Bye Bye E3! See ya... someplace new?

I remember my first Comic-Con International in 1989. There were comics, a few movies; there were even TV show promos. But can't seem to remember what kind of video game presence there was. I mean, I'm sure it was there, probably a little booth along the edge with two TVs going, each connected to a NES or something, with some not-so-memorable game playing. I can't remember for sure, but I'm sure someone was there.

This past CCI, I couldn't walk five feet without stumbling across some sort of gaming thing, whether it was peripherals, new games in development, direct downloads, or even little plushie guys. On one side of the hall was "gamer-land," starting with the Nintendo DS set up from E3 (nice to see them get some serious use out of that) which had a constant supply of fans oozing into the aisles. Sony wouldn't be outdone, so they took up a good portion of the rug with their PS2 and PSP stuff. Square was there, with half of their E3 booth showing the upcoming FF titles and assorted change, along with pimping the associated merchandise. There were other companies there as well, such as NC Soft and Blizzard, but you get the picture.

It seems that gaming companies have finally figured out that when they're not playing, gamers see movies. Gamers read comics and books. They watch TV. And they spend money. And while the press guys (and rich/lucky industry folks) go to E3 to be impressed or disappointed by whatever title seems either close to completion or totally hyped up, regular people go to conventions such as CCI or Anime Expo and hope for a glimpse of something new.

Movie studios caught on to this notion first, and have taken serious advantage of it. Studios now take up a good majority of floor space pimping their newest projects. They bring stars, directors, even snake handlers to the fans. Does it help? Probably. I'm sure they get a serious amount of publicity from word of mouth/internet. But on a fan-filled convention floor, they get free publicity and create buzz for a movie with the help a few giveaway buttons, keychains, hats, and t-shirts (giveaway gold). I have shirts for movies I don’t plan on seeing, but the shirts are so cool, I wear them, and boom—instant billboard. And I paid for that privilege by waiting in line to be marketed to. I willingly listened to a pitch for a show I won't watch so they'd give me a shirt to advertise their show (which was probably cancelled before the season was over). In a sense, I'm a free booth babe.

So why has it taken the gaming industry so long to get in on the action? Three words: Electronic Entertainment Expo.

E3 was the most-hyped gaming show in North America. Not the Game Developers Conference, but E3: The mother of all trade shows. Walking into any given hall immediately put you into sensory overload for the first 15 minutes. Then you realized the sound was distorted because of the volume of everything was turned up way past eleven. The graphics were fabulous on a Widescreen flat panel HDTV, but how would they play on your 25 inch Funai? Companies would promote their next big game which wouldn’t be actually released until the following winter, maybe. And finally, what do hundreds of scantily clad women (and 2 men) have to do with a FPS? Don't get me wrong; I liked E3. They gave out wonderful swag, and the trailers were great to watch. But want to play a game? Bring a book, because there was a two-hour wait for five minutes of game play. If you were lucky.

At Anime Expo 2006, Capcom celebrated the anniversary of Pac-Man. People bought Pac-hats and remote control ghosties. At CCI, Capcom celebrated the anniversary of Street Fighter, and displayed loads of really strange memorabilia. Pickachu waddled around the show floor and gave out inflatable pokeballs before heading back to the Nintendo area. Cosplayers rotated through every single console at the Square booth, spending time and money on anything and everything they could get their hands on. And everyone who wanted got a chance to see and play everything. A friend of mine, who writes for the local paper, said exactly what I was thinking: ‘I wish E3 was like this again.’

E3 is supposed to be a trade show. That means you should need specific credentials to enter the show. If a retail outlet wants to send people to select products, they need to send only the buyers, not the part-time stock clerks. It means companies may send developers and PR people, but shouldn’t be allowed to bring half-naked men and women to promote a product they have no knowledge of. It also means if an media outlet sends fifty writers to cover the show floor, they need to have at least fifty current gaming articles published in order to qualify for credentials and they need to produce at least one hundred articles within a reasonable amount of time to be allowed to attend the next show. Harsh? Sure, but it would cut down on the 'friend-of-a-friend-of-the-IT-guy-who-owed-him-a-favor' attendees who care less about the games and more about the swag they’ll put on eBay as soon as they get home.

The ESDA says that E3 will return, but not as the megashow everyone's come to expect. Personally, I'm looking forward to the change. If the companies want to market to the gamers, they're better served doing so at CCI, Anime Expo or Dragon-Con. Gamers do have lives, you know.

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