E3 is c...c...ca...?!

[QuagsireQing]

CANCELLED?!

Read the horrifying article here!

From the looks of it, as many reputable video game sites are reporting it, there are no unfounded conclusions or reading between the lines here...it seems to be 100% truth. E3 has been...terminated.

That means 2006 was our last E3 ever?! How can it be? E3 has been a part of my life for so many years, and is my favourite week of the year, with Christmas following at a distant second. There's just nothing like tuning in to live coverage of Nintendo's press conferences (at least they went out with a substantial bang) and spending the week watching videos and reading the news. It's like...a part of me just died. :'(

Besides, E3 is where every company (except Sony) pulls out all its shockers! Twilight Princess footage came out of nowhere! "You want a Revolution? We've got one!" How is Nintendo going to drop the bombs on us from now on? Official websites? Guh! Would you be as excited about Wii if you headed over to Nintendo.com one day and read the article, "New System Launching Q4 2006; To Feature New Controller, Fun Games?" What excites you more? That, or Shigsy on stage in a tux showing off his mad 2/2 time signature skillz?

E3 is where we met Reggie. It's where the DS was shown to have more than simply two screens. It's where the Triforce of the Elite (Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata and Reggie Rils-Aime) come together to give us one heck of a ride each and every year. It's where startling revelations, like Star Fox Command and Yoshi's Island 2, are made, and where videos of English translations of Japanese games previously unconfirmed for outside launches flow like milk and honey. It's where the entire year of gaming begins and ends. All that stuff...simply isn't the same when not announced in the same grand manner as at E3.

I'm...I'm going to go cry for a while now... :'(

 

[Doctor Oak]

There will always be an E3. Just because it wont be in LA or wont be called E3 doesn't mean we wont get the same thing annually.

The Games Industry needs big moments like E3, with E3 itself gone, they'll just move onto more verdant pastures and do it again there.

 

[Linkachu]

"However, we understand the larger exhibitors have jointly decided that the costs of the event do not justify the returns, generally measured in media exposure.

Publishers believe the multi-million dollar budgets would be better spent on more company-focused events that bring attention to their own product lines rather than the industry as a whole."

I dunno, Oakster. From the sounds of it we're more likely to see something much smaller, individualized, and less costly in the future, no big massive show like previous years. In that way, there won't be another E3 again (or an all-encompassing convention) - which sucks balls. E3 is so much fun because there's such a huge rush of news and cool shit shown off. Even if individual companies emulated it in their own ways, it wouldn't be the same =/

R.I.P. E3

Edit: Btw, what other websites have you read this on? I've checked three rather large/official ones, and none of 'em said anything about it o.O

 

[Doctor Oak]

There already is GDC, TGS, GDGC, The Edinburgh Games Festival, ECTS and Spaceworld. Not to mention a growing London Games scene with the London Games Festival in September being aimed to be annual.

We don't need E3 for an all company tradeshow. And if the big 3 wanna spend more money on independent ones as well, then all the better.

From the webmaster of BritXBox:

This is probably actually quite good. It means that things will be more evenly spread out across the year giving us gaming journalists and easier ride and giving you guys a constant stream of information rather than one big mother load once a year.

It'll allow publishers to put as much focus on their smaller titles as the triple A ones which typically steal all the limelight at E3.

It'll also mean that more press events will be happening world wide, giving journalists more chance to travel and spend more time with each individual title leading to better opinions and content.

Unless you have a team big enough to cover about 2-3 games each at E3 (like IGN or Gamespot) then you're always going to loose some content opportunities.

On top of that Leipzeig is getting pretty big these days as well and that's a lot closer than LA!

This might mean a good UK gaming event might appear.

Shame tho, E3 was crazy. Glad I got to experience it.

 

[Linkachu]

And yet none of those shows even make half the impression on me E3 does/did. Heck, I don't even know what they all stand for

That guy makes some good points, but I still would've loved to hit an E3 myself. Oh wellz. If this really does mean a more steady flow of info, all the better.

 

[Doctor Oak]

And yet none of those shows even make half the impression on me E3 does/did. Heck, I don't even know what they all stand for

...That's because E3 was there in the first place... duh.

E3 burns out the journos, it burns out the industry. To have two of them a year is silly.

 

[Linkachu]

All I meant was that even if they do exist, they aren't nearly as imposing. Maybe one of them will grow to E3-stature now that it's gone, but meh. I'm not going to gain anything debating with you over this

 

[Doctor Oak]

The only reason E3 has the stature it does is because the Big 3 decide that it does.

The instant they decide to give that stature to another show, it is that stature.

 

[QuagsireQing]

The "new E3" with its "intimate" press meetings of a few hundred or so pretty much means nothing to gamers now. There'll be good journalists there, for sure, but are most companies going to want to bother to show off anything super-mega exciting to such a small audience? It'll be like last year's E3...minus the Wii/PS3. Just a bunch of small side stuff that doesn't get a heck of a lot of attention or interest.

As for all those other shows...do you ever even hear about them? I mean, Tokyo Game Show usually doesn't get much first-party attention, and the big announcements (like Wii's controller) are made only to small press audiences in stuffy rooms, and while I've heard of the Leipzig convention, I don't recall a single "new" game announcement being made during that time. One of those had better become a "knock-our-socks-off" event, and quick. I don't know what I'll do without one! Of course, as an English-speaker, E3 has always been the only one I could actually watch and enjoy.

