Support NeoGAF

[TheAssist]

So I am currently watching the ONL stream and I can already see this is a long one. Taking a pause right now.

But I am seeing some interviews and just some stuff that I really dont give a fuck about.
The thing is, I dont think that showing trailers for 2 hours straight is a good decision either. Even for 1 hour. You need some pacing, you need something so the trailers have some context and can think in. You need time to process what you have just seen. Its the same reason God Of War had box solving puzzles. Not because they were good, but because you can not have endless combat, even if its good, without fatigue.

So the question is, what can you do improve the pacing of these showcases, not solely relying on interviews?
Well I dont know.

I guess music is always a good thing. I still remember the God Of War theme song being played live in the 2016 E3 reveal. I also like the TGA medleys they have befoer the GoTY nominations (but I also liked GoT flute guy). And I heard ONL had the Expedition 33 music, which is amazing.
Maybe, and I know this is cringe for a lot of people, but Gamescom already has a cosplay award and there are sooooooooooooooooo many cosplayers running around, maybe have a 3 minute intermission with a cosplay catwalk (like the actual good ones, not the creepy ones).

I also think having some voice actors act out famous scenes they were in would be amazing. Like a theater version of that "You treading on some mighty thin ice" scene from TloU. Chills.

I just want stuff that celebrates gaming heritage and something that is not super commercialized. I mean you can still use all of these things to promote a product, but at least its not someone asking marketing approved questions to get marketing approved answers to things nobody gives a shit anyways.

I'd be happy to hear some ideas from you (or good examples from the past), or you know, tell me why all my ideas are trash and cringe and why gaming showcases are all literal cancer and why gaming culture and everything related to it can go suck a dick. You do you.

 

[TintoConCasera]

something that is not super commercialized

Not happening, at least not from Geoff&Co. They spent more time talking about a TV show than focusing on any of the game's shown. There's no love for games on this shows, only love for money.

 

[willothedog]

they need more Hydrobots

 

[Poppinfresh]

The thing is, I dont think that showing trailers for 2 hours straight is a good decision either.

Yeah it is. It's an excellent idea.

The trailers are the only reason people tune in to begin with.

Just cut the crap and the talking and show trailers, back to back to back. Maybe allow short, pre-recorded messages from the developers for really big releases or reveals.

 

[ungalo]

There is not enough interesting games to make several 2 hours showcases every year. Especially not enought big budget games.

Otherwise not really interested in the entertainment part of the thing, i don't think we need to improve anything, make them shorter, cut content, make less shows so we don't lose our time. That's it.

Even 15 years ago i wasn't really interested in the shows, i was watching all the previews (with gameplay) the media were providing because they would play a shit ton of (big) games on site. Because i was interested in the actual games.

Then we started to see shows of 2 hours with 150 games but no presentations that come with it and not much to talk about, and less and less standards regarding the games showcased.

 

[INC]

Have decent games to show maybe

 

[Roberts]

Don't let Geoff near them. It's not his fault but he has no presence, no charisma.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Yeah it is. It's an excellent idea.

The trailers are the only reason people tune in to begin with.

Just cut the crap and the talking and show trailers, back to back to back. Maybe allow short, pre-recorded messages from the developers for really big releases or reveals.

If that's the case then why even bother watching it live ?
Just go to sleep and watch everything back to back on IGN playlist.

 

[Poppinfresh]

If that's the case then why even bother watching it live ?
Just go to sleep and watch everything back to back on IGN playlist.

That's generally what I do.

 

[Shubh_C63]

That's generally what I do.

Same here. But that's not what OP is talking about. Like I miss proper E3 and seeing the less cringe crowd.

 

[ReBurn]

Lower your expectations

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

• prior to each trailer, make devs give a 1-min speech/presentation in english (esp if its not their native language)
• presentation babes

 

[dorkimoe]

stop showing trailers without real actual gameplay including the HUD and everything else, not "gameplay cgi trailer"

 

[Matsuchezz]

this kind of show should be only done once a year with the game awards. i can't suffer geoff and the interactions with developers are so cringe. we should only see gameplay demos of announced games. IIRC that was games con an event to display games in development to customers. and few announcements here and there.
fucking geoff should revive E3 not this mess god awful shows.

 

[Matsuchezz]

• prior to each trailer, make devs give a 1-min speech/presentation in english (esp if its not their native language)
• presentation babes

ah lisa gleave that girl was hot.

 

[AJUMP23]

Show good games in interesting ways.

Less people talking.

Never send that woman from blizzard again.

 

[Wildebeest]

You are sitting down to watch two hours of what is mostly paid commercials. What do you expect?

 

[Rush2112]

Best way to improve showcases is to have demos ready for download.

 

[danklord]

Show needs to be 30 minutes long all killer no filler with a 20 minute premium preview of a AAAA game for the end of the show and create a coveted "mystery reveal" that people can speculate on.

