Who Needs E3? A Look At Possible Replacements

[JCalCGM]

Who needs E3, anyway? With the revamp of the video game trade show turning it into a smaller event, its possible that one or more other events could become as large and as important as E3 has been for the past 11 years. FiringSquad takes a look at these possible replacements for E3 (http://www.firingsquad.com/features/e3_replacement/) in our latest article. Here is a snip:
Penny Arcade Expo (August)

Who would have thought that an event organized by the team behind a web comic strip would suddenly become a contender for the next E3? The third annual gathering of gamers this August is going to be the biggest yet in Bellvue, Washington with Microsoft, Nintendo, UbiSoft and many more publishers in attendance. Penny Arcade Expo appeals to the truly fanatical gamers with all sorts of activities that the old E3 would never have had (like the Omegathon).

Prediction For New E3: Probable. Penny Arcade Expo is in the Seattle area which means a bunch of game publishers and developers are just a car drive away. 2007 could be an even bigger show (although they would almost certainly have to move out of their already cramped convention center next year). While the Leipiziq convention happens around the same time we could see PAX gaining an edge over it in the years to come, especially if its as well run as it has been in the past.

[Taco]

I want to go to PAX.
You're on the wrong side of the country PA!!! I demand this be rectified.

[bKangy]

And thus, Gabe and Tycho became the most unlikely multi-millionaires ever.

[bean19]

Gabe has already said that PAX won't be the next E3 because when developers come to PAX, they do so for the consumers. . . I wonder if many companies will really be interested in doing this. Certainly new IPs or people with new and innovative products could benefit from this as they would basically be putting their product in the hands of extremely hardcore gamers from all over the country.

PAX really already IS a consumer expo, and you can be sure that Gabe and Tycho will keep it that way. This is a very different animal than E3 and I don't think we'll ever see the big 3 console companies giving hours long press conferences at it.

[ProfPuppet]

That is such an incredibly well-researched article.

From Penny Arcade:
PAX is not the new E3. E3 failed. If someone else wants to be the new E3 they are welcome to it. They can even set up shop in the carcass of the giant and claim his power, but E3 is dead and it died for a reason. If I were them I wouldn't be in such a hurry to stuff myself in that coffin, and I certainly wouldn't boast about it.

[Undertakr]

E3 stopped being E3 when it stopped being fun and became all about business. When E3 started, it was FUN! I met all sorts of cool famous people from Bret Hart to Wayne Gretzky to Mia Hamm, I got to play games, I got to talk to designers and programmers about their games and learn and laugh and joke. Now E3 is all 'what store you from?' sales pitches, no fun, no humour. E3 has sucked the last 3 years and good riddence. And seriously, does Sony or Microsoft really need 3 days of sales pitching their newest console to the media? Everyone knows it's coming out. Get the PEOPLE, the gamers, excited about your product and you don't need to pitch to the media.

[bKangy]

They make a very good point, but I still expect PAX to grow massively year after year, especially now E3 is gone. I'm confident PA won't sell out though and end up fucking everyone in the arse.

[Kagger]

Alright, I was gone the week this was announced (E3 dieing). I thought I heard that they just shrunk it down. Is it dead completely though? Article please?

[Dr.Finger]

E3 as we know it is dead. It's going to be held in a few hotel ballrooms for just retailers, major press and devs shopping for publishers. Basically all the stuff that got moved to the back room in the past few years.

[Scull]

As a PAX volunteer, I can say for a fact that Mike, Jerry, Khoo and the rest of the PA folks are totally against turning PAX into E3. They are gamers and the Expo is targeted at gamers. Publishers and devs (mainly publishers) come to PAX to touch base with the gamers who are buying the products. There is certaily room for more business to take place, but it will likely all be informal meetings over dinner and what not. Business is not the purpose of PAX.

[finguo]

They didn´t write Leipiziq in that article multiple times, did they?
Yes?
Oh.

[Siraris]

I suggested when they first announced it that publishers do events in big states for consumers. They can tour around and let the consumers get to play the games and see what they're really like. E3 was always for people in the industry and that's the way it should stay. I'd much rather see conferences catered to consumers.

[TheDancinMan]

I think PAX will become a good place for more and more announcments from companies, no big press confrences or things like that though. Just, like, "Hey! Look! It's a sequel!" stuff.

It will always be something for gamers, the PA gang won't let it be anything else, but I think that companies, at least the bigger ones, will use it to make certain announcments. For example, I could have seen Team Fortress 2 announced at PAX. Semi-big, very cool, but nothing like a reveal of a new console.

PAX is going to be a great forum for devs and publishers to get in touch with hardcore gamers, more so than it is now. But if only I could get there...

[hotdrop]

Ill be there in the Black keeping the peace :)

[Camel]

They didn´t write Leipiziq in that article multiple times, did they?
Yes?
Oh.
Heh, I noticed this too. Can't say I've ever heard of a Leipiziq, Germany before...

[NeoSuplex]

Did alot of business really even get done at E3? I thought the main draw was exchange of information like Releases, new Hardware, and workshops where techniques were discussed. Was anything in the vein of shopping for publishers really viable in that environment? Honest question; I've never had the (dis?)pleasure of attending.

If PAX were to take on some of the E3 Spirit as far as anouncments was concerned I don't think that would be bad at all.

[Gpig]

Since we're talking about Penny-Arcade. I really like tycho's writing, the comics, and the front page update, but I really hate every additional newspost they make now. It used to be sometimes cool stuff, but now it's just gabe pimping some stupid shit. They should move all the corporate shit to like another section. I don't like thinking of gabe as a humorless shill, but that's all I really seem to think of him as lately. I mean, I wouldn't mind having info about new shirts, PAX, etc. like one day a week, but I don't need 3 newsposts 3 days a week talking about how E3 is dead and how "pax paxity pax oh and btw a new WoW shirt".

Sorry for the rant, but I really like penny-arcade and the way tycho writes and ever since E3 announced they were restructuring, all the announcements by gabe increased in volume and decreased in quality.

I think PAX and GDC are the least likely to replace E3, but this news will certainly help them.

[Deadend]

Why does anyone want something to replace E3? That is the question I want an answer to. The best I have heard is "because it is supposed to be so awesome and the mainstream press." The mainstream press always view it as an odd little thing those video games do.

What the game industy needs is something like Sundance, where there is a huge setup of consoles in an area, and each studio takes turns with a presntation on their game while a few hundred press members play it at the same time, then the next game and so on.

The next company comes in and drops their CDs in the machines and so on and so forth for about a week while wheeling, dealing and deeper things go on around it.

But E3 always felt like everything about it existed for E3's sake alone. People announced things at E3 because it was E3 and thats when and where you announce things! Even though May is a good time of the year to announce things. Not the best time to have them playable, but a good time to say COMING SOON - New Shit!

[Xerxes]

I'd like a video game sundance. Minus the whole independence spin.

But I'd like a extreme E3 as well. It's like a big VG party and then they had to remove booth babes. Grrr... I vote for the Vince McMahon to host the WWE3.

[Zeal]

Pinto beans.

[Adewade]

Whatever will happen to Kentia Hall??

[Lord Dongkey]

Sorry for the rant, but I really like penny-arcade and the way tycho writes and ever since E3 announced they were restructuring, all the announcements by gabe increased in volume and decreased in quality.

I have to second that notion. Thought I was the only one that was getting annoyed by Gabe marketing shit at us daily.

[Watership]

Ya..PAX? No. E3 is not a consumer event. It's an Industry media event. The consumers just sneaked in most of the time.