That’s the Name of the Game: E3’s Return

Hardcore gamers all around will tell you that E3 is the Mecca of gaming.  Why?  Because there’s no where else that indulges the video games industry in its gaudy, flashy, consumer driven glory, not to mention all of the huge announcements that come out of the show.  Where was the Nintendo Wii revealed?  E3.  What about the Playstation 3’s launch price? E3 again.  Where do the biggest and smallest video game companies reveal their biggest titles? E3 of course!

The Electronic Entertainment Expo is coming up in just a few weeks.  The show runs three days (go figure) from June 2nd to June 4th, and already the hype train is rolling into each and every station.  Companies are holding back announcements, reveals, and especially any and all screenshots and videos of the new games that they’ll have at the show.  Its a media blitz, a PR killing machine, a exposition of electronic entertainment!  Well, it’d have to be….

This is kind of a big deal.  You see, two years ago, the Entertainment Software Association (they act as a lobbying group for the video game industry and run E3 as a trade show) decided collectively that they had had enough of all the spectacle and flash, and especially the huge amounts of money companies would throw at the event to hype their upcoming games.  E3 became an invite only, private, and especially quiet show in Santa Monica, as opposed to taking up the entire LA convention center.

This turned out to be a big downer, and people just didn’t care.  The ESA lost a few of its biggest members and everyone’s general opinion of the organization fell.

Now E3 returns to the LA convention center and it has made for a slow news… month!  I usually keep myself tapped into what’s going on in the industry, what’s being announced, what games are being worked on, what new footage is being revealed… but lately, there’s been nothing!  Luckily, all this waiting will hopefully payoff with some big announcements.

Both Microsoft and Sony are rumored to be showing new motion controllers (or motion capturing device in Microsoft’s case), Activision will probably have lots of new information on the sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Nintendo might have some games that don’t involve minigames (maybe a new Zelda or Mario title!).

Maybe that’s what’s so appealing about E3 to the hardcore gamer.  It’s the unknown: video games, and gamers by association, are all about the future.  The medium relies on the newest technology; we always want to experience new things in video games; and there’s a high amount of secrecy between game developers and the community because excitement drives sales.  What do you think we’ll see at E3?  What do you hope to see?

You can check out more of Daniel’s writing on Video Games at playreadwrite.blogspot.com.

About Daniel Bischoff