Even live this show sucks and wears out its welcome quickly. But you want the moment when audiences cheer and lose their mind. Consolidate it.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

STOP doing what CEOs and suits think is cool, for one.

 

[bitbydeath]

• prior to each trailer, make devs give a 1-min speech/presentation in english (esp if its not their native language)
• presentation babes

All of this, but not for every game.
Devs need to properly sell us on their games, and trailers lack passion.

 

[Lorianus]

What OP wants is essentialy 2008 - 2016 blizzcon with the dev panels cut out.

 

[BennyBlanco]

geoff keighley has had the most bizarre career arc ive ever witnessed. how did he end up controlling every gaming event? he's not a particularly good host. he's just some fuckin guy.

Just let sweet Sydnee host the whole show.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

big AAA Exclusives


and ya'll know i right

 

[yogaflame]

Bring back E3 with Sydney Sweeney as co host

 

[jshackles]

Stop getting developers and upper managers coming out on stage in fuckin' t-shirts to introduce their games just because you think it's going to be relatable. These people are usually the worst public speakers, awkward, and cringe. Also, don't hire celebrities that are just there to collect a paycheck and have little to nothing to bring to the table. Hire actual PR people / public speakers / hype guys (or girls), and for the love of god dress them appropriately.

 

[clarky]

tits and pussy.

 

[clarky]

Stop getting developers and upper managers coming out on stage in fuckin' t-shirts to introduce their games just because you think it's going to be relatable. These people are usually the worst public speakers, awkward, and cringe. Also, don't hire celebrities that are just there to collect a paycheck and have little to nothing to bring to the table. Hire actual PR people / public speakers / hype guys (or girls), and for the love of god dress them appropriately.

You lost me at Stop.

 

[Poppinfresh]

stop showing trailers without real actual gameplay including the HUD and everything else, not "gameplay cgi trailer"

Even better... stop showing trailers unless your game has a firm release date.

 

[Kacho]

geoff keighley has had the most bizarre career arc ive ever witnessed. how did he end up controlling every gaming event? he's not a particularly good host. he's just some fuckin guy.

Just let sweet Sydnee host the whole show.

His daddy is rich and funds his lifestyle

 

[Dacvak]

The number 1 thing they can do is stop having Geoff as the main presenter. He's fine for maybe one event a year or every couple years. But he's doing like 3 events a year now, and it's just insufferable.

 

[Poppinfresh]

Also, don't hire celebrities that are just there to collect a paycheck and have little to nothing to bring to the table. Hire actual PR people / public speakers / hype guys (or girls), and for the love of god dress them appropriately.

Hired PR people are worse than celebrities.

If a company insists on having someone introduce their game, just have the Developer or Project Manager do it, but dress them appropriately.

 

[Frugal]

Honestly i don't have too many problems with the presentations themselves outside of the sometimes painful moments where a pr guy or dev rambles on stage for too long. Geoff can't control what the publishers and devs give him and what they give him is mostly dogshit. The industry needs to start making better, more distinctive and original games for these showcases to improve.

 

[diffusionx]

Bro just like put an award show in the middle of it

 

[ReasonBeing]

I know they are a pain to produce, but I love a good vertical slice demonstration. Wish we had more 3-5 min gameplay segments.

 

[owandeseis]

Prohibit american studios to show their games there until they stop being trash and hire some decent writers again, and make the show shorter, winning combo.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

This show was already very good with some decent games and two legendary masterpieces like RE9 and especially Dawn of War 4 that only less than 20 upcoming/future games could rival or beat which are

StarCraft 3
Space Marine 3
RE0 Remake
RE1 ReRemake
RECV Remake
RE Outbreak Remake
RE Outbreak 3
GTA VI
Witcher 4
Elder Scrolls VI
Fallout 5
Fallout Spinoff(single player)
New Zelda back to the dark fantasy style
Half Life 3
System Shock 3
FFVII Remake Part 3
Stellar Blade 2
Darksiders 4

So yeah only way the show could be even better is if they introduce one or more of these above.

 

[solidus12]

Study PlayStation's E3 2016 and use it as an example for future showcases.

 

[T-Reks]

1 Musical act per show, and open the show with it the second the countdown ends. Make it something big that sets the tone. Putting it halfway through makes people check right out if the show hasn't been a 10/10

Call of Duty should be completely excluded, nobody needs to know about the next Cod, the people that are going to buy it are going to buy it. The people that aren't are so damn sick of seeing Cod

There has to be cringe/memeable moments, like Schick Hydro bot, or Peggle 2, and zero attempts at humour. If I was the Geoff the second some dev made a quirky reference to half life 3 or whatever i'd have them dragged off stage by their hair.

No gay cozy indie slop, target demographic is young men. All of these shows have tried to water it down for mass appeal but it doesn't work.

