May
14, 2009
Readers are the real winners during the upcoming E3
By
Michael Lafferty
It’s chaos unleashed … or
at least it could be
It’s almost June and
during that first week of the month, I will truly envy GameZone readers. While
you get to sit in a comfy chair, reading all the stories that come out of E3,
there will be several of us from GameZone in the trenches generating those
stories – putting up with the crowds, the noise, the flashing lights, the
pandemonium all to bring you information about the games coming out in the near
future.
Of course, gamers have
this conception of what E3 is, and in many regards they could be right. It’s a
cacophony infused with almost overwhelming visceral stimuli. At least, it once
was and if the ESA is true to its word, it will return to that this year.
E3 is when the publishers
trot out the games that may be coming out in the coming year, or games they are
working on and have in good enough shape to show off to the media. It’s supposed
to be a media-centric trade event, but that idea is sometimes fractured.
Over the past two years,
the ESA tried to redefine the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), and create a
more temperate climate that would be conducive to working media talking to
publishers and developers about their games. The event was moved to Santa
Monica, spread out through several hotels and suffered from traveling woes. Why?
The buses between the appointed venues didn’t always run on time and it was
easier to walk 12 blocks or more in the heat to make an appointment on time
rather than wait for a bus that would get you there late. While the show was
much calmer, it almost felt like the event was wobbling on legs that would not
long support it. In 2008, the event returned to the Los Angeles Convention
Center, but there were huge rules put on the displays and the entire atmosphere
was eerily quiet. It sort of flopped, and seemed to underscore the idea that E3
was going to be a thing of the past.
Undaunted, the ESA is
trying yet again, allowing the show to return to the pandemonium that marked it
as an incredible spectacle during the first few years that I attended the show
(which started in 2000).
Let me try to give you a
sense of what those first shows were like – before I started to become jaded and
battle-weary from the forced march from one end of the Convention Center to the
other for meetings. When it comes to the sound, imagine being at a music
festival based on a ‘battle of the bands’ type of format. Now imagine that
instead of one act following another, all the bands are playing at once … and
you are standing in the middle of their speaker columns … all of them.
Yep, it’s loud and
sometimes you have to strain to hear what tour guides are telling you about
games.
As for the visceral
elements … E3 was like a carnival where everything was bigger and bolder and
trying to outdo the next booth. There were visual surprises and treats, as well
as those sights that left one shaking their heads in amazement, wondering what
that spectacle had to do with gaming.
The public relations
folks, the ones conducting the tours, stretch and strain their voices trying to
speak over the noise and by the third day of the event, some of them can barely
speak – which makes listening to them all the harder. The convention center
itself is a fair size and after marching from one end to another, it can be a
bit wearing. Too much to see, too little time to write – it all adds up to an
event that is taxing.
Which is why I envy the
reader … you benefit from reading all the news and reviews being pumped out,
without having to put in the leg-work to get the stories. You may miss the
chaos, but you get demos and see what is at the heart and soul of the event –
the games.
Lucky you.
****
Also Check out:
Badge of Honor
