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6/11/11 2:07:06 AM#141
Yeah, that's pretty much how I felt. It was largely a yawnfest. I mean, developers and publishers started to figure out that they could communicate directly with their users years ago, probably somewhere around '06 or '07, and that's when the death knell was sounded for games journalism (in every field other than entirely subjective features and reviews, which are handled just as well by blogs as by magazines) and the E3 show itself. E3 is a dinosaur. All I got out of E3 was a bunch of trailers, some footage that made a game I was dubious about look worse, and adverts. Yep, that's entirely worthwhile, that is. But what, again, publishers and developers are realising is that if they just throw their trailers at the Internet - they spread. Youtube and various other video services help with this. And that way their stuff is seen by a far wider variety of people. E3 has always been about just canned footage, trailers, and adverts, but those are things that are better served by other avenues. I can't believe that anyone puts any stock in E3 these days, either, but I imagine them to be somewhat decrepit too if they haven't realised the truths that I have. This is the age of the Internet, of a more free exchange of knowledge, ideas, and entertainment without barriers. What purpose does E3 serve? None, really. And that's why for the past few years E3 has been really memorable. Honestly, anyone could ask themselves whether there was anything that they'd take away from this E3 as something worth remembering, and they'd come up with nothing. E3, itself, is just sort of floundering, like printed games journalism. A relic from a bygone age. And people wonder why some developers and publishers don't want anything to do with it. entrepreneur; engineer; politician; sensation? welcome one and all to the era of information We have the Internet now, anything that the Internet does better won't find a place in this world, and the Internet does better at many things. The Internet does the E3 better than the E3. |
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6/11/11 2:09:59 AM#142
Agreed. Its been about ten years since E3 was any good. |
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6/11/11 7:39:49 AM#143
Well, I see what you mean, however E3 has evolved... I was actually there this year (Just got home last night and Jet Lag is a nightmare) Yes, lots of trailers, however a lot of what was shown on the main stage was actually being played by the developers and was actually ingame footage The thing about E3 is it is also mainly the place the hardware companies show off tech, not just games. Nintendo unveiling the Wii U (WEEOOO :D) was awesome, and yes, that new controller loos and feels as cool in your hand as it does on screen, its an awesome bit of tech E3 was always really for the companies to come together and a lot of back room discussions happen between the games companies and hardware companies for who is gonna get what... Gamescon is the event for the games and the people who play them but as a journalist myself? this was the best E3 for the last decade
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6/11/11 2:26:48 PM#144
I think my point was missed. I'll elaborate.
Regarding back room deals, those shouldn't happen anyway unless it's public, but that's just my opinion. And if they must happen then you don't really needt he E3 for that. Either that or you could just turn the E3 into a corporate-only tradeshow, which is about the only use it would have.
The E3 is still a floundering, dying beast (much like journalism itself) versus the Internet. Anyone who's watched the decrease in saleable printed magazines, or stores that carry things that don't need personal interaction, knows this. You can't really do a clothes shop on the Internet, so those are still common, but where I live there isn't an entertainment store (of any kind) for miles now. There used to be stores that were dedicated to music, some for films (and rentals), and some for videogames. The only stores that still manage to exist are those that either handle rentals or trade-ins, and that's all they subsist on. The rest are all gone. All the stores that were dedicated to providing new entertainment are all gone.
That's the age of information - anything that's irrelevant gets brushed aside by the march of progress. And the E3 has been deemed irrelevant by many people, because the majority get nothing out of it. Unlike say PAX, or GamesCom, or other conventions. As a tradeshow alone E3 works, but that's the only way that it can work, and E3 has only three choices for a continued future.
What some people aren't seeing is how irrelevant some things might be, or even how irrelevant they might be in this modern world of ours, which is an unpleasant truth but a truth nonetheless. The Wii U has been widely ridiculed, not respected, from all that I've seen. It's not got a good rep thus far. Why? People have only heard talking head journalists yammer about it, and they are not impressed. Now, if the Wii U had shown at a con, where actual gamers could get their hands on it, it might have been a different story.