Everything else is completely dependent on quality of games, which.............good luck with that these days

 

[KenaiPhoenix]

E3 was legendary because there wasnt only a show: there where spaces with games, decorations, people dressed as characters of the new game. And we learned because the people that went there not only watched the show, they stood there, took pictures, today we mostly watch the show and then a bunch of youtubers reacting to same video.

To improve it we would need "boots on the ground", and from what I get this was a somewhat advance towards that point, however... today gaming world is all sanitized and corporizated to dont have any wacky thing. At best we can have a brave hero developer who will defend the democracy and minorities that is at risk RIGHT NOW, with below average video games.

 

[Fbh]

There's no real "fixing" of these types of events unless Sony/MS/Nintendo decide to put on a proper showcases themselves.

Events by someone like Geoff will always be held back by the fact they aren't some marketing expense for a product like a console, instead the showcase is the business itself. The showcase needs to generate the revenue to pay for itself and make a profit.

So you'll always have an inflated runtime with a lot of filler, because what's actually paying for the event to exist are the 20 nearly identical Chinese waifus gacha games, and the Fallout TV show getting a whole segment, and the 10 GAAS hero shooters with shitty music.

 

[March Climber]

There's no real "fixing" of these types of events unless Sony/MS/Nintendo decide to put on a proper showcases themselves.

Events by someone like Geoff will always be held back by the fact they aren't some marketing expense for a product like a console, instead the showcase is the business itself. The showcase needs to generate the revenue to pay for itself and make a profit.

So you'll always have an inflated runtime with a lot of filler, because what's actually paying for the event to exist are the 20 nearly identical Chinese waifus gacha games, and the Fallout TV show getting a whole segment, and the 10 GAAS hero shooters with shitty music.

Finally, a realistic response.

I have said before but I think the best way to work around this would be to not shove all of the 'blatant ad' games/gacha games into one long block in the second half and put them next to indie titles. Spread them all out somehow so that the show doesn't suffer 3/5 of the way through.

Secondly he needs to stop beginning with so many heavy hitters (either known I.P. or too many AAA) It puts too high of an expectation on the rest of the show. Again, he should spread this stuff out. I've seen people and even gaming outlets with similar feedback, but Geoff never changes it.

Same exact pacing for each show he does , though I will admit that his TGA show will edge out the others because he usually saves the larger reveals for that one.

Final point, he needs to stop letting shows that take place near the same period of time, steal the better reveals. There have been a few times where the Future Games Show actually outdid Geoff's premiere show in terms of interesting and unique content and that should not happen.

 

[Madflavor]

I think the reason gaming showcases suck so much these days, is the combination of the oversaturation of samey games (gacha, fps gaas, souls-like, etc), and the games that are actually worth a damn taking 5+ years to develop. So each gaming showcase you get maybe 2-3 games that worthy of attention (if you're lucky), and then the rest of the 1-2 hours is filled with slop.

 

[ADiTAR]

I would give more platform for weird indie games, and less samie anime stuff.

Nintendo does this in its Directs.

 

[March Climber]

I would give more platform for weird indie games, and less samie anime stuff.

Nintendo does this in its Directs.

The issue is that Future Games Show (FGS) and Media Indie Exchange (MIX) end up grabbing those exclusive premieres, on their own shows, for those weird indie games and interesting AA titles.

Whenever you see a bunch of random trailers posted here on the same day, it's most likely because one of them had a showcase and no one here made an OT nor cared to find out why.

 

[Arsic]

Quality over quantity but quality is subjective.

Another way would be to have separate segments so people can time in for what they are interested in. Indie segments, FPS, RPGs, etc announced in advance so you know which block to give a shit about perhaps.

 

[Ryūtō]

Best way to improve showcases is to have demos ready for download.

Not exactly what OP is looking for, but for me personally this is the way.

 

[ADiTAR]

The issue is that Future Games Show (FGS) and Media Indie Exchange (MIX) end up grabbing those exclusive premieres, on their own shows, for those weird indie games and interesting AA titles.

Whenever you see a bunch of random trailers posted here on the same day, it's most likely because one of them had a showcase and no one here made an OT nor cared to find out why.

that's up to devs/pubs to decide where to showcase their games. FGS and MIX don't get the same audience.

 

[March Climber]

that's up to devs/pubs to decide where to showcase their games. FGS and MIX don't get the same audience.

Kind of. It's a mix of both the showrunners themselves wanting unique content and also the indie devs/publishers wanting to showcase the content.

They don't quite work by the same rules as Geoff's shows because a lot of indie devs can't afford those types of high prices for hosting content.

Regardless I hope the explanation helps. It sucks but it is what it is.

 

[Sintoid]

Don't do them anymore
They're useless and cost to much

Edit Are you talking about Opening Night or whole convention? ON must stop, convention have still some sense, but not much more