 

[Doctor Oak]

The Tokyo show generally gets overlooked because Nintendo have their Spaceworld instead, and they're pretty much the people who would be pushing new hardware and therefore the software with it into the public eye.

Last year at Leipzig, the WFC was demoed, along with Mario Kart and how it would work, so it's certainly not been left out of the importance scales. GDC has had the Shadow revelation, ECTS always premiered at least one new British game before it died so it's not as if no-one reveals things at these events or doesn't want to.

Of course, it's impossible to have an E3 scale event twice a year, as I said earlier, so all these events have been overshadowed because of it. From now on, they'll all have growing importance - which can only be a good thing for all involved.

I mean, look at it this way. This year we started off the year with GDC and E3 sitting waiting with revelations on the Revolution/Wii. The GDC didn't really come out with a whole lot, E3 gave us more than we could have imagined. Since E3 we've had not only a dry spell of news (outside of the latest installment in Ballmer vs Allard) AND a dry spell of games. Neither of which will end until the TGS in September.

After that, the gaming year's mostly over show wise. The London Games Festival in October will be a local blip as gaming is pushed closer to the mass market in the UK but aside from the effect it will have here if it's a success, it wont really matter that much influence anywhere else.

Next year, everything will be more spaced out. We could, and rather likely will, have the end of 2007 releases announced at GDC, some shown. More shown at a restructured event in LA in May, TGS will see 2008 becoming an influence, Leipzig and The London Games Festival will grow and have a much wider influence and will more than likely dominate the announcement/demonstration of every key title between August 2007 and March 2008.

And add into that a lot more independent shows, including stronger focus on events like Space World, X07 and whatever Playstation is calling it's shows these days and you have a much more evenly spread out rotation of news and new games.

It's sad to see E3 effectively over and done with - it really is like a gaming holiday - but considering that it's burned me out for the last 3 years covering it on my own FROM MY HOUSE not even at the gorram event, I wont be alone in being just a tad relieved at the fact that things will be smaller and easier to manage now.

 

[kimishiro]

Yeah.. E3 was the only gaming event that I ever bothered to take notice of.

I dunno any of the ones Oakster mentioned way up there.

I don't want to be bothered with mini-E3s under a diff name, featuring a game or two.. They aren't worth it.

E3 was like one giant party in your mouth... er... I mean.. one week-long circus that paraded around in all its glory.

Sure, some of the games really SUCK, and hence, they lose money even bothering to be there. All the shit they pull to attract buyers isn't really effecting the status of sells mainly because, the people who are going to buy it are going to buy it whether there is a skantily dressed girl outside to booth or not.

E3 isn't about one specific company, or their games. E3 is about a hobby, ya know? This is like canceling the world cup because Italy's oversea trades didn't go as well as they would have hoped, ya know?

They apparently don't care. Its all about money in the end.. no longer is it about the consumer.

TO be up to snuff on these new consoles, the game-maker-magicians must dish out some fat cash. If that means taking away the biggest annual video game event of all time, then so be it.

I'm ranting cause I'm sleepy, ignore me. @_@

 

[Doctor Oak]

Nintendo will be at the 2007 E3 Media Festival:

Nintendo commits, Microsoft "supportive", Sony looks to US

Nintendo has become the first of the three platform holders to confirm involvement in next year's E3, with Microsoft and Sony yet to make a firm commitment to the reborn expo.

Speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz, Nintendo UK PR manager Rob Saunders said, "I can confirm that Nintendo will be involved in the E3 expo next year."

However, details of just how big a presence Nintendo intends to have at the newly-formed event have yet to be revealed.

Microsoft's stance is less clear, with a spokesperson from the company's UK office telling GI.biz, "We're supportive of the move ESA has taken. It's still early days, and we're not in a position to talk about what Microsoft will be doing in regards to next year's E3, but we'll be making an announcement nearer the time."

David Wilson, head of SCEE PR, was unwilling to offer any kind of commitment, stating, "We generally view E3 as a 'US' show. That isn't to devalue or deny its significance to us, it's just that because it's based in the US: SCEA 'own' it."

Wilson added that further comment would only be forthcoming once SCEA had confirmed its position.

The move to reformat E3 as a much smaller event was confirmed by ESA president Doug Lowenstein earlier today.

He confirmed that next year's show — which has held the games industry in its thrall for the past 12 years - will be retitled the E3 Media Festival for 2007, and is slated to take place in July as opposed to the traditional May timing.

However, as the cross-spectrum first reactions from the platform holders show, the impact to the entire industry of losing the event is still unclear. Greater clarity is expected towards the end of the week as the US arms of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft all make their official comments regarding the move.

 

[Chibi Tai]

There already is GDC, TGS, GDGC, The Edinburgh Games Festival, ECTS and Spaceworld.

Spaceworld hasn't run for years. Nintendo cancelled it, instead running several smaller (and considerably less interesting) events.

And I'm sure that ECTS is dead after the constant press drubbing it got year-in year-out.

 

[Doctor Oak]

ECTS is dead, yeah.

Spaceworld has been on and off. Apparently it's meant to run this year, though I haven't heard anything about that since the start of the year :/.

 

[DJ 9-Volt]

this is the biggest pile of hot steaming bs i have ever seen if i have ever seen it

without e3 video games just feel like a empty void in my grey matter (brain)



I will not sit aside and let this happen

If anybody is with me say i