As I've already pointed out, a number of developers, publishers, and engineers realise this. Whether it's hardware or software, it doesn't matter, you'll find that there are people jumping ship and going elsewhere. The amount of people signing up for E3 each year is less and less and this is a fact (do your research and you'll know this to be true as well). This is because they realise that without direct contact with their gamers, gamers are onlly going to feel a distant connection with whatever's on show, and there is going to be bitterness there.
Yes, it's cool for the journalists that go, but for the gamers, the consumers, and the people that actually matter, it's irrelevant. Look at the reaction to the trailers this year, I've been watching a whole lot of meh, myself. The reaction to the Wii U, as I said, has been utter ridicule, and this is because of that disconnect. It's great for the journalists, but it creates unrest in the consumers, people are becoming disenchanted and disenfranchised with the E3 and rightly so! Why should they be interested in the Wii U when no one they know has seen it first hand, and has only been touched by a bunch of talking heads who act as though they've been paid off to talk it up?
Yeah.
There's the problem. The Internet is about real people and the E3 discludes real people. That's why it's a dinosaur. If people were going to the E3 as consumers, to a consumer convention, then the E3 would be relevant to 2011. But if you look at the world today, in 2011, this brave new world of information that we're all a part of, then you begin to realise that many people are asking what the point of things like E3 is. Hence my conclusion, that E3 will either adapt and change itself or it'll die. It'll either become a tradeshow purely about hardware and deals, or it'll become a convention, or it'll just die off.
For years now PAX has been more popular with gamers and consumers, the people who matter, than E3 has been.
This is just the march of progress. Some things can't evolve and adapt to our new world, and they'll either have to stand aside, join the march, or be trampled. I know some people live in the past and that's very unfortunate for them, but you have to take into account the youngsters whom for them this will have been the only world they know, and all this freedom of information will be a natural part of them. A survey in '08 said that there were four babies being born every second, and this is the world for the young or those who can adapt.
The E3 was important... ten years ago. Before the Internet became a thing. But now the Internet is a thing. It's a big, great important thing that changes the lives of billions of people every day. And children are being born into the Internet. And if you were to ask someone who's familiar with all this information whether they saw any point to a show which handed information only to journalists, so that they'd have to get the information from them, they'd ask you why they can't just get the information from the source. And they'd be right.
ArenaNet puts their trailers up on their site. And we all get them straight from the source.
So, as I said, that means that the only real purpose for the E3 is to become a convention, a tradeshow, or to just give it up.
The funny thing is is that E3 has already reinvented itself once, but it reinvented itself the wrong way, and in the opinion of many gamers (and you can read about the opinions of this online, just do some web searches regarding the new approach of the E3 show) it was the wrong choice. E3 continues to make bad chioces and it continues to be irrelevant to the average gamer.
This thread is pointless because of this question: If the E3 is irrelevant to the vast majority of gamers, who're modern people with access to the Internet, then why on earth or by any valid and logical reasoning should ArenaNet be there?
Answer that question and the whole point of this thread becomes null.
/thread
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6/11/11 2:29:30 PM#145
In Summary: How dare you mortals questions anything that A-net does! Blaspheme! Unlcean! Unclean! Begone with you! |
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6/11/11 2:46:33 PM#146
Originally posted by madeux In Summary: madeux knows more about ANet and NCSoft and their motivations and inner workings than any meager ANet fanboi/gurl. Bow down to the superior and wholly unbiased shadow knowledge possessed by madeux! |
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6/11/11 6:47:59 PM#147
Heh, I read Dream_chasers post and just had to laugh out loud... he just shows how little he knows about business... His "opinion" about back room deals just shows this even more so
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6/11/11 6:52:37 PM#148
Originally posted by Getalife according to the esa, the average gamer is 37 years old.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20069682-17/a-childs-hobby-average-gamer-is-37-years-old/
data from the daedelus study at stanford from 2006 also backs this up.
