Advertised as the show to end PC gaming, E3 2005 fell short of doing that but some claim that in the battle for risk-free market dominance, exhibitors at the show may have damaged gaming in general.
This year E3 was all about excess, 540,000 sq ft of show floor spilling over to the Staples center meeting rooms, 70,000 plus visitors all trying to get a first glimpse at the over 1,000 new products launched during E3 and above them all three Titans, each trying to manipulate the entire event in his favor.
It is true that this year’s E3 at the Los Angeles convention center was always going to be big. After all the industry was never worth USD 30 billion before and three different major consoles had never launched in one show. The scale however, was not easy to comprehend until your feet landed on the show floor. Endless queues for each promising new game, carrier bags full of pens, key-rings and all forms of trinkets thrown at you from all directions, it is a wonder that Surviving E3 the video game is not out already.
Facts and figures aside, the fact that E3 was big this year was positive for the industry and there was a lot there to suggest that gaming is moving to the big-time. Visitors where greeted by actors dressed in a variety of gaming-inspired costumes, props allowed gamers to interact with anything from Conan’s throne to Zelda’s sword and a variety of isolation booths were available (in the PSPs case an appropriate isolation bubble) for eager visitors to leave the noise of the show floor behind and experience a new game or device.
This year however, also showcased that while technologically the industry is moving in leaps and bounds, the marketing supporting it may be falling far behind the times. How else can we explain that although the booth babes were prettier than ever, they also looked more out of place than ever before or the fact that games which may attract a wider audience were not prominently displayed and aggressively marketed, with the unlikely exceptions of Nintendogs and possibly Spore. In fact a regular visitor to E3 would be hard-pressed to describe exactly how this show was different, everything was the same… just shinier.
