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[StereoVsn]

Personally, I agree with the OP. E3 drew together so many different companies, press, devs, etc.. that it can’t be replicated by standalone show like MS or Ubi presentation even if it’s live.

The excitement, reaction and audience aren’t there. You don’t get cool discoveries by the press, and overall “vibes” just don’t cut it with online preset presentations.

I think it’s really a shame that we don’t have that anymore. And I think it was positive for overall industry as that yearly show (Gamescom as well) generated a lot of excitement for gaming as a whole which flowed down to individual firms. Yeah, it was expensive but not outrageously so considering the large corporations, and for smaller players it wasn’t nearly that pricey.

I know we are in different times with a modern audience and all that jazz, but it’s too bad the big extravaganza is gone and it’s replaced by anemic and piecemeal trickles of info.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

It's like the big 3 finally had a realization "why are we competing so hard against each other" and decided to fuck off into their own niche. OP is right though and I miss the entire atmosphere. Was it ideal and efficient to have a trade show like this? Probably not, but it was something the entire industry and fans could look forward to each year.

 

[Laptop1991]

I agree, it was better than what we have now, at least there was a buzz about E3, and there was more participation from gamers and the public, even though i was never hyped for that many games, i enjoyed it.

 

[bosnianpie]

It does indeed. Some people were very quick to dismiss it as outdated and boring but I think they failed to see E3 as a celebration where we could all take part and share the excitement. It's wasn't all about getting the dream announcenents we were waiting for, it was really a week where fans from all over the world and of all genres came together to celebrate gaming.

As a PS fan I never know when we are getting a showcase anymore and it can feel very underwhelming when they finally decide to have one after 18 months or so. State of Plays could just aswell be blog posts.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

My frustrated dream.


I wanted to go to E3... Now that I have a great job and a great salary... It disappeared.

 

[NeverYouMind]

This particular year AAA companies that could afford floor space are releasing their stuff at a snail's pace. There would not be much to cover. You can look back at old gaming shows covering the events and the quantity of offerings are staggering. You can watch them even to have a bit of optimism rub off on you. I am personally lucky enough to have something to look forward to this year.

 

[DaleinCalgary]

Does he works for Sony now?

I think he works at Bungie, or did.

 

[RoboFu]

The whole industry fell in what happened to Hollywood years before it. Everything got corporatized. it lost heart in favor of budgets, focus groups, and the dread consultant sub ecosystem just to be able to crest a set formula to minimize risk.

 

[SmokedMeat]

The internet killed the magic imo. The magic used to be waiting for massive double sized magazines packed with E3 coverage. You’d get a screenshot or two and that was it. You were left salivating for more.
Kind of less is more compared to modern times where everything got leaked before the shows, and you had plenty of footage to watch.

 

[SHA]

The hype is censored, modern hype is cringe, just saying.

 

[Kiya's Guard]

Nice appreciation thread. In these events a lot of deals were struck behind the scenes among companies and studios, in the midst of all the fanfare and parties

 

[SJRB]

Peak E3 was like Christmas. I always took some days off work so I could watch the livestreams in the middle of the night. I liked how Gamespot had a secondary stream from the E3 floor, just walking around and showing everything. The oldschool Giant Bomb crew with their evening shows. Early days of Easy Allies with their reporting.

The vibes were good.

Hype, megaton, anger, cringe. It was a rollercoaster of emotions but always worth it.

 

[Zheph]

I loved E3 but I remember most people saying "how shit it was", "waste of time" or "borefest". What gives?

 

[Humdinger]

I agree. I miss the build-up to E3 and all the great laughs and discussion it would provide for months afterwards. A live trade show has a very different energy than carefully scripted trailers or Game Awards.

