Has E3 Lost it's Touch?

Before I start I would like to address that my opinions are my own and this is a purely subjective blog entry that is not to be taken to heart.

When I was a young 11 year old kid, E3 was the highlight of the mid-year. I would count down the days until the first press conference, and when I got home from school I would watch all of them (in their entirety) in one night. In recent years I've lost that enthusiasm, and instead of watching the press conferences today I simply jump onto the first gaming journalism site in the search results, get a brief rundown of the key highlights, maybe watch some trailers and then move onto other, more important things. So why now, as a 17 year old, have I hopped off the hype train that surrounds E3? Have my gaming sensibilities simply faded in years past or is something bigger to blame? Honestly I believe it is a multitude of things.

Firstly, I think it is important to note that the gaming landscape has changed vastly in the six years from 2010 to 2016, some would say for better and others for worse. Personally I feel as though there have been highs and lows over the last few years, with heavy hitters such as VR and the new generation of consoles showcasing that the gaming industry still has things to offer. However, on the other side of that are the negatives and boy do they come out swinging: broken games at launch, micro-transactions on an enormous scale and in my personal opinion a constant recycle that lacks true innovation in the likes of games such as L.A. Noire, Mass Effect 2, Limbo and Heavy Rain.

Now obviously it would be bigoted and narrow minded to say that the modern era of gaming hasn't produced some absolute gold, a quick look at Game of the Year contenders of 2015 such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will tell you that. But the point to take away is that the gaming industry, to some extent, has lost the essence of innovation that keeps things fresh and with the shortcomings of broken games and paywalls on top of this, it is no wonder I (and the people who share my opinion) simply don't find E3 to be as interesting or exciting as it once was. Of course I still play video games and of course I am still an avid lover of the industry, but the continued release of average to sub-par games such as Destiny, The Division and Fallout 4 (personally yes, even that one) will not stand in the years to come when I am playing games.

So far this years press conferences have yet to impress me, EA's showcase of Dice's Battlefield 1 did get me mildly interested and Bethesda did have me hyped to play Dishonored 2 but that was about it. Hopefully Microsoft and Sony will manage to blow my socks off but for the meantime I will keep my cynicism in the back of my mind.

I found multiple things I was hyped for in both those conferences. E3 is still fun for me. Even more now that GB adds commentary to conferences

I'm with you 100%. This is the year I've finally stopped caring so much about E3. Last years E3 was very disappointing and the only thing that made it memorable for me was the huge spectacle around Fallout 4 and Bethesda's press conference. What killed it was the fact that nothing really stood out from the bunch, it was just a collection of the Division's and Mad Max's. It looks like this year is following in last years footsteps (judging my EA's conference and the pre-e3 leaks) and if it does I would have completely lost interest in E3. This is coming from another 17 year old, there really hasn't been anything that's come out as of late that changed/shaken the industry like L.A. Noire, Skyrim and the Last of Us

@rotweiller: You found an E3 where Fallout 4, Shenmue 3, The Last Guardian and a Final Fantasy VII remake appeared to be disappointing? For me, there's still something to be had from a trade show and people standing up on stages delivering demos and PR babble.

I think it's too early to tell. EA has had crap conferences for years.

@shindig: Don't own a PS4 so two of those titles don't apply to me lol and I know its blasphemous but I've never played a Final Fantasy game so...

I guess games on the Xbox, 3DS and PC weren't as good as those announced on the PS4

It's fun as always to stay up till 6AM to watch some of these (Living in Denmark, so yeah it's rough). The conferences have consistently been enjoyable no matter what since GB started commenting on them (seriously, some of their best material), and now that I actually have a current gen system I'm.. I'm sorta invested in what MS have to show I guess. Which is super fun.

I look forward to E3 every year. I always get excited and watch the press conferences. I fall into the hype.

@rotweiller: If you found last year's E3 disappointing (probably the most insane E3 I can ever remember) I don't think you'll find much exciting this year.

Personally I'm not expecting as much this year because so many people dropped out, but you never know. Maybe Zelda looks incredible.

love E3 every year, good marker to show we made it through the first half of the year, all the cool news that comes out, the cock ups on stages and the awkward bs is funny too, yeah i think i will always enjoy E3 as long as you dont go into it expecting the world you'll always be entertained

If there are 2 games that look cool to me at each press conference, I call that a fantastic E3. Not everything is going to be for everyone. Most of my friends just wanted to see the EA Sports stuff and were bored to death of everything else. BF1 and Dishonored 2 were the highlights of day 0 for me. Maybe i'm the crazy person for thinking the day was good because of 2 games, though. I was watching the press conferences with some people and everything shown was met with a "meh", "blah", etc. while I said "neat" or "alright..." to most stuff. People love to say a press conference was horrible because they didn't care about half the games, as if they expected they should.

