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The industry is really missing that magic that used to come with E3 week and live press conferences.

Gaming has really truly lost something special with the demise of E3 and the "Live conference" for these cheap ass shitty scripted showcases of trailer after trailer..

You know, I hear people who will argue that it's not worth the cost for these platform holders to put on these shows, and that the same message gets across with these Directs, State of Plays, and Showcases... but I completely disagree. There's simply no comparison between them IMO. These people will often say things like I've grown up, I don't need a big 2 hour long show blah blah blah... but these people are also the ones who knew how fucking special these events were for us when we were all younger. It'd be a day you'd look forward to for months ahead of time. People skipping work/school for the day to watch the showcases... all the discussion online that would result comparing them all and posting all the full quality trailers coming online.

I get it, you know, I can understand it in some ways... as older adults... but guess what? Gaming isn't, and shouldn't be, just about us older adults. The younger generations still exist these days, and yes, while they're into mobile and PC and all this other stuff more and more... perhaps the lack by the industry to throw these big events and having a big huge celebration of these platforms, and gaming in general, is playing a part in that. I remember E3 week of ages past, just getting a literal wave of gaming news constantly.. so many new exciting announcements where these companies were going straight head-to-head. Not this... oh, we'll have a little thing here and there.. and it just be boring trailer after trailer. We got huge presentations with live on stage gameplay.. Developers came and put their chips on the table and others did the same. Then after the conferences were done there were awesome podcasts like the Giantbomb interviews at night... all the footage from the showfloor. Just simply awesome times to look forward to.

Remember when Naughty Dog was on stage and demonstrated Uncharted 2? Imagine the studio watching in the crowd and from home... waiting to see their new work demonstrated for the first time ever... and watching it blow everyone away. Imagine other developers in the crowd watching other studios demos and being like... damn, we need to up our game!

That spirit is missing from all of gaming these days. Remember Nintendo's Zelda TTP reveal in 2004? How insane the crowd went.. how much excitement it built up. Metal Gear Solid 2 trailer just completely flooring everyone? Even in 2016.. with the God of War intro amazing orchestra and gameplay demo... THAT was kick ass! THAT was a show! That had people talking for months... Now these things come and go and the metric is "oh look how many trailer views it has"... lame ass bullshit. Back then we didn't need trailer views... we could simply hear the screaming from the crowds and we knew damn well which games were hitting the hardest.

It just makes me sad, because just imagine... how this trailer from Zelda: Breath of the Wild, would have hit in a live press conference in a conference hall/theater with the audio blasting and people cheering..



It would have been 2004 all over again. It would have been on another level. The roar from the audience would have been insane.

Gaming NEEDS that! It needs the competitive spirit back where these devs are truly going head to head and revealing these trailers/gameplay in front of a live audience. Not to mention all the business deals and information swapping that used to happen at that time. I honest feel like Sony FED off that amazing response to their big budget AAA titles.. It drove them to really try to outclass everyone.. and now, by comparison, they're just complacent.

Anyone else agree with me?
 
maybe those shows/events were self_destroying the industry. I hear one of the Xbox shows cost like 30 Million or something.
 
Sony, Ubisoft, and Microsoft still have major showcases in May or June typically. It's too bad it's not all in a given weekend, but we as gamers aren't deprived much
They're not live. There's no developers sitting in the audience watching their games being shown off and experiencing first hand how the audience reacts to it.

I get you, and while it may seem similar in some respects.. it's vastly different in others.
 

Loomy

Banned
I miss the annual awkward Ubisoft cringefest.

Also, do you guys remember when a few reporters were upset when E3 finally opened up to fans? Hilarious in hindsight.
 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
maybe those shows/events were self_destroying the industry. I hear one of the Xbox shows cost like 30 Million or something.
Yup 30 million for the last few E3s

Didn't Microsoft pay Ninja over $30M to stream on Mixer... miss me with that shit lol
Ybarra said it was 50 and he was the one who was sent to recruit Tyler (Ninja) and he didn't enjoy his time with Tyler and his wife to put it nicely.
 

Kilau

Member
I only miss the cringe and memes that would come out of the event. I guess you could put a dozen screaming youtuber reaction videos on now to get the roar of the audience you want.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
Agreed. I never got to visit E3, but it was a lifelong dream to go, yet, experiencing the event vicariously through media/attendee glimpses really got me hyped for games. It’s just not the same anymore. Truly sucks that everything is just purely online these days. Social media ruined it for sure.
I went once, and while I wouldn't say it's a highlight of my life or anything, it was really really cool and I'm glad I got a chance to go.
 
They grew boring to me by the end of the ps360 era. I concluded i prefer playing games over being mindlessly hyped by fake trailers.
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.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
They grew boring to me by the end of the ps360 era. I concluded i prefer playing games over being mindlessly hyped by fake trailers.
This!

I get hyped based on game themselves, not because the show itself.....At this point it doesn't really matter where they reveal the games, if looks good then I get hyped.
 
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yeah they are missing something ...