Games i'm playing right now... "In short, I thought NGE was a very bad idea" - Raph Koster talking about NGE on his blog at raphkoster.com |
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Densetsi
 Novice Member
Joined: 12/26/09
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." |
6/11/11 7:40:30 PM#149
Besides E3 being ridiculously expensive the only new thing we would have seen is dressed up E3 girls surrounding GW2. Which isn't exactly a bad idea but ArenaNet has been great on releasing information and news on the game and will be attending the upcoming conventions that focus more on the players. It's just my opinion but I think they are doing a kickass job on how they are handling things and releasing information. |
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6/14/11 4:37:39 PM#150
Originally posted by Lonesamurai1 Nothing wrong with "back-room deals" but you don't really need to shell out for plane tickets, hotel tickets, promo-booths, convention tickets and most importantly DAYS of productive work for critical staff....when you could achieve the same result with some web-conferencing software, an internet connection and a couple hours blocked out on your Outlook Calendar. |
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6/14/11 4:49:12 PM#151
Totally agree, except for one big thing... the press is bought, not just by money, but also by fun and shiny things
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6/14/11 10:41:16 PM#152
I was hoping this thread would die an ignoble death. Still, since it's back... nice to see that GrumpyMel actually caught what I was talking about, that there's absolutely no point to fly out to the E3 just to make backroom deals. Methinks the lonesamurai mght have reading comprehension issues, which is amusing since he's insulting the intelligence of others. But hey! What can you do? It's so hard to find good forum readers these days. (Also, can't help but wonder if those going on the attack aren't just butthurt journalists. Bet'cha they are! Or at least heavily involved with the journalism industry. Self-important stick-in-the-muds. :P) |
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6/15/11 5:44:56 AM#153
oh I am definitely a butt hurt journalist... but I am a butthurt journalist that got to play a lot of cool new stuff before the public did last week while I was at E3 no, not having a go, the point, as I said is for the press to play stuff to preview it first, and then real people get to play them at later ones... its all previews anyway and ways to get free advertising ok, lets say there was no press event like E3... press, like myself trying to do a job, which we get paid to do (well some of us, not all of us work for MMORPG or IGN) and trying to get to play the demo's and see the new tech, at the same time as muscling past joe public just wouldn't work
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6/15/11 5:47:43 AM#154
Go to a trade event where press can see your game or go to several game conventions in the coming weeks where both press and fans get to see your game.
Tough choice, init? |
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6/15/11 5:57:24 AM#155
E3 isn't the only source of preview for games. Opinions from others, experts included, don't matter at the current status the game is in. Unless the game suddenly became unplayable, it matters little to me. Interviews were performed the same week as the convention. There was news out the same week to get some level of exposure. Sure, it wasn't a preview, but they never planned on going to E3. If they said they wouldn't go for the reason they gave, why would any expect them to suddenly have a change of heart? They have to be decisive in their actions. "We're not doing this! Surprise! Just kidding! We spent a lot of effort putting together a show booth that we didn't want anyone to know about. Here we are!" The blog stated they wouldn't attend E3 last year. This shouldn't be anything new. Let the thought die. Arenanet has made a blog post that announces visits to conventions nearly 2 months in advance. If they planned E3, they would get the word out somehow. |
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6/15/11 12:43:02 PM#156
ahh, but you are again missing the point of a press only event its the press that gives any product free advertising and also then gets joe public excited for the public events
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6/15/11 1:03:15 PM#157
Originally posted by Lonesamurai1
Certain things need the press' hype. Some things - on the other hand - can be hyped by the public all on their own. It also looks better when it's the public cheering your product on, and not a bunch of bought-out "news" agencies. |
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6/16/11 1:14:48 PM#158
yup, again, in this MyFace and Spacebook generation, and with blogging as rife as it is, yes hype is easier to get by joe public, however journailsts, on the whole, not all of course, are paid to do a job because they are good at doing it and more people will read a preview on IGN or MMORPG's main page, plus in the technology pages of papers and magazines than a persons blog that noone knows about E3 is the ONLY press event in the technology industry, whereas there are at least a dozen various tech/games conventions for joe public, including two PAX events now and even ComicCon (both San Diego and London) shows off games and movies now
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6/17/11 9:22:24 PM#159
Would have loved to see more Engineer gameplay footage! |
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6/18/11 10:45:52 AM#160
the Engineer will be playable at Gamescon
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