E3 Expo Finished & Indefinitely Cancelled

Rocco · Post by **Rocco** » 31 Jul 2006 12:48 pm

Senior industry sources have revealed to Next-Gen.Biz that the E3 industry event, in its present form, has been cancelled for next year and the foreseeable future

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) shindig has been a staple of game industry life since the mid-1990s. However, we understand the larger exhibitors have jointly decided that the costs of the event do not justify the returns, generally measured in media exposure.

Publishers believe the multi-million dollar budgets would be better spent on more company-focused events that bring attention to their own product lines rather than the industry as a whole.

Well placed sources say the news that larger exhibitors were pulling out had prompted urgent meetings among publishing executives. They decided that, without the support of the larger software publishers and hardware manufacturers, there would be no point in continuing.

ESA president Doug Lowenstein will likely announce the news some time within the next 48 hours, possibly on Monday. It's likely that the ESA will seek to limit the damage by organizing some form of lesser event in May, possibly even with the E3 brand, but this will be no more than a fig-leaf. The days of an industry event attended by all the major publishers, spending big money, are gone.

http://next-gen.biz/index.php?option=co ... 8&Itemid=2

selfish · Post by **selfish** » 31 Jul 2006 12:53 pm

i'd believe it - or perhaps just that entry requirements will be higher to stop general public from entering.

lestat · Post by **lestat** » 31 Jul 2006 12:54 pm

holy shit, but i knew it was gonna happen sooner or later. The moment they cut it off to the public and made it an exclusive press/industry style event, is the point they fucked it up.

After all the whole point of e3 was that people could go and see the latest in games/hardware. But they stopped that and basically the public were forced to get the news from press. Which is what we fucking do all year round, so what was the point of e3? Also as we saw with xbox live, the ability to supply demos and movies online is far more effective then trying to cram hundreds of people on a show floor to play/see the latest games. Online gaming networks are going to be the future for video game promotion.

Twiztid Elf · Post by **Twiztid Elf** » 31 Jul 2006 01:06 pm

So Sonys spectacular failure at the last E3 has nothing to do with this right?

Something else will replace it. E3 replaced the Las Vegas CES.

GreyWizzard · Post by **GreyWizzard** » 31 Jul 2006 01:14 pm

Hopefully TGS doesn't become too affected by this. Looks like I am making the right decision in going this year.

mech · Post by **mech** » 31 Jul 2006 01:34 pm

As fucking if guys.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060730-7382.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As some of you have mentioned - they're just going to stop the general public from going and tighten up credentials to get in. I don't see that as a bad thing personally, it sounded like it was getting a bit crazy.

Candy Arse · Post by **Candy Arse** » 31 Jul 2006 01:41 pm

OMG! How will Nintendo be able to show their Official Nintendo Seal of Quality software for Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo DS, Nintendo GameBoy Advance and Nintendo Wii? BTW please visit http://www.nintendo.com for more information about Nintendo products.

Kabal · Post by **Kabal** » 31 Jul 2006 01:43 pm

Pat · Post by **Pat** » 31 Jul 2006 04:33 pm

mech wrote:As fucking if guys.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060730-7382.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As some of you have mentioned - they're just going to stop the general public from going and tighten up credentials to get in. I don't see that as a bad thing personally, it sounded like it was getting a bit crazy.

That makes it sound like a trade show. ZOUNDS!

Might save the masses from six hour queues next year.

Candy Arse · Post by **Candy Arse** » 31 Jul 2006 04:54 pm

I think there's too much money involved in the industry to shitcan its biggest yearly event.

lestat · Post by **lestat** » 31 Jul 2006 05:39 pm

After hearing about the cost involved I can see why the bigger players aren't all that keen on e3 anymore. With digital distribution the relevance of e3 and the floor isn't there. Plus i think it would be better to spread news out through out the year. No doubt for developers too, it would be great to not waste resources hacking demos up for e3, time and effort that could be better used elsewhere i guess.

pilonv1 · Post by **pilonv1** » 31 Jul 2006 05:47 pm

Candy Arse wrote:I think there's too much money involved in the industry to shitcan its biggest yearly event.