Maybe because all of the reveals are spoiled before the show these days, it's harder to get excited. I've never been blown away by a demo or trailer, but I'm not really the type to get hyped over anything. Every year there are more than 5 games that seem cool to me. I don't complete 5 games per year, so for me they're showing more than I can handle. I love that there's a week where I can just dive into games stuff. I think a combination of getting older and having access to every piece of news, rumors, screenshots, video, and discussion about games 24/7, it's easy to become jaded. Video games are dope. E3 is fun and stupid. It's lost nothing to me.

No

I don't know. E3 might be out of touch, but I have laughed like I didn't in a while.

My big thing to take away from this is. The big coorporations coudl talk directly to their customers. Should they though? And can they? Looking at the Ea thing I have no idea if they could be taken seriously. (Although for a big part of the population that might work.)

I love it, and I've grown to enjoy it even more since streaming became so widespread.

Kids these days don't understand when E3 was just something we read about in EGM, or saw a quick interview occasionally from Victor Lucas. You mention being a kid and watching the press conferences, which would've been a dream when I was 11.

Coupled with the GB live shows, stage demos going all the time, and hundreds of trailers, E3 is an extremely exciting week.

wow @11 and 17, they didn't really start broadcasting E3 until i was in my early 20's and finishing up college. That said, as someone who never had access to this type of stuff as a kid I think it's all about the same but at 17 it could just be your perspective changing as you get older. I also think as games take longer to develop there is less actual stuff to show from year to year, and when you understand that a trailer is a trailer and not gameplay you get a bit less excited about things. Anyway, i find watching GB talk over the conferences is infinitely more interesting than the conferences themselves. I am at the point now that i can just wait for the trailers to get released and not sit through all that dry bullet point talking.

Ubisoft, Sony and Bathesda are still on point, they know what you want but they don't always have enough to show.

EA and Microsoft are clueless.

Nintendo is Nintendo.

At some point E3 looses its edge for all people, at that point you watch for the awkward hosts and the possible HL3 announcement.

There are crazy e3's, there are good e3's, there are lackluster e3's, and there are down right awful e3's. Which side of the line it will fall on seems to change every other year. Unless Sony decides they have to bring their A game every year to keep momentum, and/or Microsoft decides to pay the debt of e3 2013/2015, I would expect this year to not be great.

This is what E3 is now.

There are plenty of things to get excited for. When you were a kid your mindset was different, and honestly so was E3, but its still basically the same (outside of megaphones, booth babes, and swag...which there still is some).

EA has a totally crap conference and I think its happened 3 years in a row now, so I'm fine with saying they are guaranteed to have a bad show each year...until they prove they can have a good show.

Ubisoft honestly puts on a good show. They have too many silly things on stage, like a Rabbids game, but overall I have something to enjoy with them...even if it is a terrible host.

Microsoft is hit or miss. They've not done anything for me in a few years but I can't say its a bad show...I just don't care for the stuff they push anymore.

Sony fairs a bit better with me this generation but at one point they had one of the most boring, oddly paced conferences of E3.

Bethesda fairs better lately, but their conferences are starting to feel like "Fallout and Friends!" more than anything else. Still, solid outing and show of games and updates.

Don't worry about it, you're young and why should something you enjoy at 11 be something you enjoy at 17? You'll get back into it later in life. At 17 you should be drinking and chasing tail

No, if anything it gets better every year. The only thing that has ever been insanely fun and interesting about E3 for me, has been the press conferences. While they don't all get better (looking at you EA), we've come a long way from 30-40 minute talks with graphs showing how many units were sold. The press conferences have far less dry info for investors and far more for me as a gamer.

Of course, EA once again disappointed although their conference was better than last year's, but Bethesda's conference was pretty good. I didn't like the slow pace at which Dishonored 2 was showcased, but other than that it was a pretty good one.

Oh lord, this advice...

Just finished up the GB press conference streams, and I dunno... that stuff is super awesome and my favorite part of the video game coverage year at this point.

I think it helps me that I generally avoid actual gaming news sites other than Kotaku, and also that what leaks I've seen this year involve games I'm only tangentially interested in at best. I also really enjoy the art of a video game press conference, there's just something barely-not-unhinged about them, perhaps primarily asking somewhat socially awkward people to put on their best Hey, I'm Cool acts (scripted by someone else who is equally uncool).

Yesterday was full of breaking news for me, and footage of games I hadn't seen since I generally avoid trailers unless it's for a game I'm unbelievably hyped up for, which is usually reserved for a Rockstar game or Sony exclusive.

Plus, this day has always been awesome. It's a shame Nintendo has bowed out of the triple threat match of console makers but I'm glad Ubisoft is there to pick up the slack. Opening with Microsoft, having no fucking idea what Ubisoft is thinking, and closing with Sony has almost been ritualized for me at this point.

I'm just here for the memes.

In all seriousness, E3 is losing a lot of it's bite because of the internet and the ability of publishers to talk directly to the consumers on their own terms. The existence of many more conventions, such as Gamescom, TGS, and company specific shows like Quakecon and Blizzcon, also makes E3 lose much of it's bite as THE gaming convention of the year. Still a fun dumb watch though.