I understand why they went away. They weren't financially cost-effective for the companies involved. They spent tens of millions of dollars and often just generated headaches for themselves -- not just in putting an expensive show together under time pressure, but also dealing with the aftermath when something went wrong. That's part of what made E3 fun for gamers -- ridiculing the gaffes, the lame presentations, the fumbles. But for the companies who had spent so much money and effort on their presentations, that must have been frustrating. It wasn't surprising when some of the major players began to pull out.

From a gamer standpoint, though, it was a lot of fun. Sometimes I'll go back and watch old E3 shows. You can feel the energy. Very different than what we have now, waiting for the next trailer drop.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

Agreed, miss E3 since it was a week of the year where it was all things games. Usually there were a few good surprises in there and I generally liked the structure of it.

Now it's just some prerecorded shit or the fucking awards show with Geoff who I can't really stand.

 

[ahtlas7]

Sadly, times have changed and everyone eats that shit Keighles is putting out now.
This post sponsored by

 

[Guilty_AI]

And I completely get that... but you know there are younger generations... it isn't all about us.

Like I said, people will say that younger gens don't care... but I think it's because they aren't giving them a reason TO care.

I realize things will always evolve and change.. but my whole point is that what it's evolved and changed into isn't exactly capable of producing the same magic that it used to in the past.. and I don't think it HAS to be that way.. it just is, because everything is so complacent these days. It's boring/sterile.

This whole thread is about how you want your experience, your idea of "magic" to be translated to young people. So yes, it is about "us".

The new generation has their own set of things that get them excited, and clearly those aren't big E3-like presentations.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

They tried during PS4 era. It isn’t increasing console market.

Appealing to core gamers like on this forum are least of their problems. Its simply not a focus. You will get games you wanna play.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

I miss it for the hype, the memes, and the gifs. Giant enemy crab, “don’t you guys have smartphones?”, Wii Music drummer are just a few that are still used today, more than a decade after they went live.

I surely don’t miss Sony’s presentations, always happening in the dead of night for us Eurofolks. Plus, they went from The Year of Dreams to a guy in a hoodie playing guitar in front of a giant screen showing a CG video. At three in the morning. I never watched another Sony show after that, not even on replay.

E3 had been shit for a while when it comes to announcements and reveals. Social media meant everything got leaked way in advance anyway. Still… those memes

 

[mystech]

Watching Sony absolutely demolish Microsoft at the PS4 reveal was one of the best E3 memories I had. Me and my buddies would get together, order some pizza and give ourselves permission to just be kids again for those moments.

Loosing E3 was tough… However, in the current landscape, I don’t think E3 would ever be what it was in the golden years. We now have a gaming industry with creativity chocked out by shareholders, “woke” gaming journalists who whine and bring politics into everything and developers who have either lost passion or can’t stand the very audience they are creating games for, or both.

The fanfare around TGA each year definitely shows how much people like these live events with game surprises.

 

[Bond007]

I agree.
Everyone praised the current method when the change started happening.
I for one was always excited for E3 and pretty much set the tone for the remainder of the year, as a kid and as an adult. I hate the "random" nature of the current process.

 

[realcool]

Live shows made it feel like the fans of the hobby were worth the effort of hyping up.

 

[Sethbacca]

Anybody ever find themselves missing the E3 issue of the print magazine era? Shamelessly scrutinizing your magazine's 1.5" screenshots for months of games that may or may never come to be, along with any new gaming hardware rumors. That was always my favorite issue of every year.

 

[The artful mincer]

Disagree.

Most of the live stuff is very cringe.

That's what makes it memorable!

 

[Games of Today]

My whole life revolved around waiting for the month of June.

Summer break, and E3! It was unreal. I'm just glad that I got to watch the 2016 PS4 Press Conference live on my TV uninterrupted. That was probably the sickest thing I've ever seen related to gaming.

Plus, remember when actual big titles were revealed at the Spike Videogame Awards!? Uncharted fucking blew my mind with the reveal trailer.

 

[cireza]

The industry is missing exciting games and hardware. E3 was simply a window to these, it didn't make them exciting : they were to begin with.