Shitcanning it's biggest yearly event may say something different about there being too much money in it.

Talez · Post by **Talez** » 31 Jul 2006 06:22 pm

lestat wrote:holy shit, but i knew it was gonna happen sooner or later. The moment they cut it off to the public and made it an exclusive press/industry style event, is the point they fucked it up.

E3 has always been an exclusive press/industry style event. It's just that every fucker and his dog with a website has registered for it which has been the problem in recent years.

cloud · Post by **cloud** » 31 Jul 2006 06:28 pm

Candy Arse wrote:OMG! How will Nintendo be able to show their Official Nintendo Seal of Quality software for Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo DS, Nintendo GameBoy Advance and Nintendo Wii? BTW please visit http://www.nintendo.com for more information about Nintendo products.

selfish · Post by **selfish** » 31 Jul 2006 07:16 pm

yeah shit, that post made me crack up too

pilonv1 · Post by **pilonv1** » 31 Jul 2006 07:45 pm

Candy failed, he said "Nintendo Gamecube" not "Gamecube Nintendo" as used in it's official acronym (GCN).

Pat · Post by **Pat** » 31 Jul 2006 07:47 pm

pilon failed too, it's meant to be "GAMECUBE NINTENDO" in all-caps.

selfish · Post by **selfish** » 31 Jul 2006 08:19 pm

oh nah it's just the acronym that's backwards, you still have to write it NINTENDO GAMECUBE

trust me

Megaman · Post by **Megaman** » 31 Jul 2006 08:32 pm

Indeed.
http://www.nintendo.com.au/gamecube/faqs/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

10. What is the correct way to write NINTENDO GAMECUBE?

The preferred way to write the system’s name is in all capitals, NINTENDO GAMECUBE. If necessary, it can also be written as Nintendo GameCube.

Don't forget:

9. Can I play N64 cartridges on NINTENDO GAMECUBE? What is the NINTENDO GAMECUBE disc?

No, because with the launch of NINTENDO GAMECUBE, Nintendo is moving from silicon-based cartridges to an optical disc medium, which effectively makes backwards compatibility impossible.

And:

3. What are some of the best games available for the NINTENDO GAMECUBE?

Some of the best games available include Super Smash Bros. Melee, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart: Double Dash

Talez · Post by **Talez** » 31 Jul 2006 08:35 pm

3. What are some of the best games available for the NINTENDO GAMECUBE?

Some of the best games available include Super Smash Bros. Melee, The Legend of Celda: The Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Mario Kart: Double Dash

Fixed.

lestat · Post by **lestat** » 01 Aug 2006 10:30 am

ANALYSIS: Ten Reasons for E3's Collapse
By Colin Campbell Print | Send to a friend | Email the editor
The picture accompanying this story sums up E3. It was about big-ness, most especially big crowds. We won't see scenes like this again. So why did the hardware manufacturers and big publishers decide E3 was no longer tenable? Why did the other publishers follow suit. Here are our ten reasons...

Image I was editor-in-chief of the Official E3 Show Daily in 2006, and a few of those produced in the late 1990s. I attended the first E3, and the last and most of the others in between.

I'm sorry that this event has gone, to be replaced by some new thing, much smaller in scale - more 'intimate' is the euphemism of the moment. It was a great way to meet and greet friends, allies and rivals in the business. It was exciting and fun and loud. It had its faults, but it acted as a focal point for the industry, before the summer's business of preparing for the Holidays really began.

It was an opportunity to take stock of the industry as a whole - the people, the products and the trends.

Many greeted the news that E3 had gone with shock. But, in reality, its days were numbered. Here's why...

1. The People Who Pay Weren't Happy
E3 was a great showpiece for the industry as a whole. But the industry as a whole does not pay for E3. Individual companies pay. They need to be able to demonstrate tangible benefits for that expense, just as they would for any other marketing cost. Those benefits were always difficult to justify, but had now become completely untenable. We understand some publishers still believe the show pays its way (for them individually). The trouble is, not enough companies took this view.