Could not agree more. I know they dragged out the lead Dev for the game but he was not a great presenter. The feel of the game was lost to me on his choppy delivery. Not bashing the guy, he's making an awesome game and it's presentation at a conference is probably the last thing on his list that he cares about. Game looks very interesting but the showcase was not so good.

These ten minutes validated everything I watched yesterday.

To be honest the only thing I care about at all related to E3 is GB's coverage.

If it wasn't for that I'd not watch any of the silly press conferences and stuff.

I think if anything in E3 has lost it's touch for me, it's the EA press conferences, which at this point barely have video games in them, and are more about weird behind-the-scenes videos and interviews with celebrities instead of showing off the games themselves. Out of everything yesterday there was a single traditional gameplay demo, and that was for Dishonored 2.

E3 is my Christmas. If the press conferences go I'd have nothing in the year left to look forward to anymore...

I'm still into gaming alot so E3 is great.

I feel like Gamescom has become more and more popular lately, not only amongst fans but also amongst the publishers. Press conferences over there gain in reputation and scope, whereas the opposite is happening with E3 (at least, that's how it's coming across to me). I think it makes sense, as Gamescom is basically the only big platform in Europe and Europe is a very big & important market. US is naturally a huge market as well but has tons of other events to reach fans. Also, June is maybe a tad too soon for certain developers to feel confident to show off a game. End of August is probably a huge difference compared to beginning of June.

If it weren't for GB's coverage, I would have stopped watching it years ago. Though at this point I still kinda don't care about what happens at E3.

E3 hasn't been at its peak for years, but it has also slowly improved compared to several years ago.

Its *

Last year's E3 was pretty crazy, like way crazier than I would expect from a modern E3. I think it's still fun, especially with stream commentary. I don't watch every conference though.

I was thinking this exact same thing. At 32 years old here, I remember waiting for over a month for the magazines to print what was coming out. I'm still stoked about E3 and actually watching the show. It's a luxury that few will realize how agonizing it used to be.

Also, get off my lawn.

It's changed (not as important) and everything leaks.

I agree, there's no reason that the things you care about when you're 11 should be the same things you care about when you're 17.

Here's some old person (38--I don't feel like an old person, but I think when I was 17, 38 seemed really old) perspective, feel free to ignore. The year I turned 17 was the year of the very first E3. I was completely unaware of it, and remained unaware of it for a very long time.

Around 1999 (the year you were born, if I have my math right), I decided to quit playing video games for a while. I didn't play a video game again until 2010--coincidentally the year you turned 11. Between 2010 and now, I got married, bought a house, and had two kids. But I'm still playing video games.

My point, I guess, is that a lot can change in 7 years, even more can change in 17 years, and a whole lot can change in 27 years. But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Last night's Battlefield 1 even livestream was incredible. I don't even particularly care about the games anymore, just the GB coverage makes it worth staying up late (and subsequently being knackered for work the next day).

We're watching the slow decline of E3 into irrelevance.

The Giant Bomb massive guest-filled events are the real reason I'm hyped for E3. It's the only time I ever get to see so many industry people in one room chatting. It's actually awesome.

I really enjoy the coverage and analysis of it more than the shows itself, and then the analysis I hear from GB and others informs conversations I have with my friends in our groups-- those of us who are super into the industry and our platforms of choice and such. I groan as much as anyone at some of the press conference shenanigans (like Ubi) but the information sincerely drives me to conversations for awhile afterwards.

As others have stated, internet leaks and the wealth of other gaming events have made the bite of E3 much less-so.

I think think it's been all downhill since this shit show.

E3 conferences haven't been in touch for a long time, and that's exactly why GB's irreverent commentary is so good.

Agree can't believe people think that Microsoft presentation was exciting. I used to get prepared and excited for TGS and E3 big time but as a pc/ps4 gamer it's nice to see Microsoft really pushing their games onto pc. Nothing super exciting yet though, although I think Sony is going to drop some exciting reveals. FF7 remake was huge last year!

@thewiseguy: Hey, the folks who made Limbo have a new game called Inside. Have you seen the coverage? I think the new game game looks pretty good.

i kinda miss nintendo being a force during them, but e3s always been pretty dumb and silly, don't think much has changed. microsoft had quite the strong showing, and oobesoft was surprisingly competent this year (aisha did a pretty good job to be honest). haven't seen sony in its entirety yet and ive heard theres been some disappointment there, but i'll reserve judgement. can't wait to see zelda and hopefully some surprises from nintendo tomorrow.

the thing is, E3 bet wrong on this generation. There are so many trends at the moment that it is now a stage where these big companies just guess all wrong over what their audiences wants. It's not that this industry is dead in the waters but it does come off tone deaf by these larger companies.

Personally I do love the weird stage bits of E3 that sometimes becomes gaming history/culture, but I mainly want to see trailers to get me hyped for things I didn't even know I cared about. But this year was bad for that. Maybe I've/we've become trailer connoisseurs but nothing really captured the feeling "What is this? I want to play this!" feeling.

I like all these games, Quake, We Happy Few, Horizon but the commercials just didn't hype me this year. I hope Gamescom will have new and exciting stuff with more interesting cut trailers.