29CbeVB.jpeg
 
They're not live. There's no developers sitting in the audience watching their games being shown off
Ubisoft’s show was live last year. That’s when they showed off PoP Lost Crown, Avatar, and Star Wars on stage. The pacing of the show was old-school E3 and people here complained throughout.
 
Agreed. I frickin’ loved E3. The industry is so much more boring now. I would time my summer vacation for e3 and literally spend an entire day or two watching all the conferences back-to-back culminating in the 9am Tuesday Nintendo press conference.

Nothing can ever replace it. Very sad it’s dead and gone for good.

Standout e3s in my mind are:

2004
2006
2009
2010
2011
2014
2016
2017
 
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baphomet

Member
E3 has been shit since the early 00s.

Having been to a few of the later ones (and earlier), I can say for certain they're a huge waste of money for everyone involved. The only thing you're missing out on by not having them is games announced 5+ years before they launch.
 

ungalo

Member
Not enough new big releases to justify this kind of event. It's why the industry sucks, having no E3 is just a consequence.
 
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There were waaay too many forced cringe showings because you just had to show something at E3.
The publishers/Platform holders/Developers doing things at their own pace now is much better imho.
 

stickkidsam

Member
The hype leading up to those events was unreal.

The COVID lock downs were the final nail in the coffin once at home services and streaming gained such a massive foothold.
 
Not enough new big releases to justify this kind of event. It's why the industry sucks, having no E3 is just a consequence.
Once Sony pulled out it started to slowly die. But COVID is what made it happen so quickly. Xbox and Nintendo were as busy as ever with their booths in 2019. It would’ve lasted for a while longer if COVID hadn’t happened…
 
E3 has been shit since the early 00s.

Having been to a few of the later ones (and earlier), I can say for certain they're a huge waste of money for everyone involved. The only thing you're missing out on by not having them is games announced 5+ years before they launch.
??? this still happens.
 
Yahtzee Croshaw put it best when he talked about why he misses E3: the publishers had to meet the public halfway

Live presentations of new games and consoles carry risks of hosts being awkward or the tech bugging out or something else going wrong, but that's what made it more human and enjoyable. Nintendo Directs and every video game livestream like it are all perfectly edited and choreographed and so sterile as a result
 

ungalo

Member
Once Sony pulled out it started to slowly die. But COVID is what made it happen so quickly. Xbox and Nintendo were as busy as ever with their booths in 2019. It would’ve lasted for a while longer if COVID hadn’t happened…
I remember gaming sites were doing dozens of previews with playable builds at E3, public or private. It's not just about MS, Sony and Nintendo. If you think it's primarily about having physical showcases instead of digital ones i personnally think it doesn't matter, what was interesting was the whole week with tons of previews and gameplay dropping at the same time.

And i don't think MS were busy in 2019, or even Nintendo. Not much to talk about, i remember Xbox conference was shit. And it was even worse in 2020. Covid or not, Xbox Series X launch line up was so bad that having a physical presentation would have been very cringe. They know they don't have much going on so they better stick with a very controlled communication, they could not handle that kind of pressure like they were doing back in the days with so little meaningful content.
 
Ahh the Booth Babes……..good memories indeed. Can you imagine the screeching today by the lunatics like the Reeeee people upon seeing these gals? They would rather see Trans weirdos parading around half naked at E3. That would make them happy and they would praise them 24/7.…..Clown World.
I enjoy the tooth babes at the dentist. I eat tons of candy and never brush just so i can be in their presence.

The dentists and dental assistants could be models. I would be a dentist too if i could drill babes like that.
 
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Robb

Gold Member
I agree, but those days are long gone.

I don’t particularly care much for the shows though, I think the new formats are fine. What I really miss is the press getting to go there, actually play the games and us getting heaps of footage that’s not being played, and heavily edited, by the developers/publishers themselves.

“Gameplay demos” these days are just extended trailers.
 
I really don't care either way. I would probably prefer the old E3 ways but it's not a big deal. Completely understand why E3 isn't around anymore. A lot of the younger gen doesn't care, it's easier than ever to show off games via streaming compared to the past and it probably cost a shit ton more to do those live presentations.

The only thing I really miss is how all of Nintendo, MS and Sony would all have shows in the same day or 2. Was fun to compare who had the best shows/ lineup in the future when they all showed around the same time.
 

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
I remember many media sites not wanting to provide coverage for Nintendo those days, so Nintendo got fed up and created their own Nintendo Direct to bypass the media bs. And then some players would laugh and say Nintendo have nothing exciting to show on stage

and now Nintendo Direct leads to the death of E3.
 

Clintizzle

Lord of Edge.
E3 showcases were always awkward.

The directs are the way to go. The less we hear from devs and exes the better.
 

IAmRei

Member
While i can agree for this, but its inevitable...
I never went to E3, its too far from my place. Yesteryear i went to TGS for first time. That's why i can agree with OP.

But again, internet makes things different. And most norm people are lazy these days.
 

Puscifer

Member
Disagree.

Most of the live stuff is very cringe.
Once I caught into the fact it was for shareholders in my late teens I honestly stopped caring. I'll see what gets announced that interest me after the fact. All the sperging out over products gets to be really cringe after a while, especially when so much of it is faked.
 
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