The Gamer’s Quagmire: 30th Edition
- Jamison DeLorenzo

One of the more recent installments here in the quagmire probably will be the most morbid of topics that could ever be discussed here. Discussion revolving around the death of a gamer and then discussing parallel deaths in an online universe was almost could not have been more morose. Still, I had fun writing about it. This, however, is not the first time I have written about it. Recalling my article on the death of G4 as a gaming network I’m happy to write about a similar topic.

It time to talk about the upcoming demise of E3. Apparently if you are abbreviated down to a letter and a number you had better watch out. E3 has been the biggest gaming event every year for a while, almost since its doors opened a while ago during the glory days of COMDEX. As gaming becomes more and more popular and the gaming industry continues to rake in a seemingly endless supply of cash this little gaming expo (electronic entertainment expo, no less) was effectively a mirrored version of the Oscars for the gaming industry.

Not that I have a remotely negative opinion of Hollywood.

Much as the Oscars have become not a whole lot more than glitz and superficial glamour that had a show highlighting the previous year in film, E3 has become the same glitz and glamour gala (or G3, the beta version of G4… yeah, I couldn’t resist the stretch, sorry) which highlights the upcoming year in gaming. If it feels like there is some lingering disgust in my tone you are spot on. E3, partly because of all the money in the industry and because of the 3 major console producers engaged in something resembling a gaming holy war, has become an overcrowded theme park where you stand in line for 3 hours to get limited access to a booth.

You’ll forgive me if this doesn’t sound like fun. When you need a media or special backstage pass to find the interesting tidbits buried at the event it sucks the fun out of the event for gamers (no matter how much they will not admit it). The biggest gamers are not impressed by flashing lights (we play games in dungeons), booth babes (we have trouble getting along with women), 30 second demos (we can download those online), or long lines to play games (we have our own couches). If you’ve seen coverage of E3 recently or been to the event in person you’ll understand these gripes.

People seem to think that plans to reduce the size of the expo dramatically for next year stem from the wealth of information online or the cost to get a booth set up at the event. What bugs me is that when the event started, while it is true that the event does generate buzz about gaming, it was about opening up the gaming world to gamers. Money coming into the event pushed the best stuff to people willing to pay more money or just to media outlets that would shine some more light on the hidden secrets of E3. Eventually there is a saturation point where an event simply becomes too popular for every gamer that wants to run around in a land of, what ideally is, gaming nirvana and is capable of traveling to the event.

E3 isn’t exactly Mecca because it only exists for what amounts to a weekend. You cannot comfortably put hundreds of thousands of people into a building for events like this without chaos. The popularity of the event simply pushed the expo way beyond the amount of people it could comfortably support. Imagine trying to squeeze over 100,000 people into a football stadium for the Super Bowl. This just isn’t possible. And if you catch my analogy in its entirety you see where I’m going with this.

The trade show that used to be about accommodating anyone who wanted to get in is now transition to an expensive backstage pass to a big party. Demand for getting into the show isn’t exactly dwindling, so now E3, with the planned cutbacks in the size of the event, has now evolved into an exclusive party. Sure I’m a little bitter that I have not yet gone to the event and now may have to pay through the nose to get at what I would want to, but this is the evolution of E3. Most people should be upset by the upcoming changes even though we really do not have the full story yet.

I am delighted. E3 is collapsing under its own weight. I have gotten more compelling information over the web and from magazines about the upcoming consoles- information that should be spilling out of E3. The major stories from the past couple years of the event simply have not been compelling. While I do realize that it is hard to become emotionally invested in an event without ever having been to it my eagerness to attend has significantly dwindled over the past 5 years. Now instead of saving up cash for a plane ticket and trying to convince friends to join me in the trek I am almost completely cognitively dissonant from the whole event.

So now E3 is heading down the road of demise that COMDEX has already reached the end of. In time it will probably get there. Turning an ideally open-door show into an exclusive access party is, while in some respects necessary, a mistake. First come first serve has always been a personal favorite of mine. This is more than providing a bigger profit margin for ticket scalpers. If you turn an event from something that feels like it welcomes people in into a club that requires you fork over some extra cash the positive aura of the event quickly dissipates. If this is where E3 is going after 20 years then we may as well stick the proverbial fork in it.

Me? I’m too busy ignoring the event- in my eyes the event died years ago.

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