Bringing it Home: Sadness

I realize this is old news, but are there any gamers out there that are as bummed out by the end of E3 as I am? I was downloading the "Bringing It Home" promotional materials for TGS on Xbox Live, and while I am glad to see that there are preview materials available for the games coming out this season, it is clear that TGS isn't near the wonderful spectacle that E3 was.

The really unfortunate part of this whole thing, is that the reason E3 was even ended was because big companies were spending ridiculous amounts of money on insane promotions (e.g. Navy Seals rappelling in from the roof) for their games, but littler companies were getting more attention because their games were better, and the big companies didn't like that one bit. To be clear, I am all for sticking up for the "little guy," but don't confuse me with some kind of anti-corporation anarchist, some of my favorite games were and are produced by the industry's larger corporations. What irritates me is that E3 was a utopia of gaming meritocracy, and even though some companies might try to confuse the audience with flashing lights or "booth babes" the gamers knew that it was all about the games, that's what people were there to see, and in that way E3 represented the industry: "it's all about the games."

It isn't about who you have working for you (prolific names like Shigeru Miyamoto, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Hideo Kojima aside), it isn't about how much money you have, it isn't about where you are located, it's all about the games. Gaming is one of the fastest growing industries because it has some of the fewest barriers to entry, all you really need is a good idea and some programming knowhow and you can make a game. The hardest thing is trying to get your game noticed and E3 was THE way to do that, because if you're game was good or exciting or innovative, people would start talking and with basically every member of the gaming press at the event you could be guaranteed to get some positive publicity and maybe even a chance at continuing coverage.

So what message does closing the doors to E3 send? It's basically a slap in the face to everything the gaming industry was once based on, by companies that only got where they are because the barriers to entry that they themselves create didn't exist when they first started. I mean what was EA's first piece of software? A pinball construction set? Nintendo was originally a playing card manufacturer for god's sake!

At this point, I realize I am no longer sad about the end of E3, I am angry. Heck, part of the reason this website even exists was to try and get press passes to E3, because it was like a Mecca for gamers. Going there would have been like a pilgrimage for gamers, and for those among us with aspirations to actually make games it would have been THE opportunity to learn, to network, and to succeed. Sadly, that opportunity no longer exists, but who knows, maybe someone else will be brave enough to pick up the mantle of E3, and if they do I can promise you, I'll be the first in line to sign up. Until then, I guess TGS and the other pale shadows of E3 will have to do.