Could 2008 Mark the Last Year for E3?

[Alex Arbiter 3]

July 21, 2008 - "E3 is weird this year." I can't even tell you how many times I heard that phrase uttered last week. And I concur... it was indeed a strange, awkward, and unsettling experience. I've attended every one of the past 14 Electronic Entertainment Expositions, but I'm afraid that unless some drastic changes are made, we won't be seeing number 15.

The months leading up to E3 are usually rife with giddy excitement, all-night preview writing sessions, nervous cramps, and admittedly a lot of belly aching and whining because we know we're going to have to work 20 hours a day for the entire week. Not this year, though. There was no crackle, no anticipation, no energy. Given the low-key pre-E3 events this year, nobody was expecting much, and that's exactly what they got when they arrived at the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC) last week.

Usually the convention center is plastered with posters, signs, and billboards ballyhooing the biggest titles. Sixty-foot high banners drape from the top of the roof, emblazoned with huge plumbers, soldiers, hedgehogs, and other videogame characters flapping in the wind for everyone who passes through downtown L.A. to see. There was absolutely no signage this year; during the convention, there were actually more signs up for the California Gift Show opening the weekend after E3 than anything to do with videogames. It felt like a few select members of the videogame industry had scurried into the LACC when a security guard turned their back and set up a secret game convention in some back office space. "Shhhh, come in quietly and don't tell anyone we're here." I was walking around the convention center at 3 p.m. on the first day and I felt like it was six on day three; I was just waiting for a security guard to come up to me at any time and exclaim, "You'll have to leave the convention center, sir; the show's been over for two hours." It's as if one of the most fun industries in the world decided to have one of the most boring expos just to confuse the masses.

E3 2008 at the LACC. Yes, this was taken during the show.

Now I know what you're thinking: "Stop your whining about E3 this year! It's all about the games, stupid!" I totally agree. E3 is all about the games, but with approximately one-tenth of the companies represented this year than were at the show in 2006, we're not getting a full slice of what the industry has to offer over the next 12 months, either. The high cost, restricted space, and limited number of invites pretty much excludes the smaller publishers from the show altogether, and while the overall quality of titles was high, even the larger publishers that were there were showing fewer titles than ever. And even then, you could count the number of surprises and never-before-seen titles at the show on one hand.

E3 2006 at the LACC.

The fact of the matter is E3 wasn't good for anyone this year. It wasn't good for publishers who had to spend millions of dollars to present their titles at the LACC this past week. It wasn't good for the developers who had to interrupt their development cycles to create playable demos for attendees to see. It wasn't good for the reporters who didn't see much new at this year's show. It wasn't good for the buyers, marketers, and business development teams as there aren't enough people at the show to get a large volume of business conducted. It wasn't good for the ESA (the Entertainment Software Association, the organization behind E3) because it didn't do anything to promote the industry. And given your feedback on the show, it wasn't good for you guys -- the consumers -- either. Who exactly is the show for, then?

Even though 2008 marks the second year of the smaller scale of the show, there was just something about this year's convention that made it feel that much more isolated and detached than last year. I think having the convention back in the LACC this year really accentuated the differences of what it means to reduce the attendees by more than ten-fold, from around 60,000 to 6,000. While I was expecting the worst from last year's show as well, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed having E3 in Santa Monica. It was also weird, but different enough from the old E3 that it felt new and interesting. Having the show back at the LACC this year just gave everyone a chance to see how different everything is when you try to pare down the show and hold it in the same space; it just made the whole affair seem empty, depressing, and devoid of enthusiasm. The lack of people made it feel like we were all cast members in an episode of The Twilight Zone, and we were all in danger of disappearing into the void around every corner. The videogame industry needs a spectacle, it needs a circus. It needs the half pipes, it needs the bands, and yes, it even needs the booth babes (and booth beefcake barbarians, for that matter). And as painful as it is to say this, it even needs EA making everyone's eardrums bleed with their 30-foot high, sonic-blasting speakers.

In 2006, the area outside of the LACC was packed with crowds excited about seeing the latest and greatest the videogame industry has to offer.

So what can be done to bring back the spirit of E3? I think it's time for the ESA to get with the times and arrange a videogame show that's open to the public as well as the videogame business community. Boasting more than 180,000 attendees, the German Games Convention (GC) has become one of my favorite shows to cover. While it's open to the public, much like the Tokyo Game Show, the first day of the conference is only open to business attendees. GC also has a business and press-only section, so even though they have the flash, glitz, and pizzazz needed to attract the crowds as well as the mainstream press, business attendees can get their work done without having to fight the crowds. It's really a well-run show, and I think the ESA should pay attention to GC as a model for the future of E3.

Even the demo stations didn't seem to entice the 2008 convention attendees.

Another potential idea is to retain the small scale, but move the conference out of Los Angeles altogether and head to Las Vegas or San Francisco. People are ready for a change, and downtown L.A. has never been a welcoming destination. I'd love to see E3 move to the Moscone Center in San Francisco, myself. The Game Developer's Conference has seen great success after its move from San Jose to San Francisco, and given that the bulk of the industry is located in the Bay Area anyway, it just seems to make sense to hold the convention in Northern California. Also, with around 18,000 attendees, GDC has over three times the attendees as E3, so the Moscone Center would certainly have the room needed to support such a reduced-scale expo without looking as sparse and lifeless as the LACC. The ESA reportedly paid the city of Los Angeles more than $5 million last year to break their contract with the city to hold E3 at the LACC through 2012. I'm not sure if there's an annual penalty or not, but regardless, the show won't live in its current form, so a radical change needs to happen.

A shot from this year's GDC. It's a strange turn of events when a techie developers' conference looks more crowded and fun than E3.

Like a sick friend or relative, I hate to see E3 in the state it's in now. As annoying and painful as the old format was, this year's show was just a sad, depressing shadow of its former self. Major publishers like Activision Blizzard already dropped out of the ESA and pulled out of the show this year to do their own event, and if something isn't done to improve the quality and reach of E3 2009, I suspect we'll see even more publishers cancelling their E3 appearances.

Even though something drastic needs to be done to pull it out of the funk, here's hoping we haven't seen the end of E3!