E3 was marketing padding it’s budget and launching their marketing campaigns for the fall/winter releases. It’s main purpose was to get gaming magazines (remember those?) running previews of games coming out at the end of the year, or building the hype train for a future release. There was a minor aspect of retailers and publishers talking about shelf space, total orders, marketing materials and such, and you had small publishers that were shoved to the back and sides of West hall or stuck in the dregs of Kentia Hall (often joked as “can’t afford a better hall”) trying to negotiate some retail buys but that’s pretty much it.
GDC basically stole the industry specific panels and learning workshops.
The changing nature of game retail killed the retail meetings. GDC also stole whatever remained of this part of the show.
And the death of game magazines and transition to the internet only of game journalism eliminated the need for an industry only show.
So no, the industry isn’t making a fool of itself, it’s performing a mercy on a show that was basically useless to the current and future marketplace that only survived as long as it did by virtue of established inertia and nostalgia, sliding into irrelevance. Would it have lasted a bit longer without Covid? Sure, but the writing was on the wall by 2017 so it didn’t cut much short. The only ones who should be lamenting it’s passing are marketing douchbags who now no longer have justification for millions in their budget and the local cocaine dealers, prostitutes, and bikini models that now don’t have that sweet summer paycheck.
Those random corny shows and game awards filled with trailers give them more bang for their buck marketing wise. And the closed off nature of E3 and game journalism moving to the digital space made it so E3 was basically a bunch of Youtube videos whose only difference from any other time of the year was an E3 logo plaster at the start and end by the last few shows anyways.
If E3 wants to survive and become relevant again it should become a PAX knockoff. Open it up to the public, demo showcase, etc.
Or it’ll stay trash as an industry trade event nobody really cares about. And like trash it’ll end up in a dumpster and forgotten about.
PalmBlock t1_jed9rwu wrote
Reply to comment by angelkrusher in Geoff Keighley is brutal lol by x2FrostFire
GDC is the industry trade show now.
E3 was marketing padding it’s budget and launching their marketing campaigns for the fall/winter releases. It’s main purpose was to get gaming magazines (remember those?) running previews of games coming out at the end of the year, or building the hype train for a future release. There was a minor aspect of retailers and publishers talking about shelf space, total orders, marketing materials and such, and you had small publishers that were shoved to the back and sides of West hall or stuck in the dregs of Kentia Hall (often joked as “can’t afford a better hall”) trying to negotiate some retail buys but that’s pretty much it.
GDC basically stole the industry specific panels and learning workshops.
The changing nature of game retail killed the retail meetings. GDC also stole whatever remained of this part of the show.
And the death of game magazines and transition to the internet only of game journalism eliminated the need for an industry only show.
So no, the industry isn’t making a fool of itself, it’s performing a mercy on a show that was basically useless to the current and future marketplace that only survived as long as it did by virtue of established inertia and nostalgia, sliding into irrelevance. Would it have lasted a bit longer without Covid? Sure, but the writing was on the wall by 2017 so it didn’t cut much short. The only ones who should be lamenting it’s passing are marketing douchbags who now no longer have justification for millions in their budget and the local cocaine dealers, prostitutes, and bikini models that now don’t have that sweet summer paycheck.
Those random corny shows and game awards filled with trailers give them more bang for their buck marketing wise. And the closed off nature of E3 and game journalism moving to the digital space made it so E3 was basically a bunch of Youtube videos whose only difference from any other time of the year was an E3 logo plaster at the start and end by the last few shows anyways.
If E3 wants to survive and become relevant again it should become a PAX knockoff. Open it up to the public, demo showcase, etc.
Or it’ll stay trash as an industry trade event nobody really cares about. And like trash it’ll end up in a dumpster and forgotten about.