable whats happened here.. and its the more desireable route for the future of the industry IMO. It shows we're ready to grow up and play hardball for the sake of the future, even if it means less fun and a slight step backward.

I have no doubt something will rise up to fill the marketing void this will create, if it isin fact, as important to the industry and its continuance as so many are expressing they believe it to be.

[RandomHero]

They should move it to Knutsford XD

Could be the end of free stuff bonanzas, first PSE, then Game Stars...will E3 be next?

[N0M4D]

I still disagree.

[Gypsyfly PMS]

I guess all our Pre 2007 E3 Swag will be worth alot more now.

[VballChick PMS]

nooooooooooooooooooooo!

[edx]

http://objection.mrdictionary.net/go.php?n=219169

LOL sorry couldnt help it;)

[black mamba DSO]

that sucks :( it's always something i wanted to go to. doesn't sound like whatever they'll be doing now will be too exciting.