E3: The Goods and the Bads

There are several good and bad consequences when it comes to no more E3.  Nintendojo reflects:

No one anticipated E3′s sudden downsizing. The ESA has used the event each year as both a celebration of the where the industry has been, and where it is heading. The 2006 show exemplified this as much as any, as Nintendo and Sony clashed– in adjacent booths, no less– over the future of console gaming. But those same companies feel the show has overgrown its use, as the time and money could be better spent elsewhere. The new E3 will certainly be new, but will it be better?

 

The Good

Individual Showcases –
Nintendo formerly used SpaceWorld as an exclusive venue for the company’s major products. But with the rising costs of making an annual E3 presence, Nintendo uses E3 almost exclusively, providing little more than keynote speeches at other events. Nintendo is one of the major players unhappy with E3′s format, and one of the major reasons E3 will change.

Without a central, industry-wide event, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft may elect to hold more personal, company specific events at major times in the business cycle, such as the next console shift. Without the need to compete for attention, information may be easier to come by to attending media, and gamers will learn more of what they want to know.

The Bad

No Industry Showcase –
The week of E3 is the week that the gaming industry moves front and center in the mainstream media. It is an event of such enormity that it demands attention, and E3 always gets it. Other events, like the Game Developers Conference, can be the source of announcements, but they generally do not provide the gaming-centric, consumer-focused revelations of E3. Others, such as Comic-Con and the Consumer Electronics Show, force video games to share space with other products. Film and television have events that fans eagerly await each year, but video games no longer will.

More at: http://www.nintendojo.com/fullfocus/view_item.php?1154587748

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