2. Four People Said 'Enough'
When I spoke to some people about E3's collapse, the general response was one of disbelief. How could something so big fall apart so quickly? Perhaps this is why so many news outlets simply refused to believe the news. The fact is that all it took were a very small number of company presidents to talk with each other, and figure out that if they all decided to pass, none of them would need to be there. Once Nintendo, Microsoft, SCEA and EA had stepped out, E3 was history. It was multilateral disarmament.

3. Media Irrelevance
There was a time when the game industry could enjoy its little May media window, as major news networks sent their reporters to the show to talk about the state of the industry. The fact that they usually filed stories on either videogame violence or new hardware launches that would have been reported anyway, seems to have been allowed to slide. These days, games are a major entertainment for people of most ages. News editors can't afford to just cover games during E3, or with a pre-Holidays buyers' guide. Games are always on the radar.

4. The 'E3 Winners' Farce
The 'who won E3?' contest beloved of we in the media had become a real problem. E3 is not a sporting contest, and yet it was increasingly seen as some form of championship. Every year we have one winner (2006: Nintendo; 2005: Sony etc.). Companies on this merry-go-round must sooner or later see that the value of winning one-in-three is not balanced by losing two in three.

5. Rise of Publisher Events
Media events held by companies to show off their own products offer publishers more control, lower costs and a more intimate atmosphere. They've been growing drastically in scale and importance. Without the burden of E3's expenses, this trend will continue, only more so. The downside of this is that, while larger companies can expect wide media coverage of their events. Smaller companies cannot make so much noise. The likely outcome will be more lavish events designed to attract jaded journalist. Or road-trips, in which companies make the effort to present their goods to the widest possible audience.

6. Common Sense
Then there's common sense. For example - Nintendo's aim at E3 was to get Wii into as many hands as possible. There must be better ways of doing this than spending $20 million making a bunch of developers and blog editors stand in a line for three hours.

7. The Internet
The Internet generally gets the blame for bringing old establishments to their knees, and this is no exception. Information is disseminated faster and at better resolution than ever. The need to go to Los Angeles to look at a game is somewhat negated when you can download a movie, or play a demo on Xbox Live. No, it's not the same, but it's close enough to make a difference.

8. The High Cost
Convention Centers the world over charge extortionate prices for mundane services and LACC is no exception. There is something extremely infuriating about being charged $20 for a sandwich, a soda and a packet of chips. E3 didn't die because of the price of sandwiches. But the fact that every single thing associated with the show cost a great deal of money was a contributing factor.

9. The Herculean Effort
E3 isn't just measured in terms of the cost of the booth, the floor-space, the party, the hotel, the flights etc. There's also the incredible amount of effort that goes into preparing for the show. Marketing teams are focused on E3 for a good six months of the year. Developers are whipped along as they try to get games ready for what is, essentially, an artificial deadline. It could be argued that this adds focus to development as projects near their conclusion, or it could be argued that it's an unnecessary diversion and a big pain in the ass. Publishers that focus on company-specific events are not under so much pressure to compete with the rest of the market for column inches, months before the real battle of competing for consumer dollars.

10. Big Shows are Passe
For all of the reasons above, massive pan-industry events are feeling the squeeze. In many industries, attendance figures are down, while companies seek to cut costs by camping outside these events, or by avoiding them altogether. Cities that hold these events are often criticized for ramping up hotel prices and gouging attendees. Ultimately, they are losing the cost / benefit analysis.

Whatever passes for E3 next May, Next-Gen will be there. It may be called E3. It may feature some people looking at games in a big room. There may even be some free drinks. But it ain't going to be E3.

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?optio" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 8&Itemid=2

Faraday · Post by **Faraday** » 01 Aug 2006 02:31 pm

Excellent Article Lestat.

Its a shame from a Video Game nerds point of view. E3 is usual the best damn week to surf the web. Maybe now they will spread video game news out a bit during the year.

Lepo5 · Post by **Lepo5** » 01 Aug 2006 02:59 pm

I'll miss it but I gotta admit that I really enjoyed May on Xbox Live this year.

mech · Post by **mech** » 01 Aug 2006 03:54 pm

But.. it's still going to be on next year, just scaled back.

cloud · Post by **cloud** » 01 Aug 2006 05:58 pm

What lepo said.