When the most beloved game designer of all time thinks your product is crap, you may have an issue on your hands.
I think it’s time for the ESA to hang it up on E3. The fact is, our audience is too far ahead of the curve, in terms of media consumption, to be well-served by a show like this. The big 3′s press conferences all fell flat this year, mostly because the hardcore fanbase has already heard everything they had to say. According to ubiquitous super-analyst Michael Pachter, “E3 is headed for extinction, unless the publishers and console manufacturers wake up to the fact that nobody cares about the show anymore.”
I would argue that the extinction of E3 as we know it is not only a good thing, but the natural evolution of the industry. We’ve enjoyed the attention of a fervent, die-hard fanbase for decades, and it’s only through their passionate attention following (and the rise of citizen journalism) that the old E3 format became so ridiculously expensive in the first place. After all, it was hard to keep the numbers down on an “open to all press & industry” show once every fan got the power to become press (with nifty blogs just like this one).
In the short term, there will be much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over the death of such a tentpole event. But the industry is proving to be bulletproof in the face of a dwindling evonomy, and we should all rejoice in that. We’re seeing a truly stable marketplace sustaining three home consoles for the second year of this generation.
Perhaps most importantly, the Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 all feature direct media channels to reach out to gamers, and potential gamers by extension. There’s still room for a small, no-frills show for retail buyers and analysts, but now that all three first-party companies (and presumably third-parties) can get an undiluted message to the audience via their consoles, they’re taken care of.
Bottom line, the kid’s alright. The fact that we don’t need an annual show to circle the wagons is the symptom of a very healthy, growing industry.
And if you need more proof than that, plunk down some Xbox Live points for Castle Crashers in a few weeks. At one point I was playing it in front of two designers from a completely different company, a fellow marketer, and a respected games journalist. We all loved it. When was the last time the year’s top box office picture recieved glowing reviews AND the Best Picture Oscar?
