Poor E3. It’s just never been the same since the public was left to stand outside in the cold. The Electronics Entertainment Expo takes place this July, however this year, as already reported, it will be without the world’s largest gaming publisher Vivendi/Activision.
Vivendi is part of a growing number of publishers saying sayonara to what was once the biggest gaming spectacle this side of the Pacific. With more and more companies having their own self contained events during the months of April and May, a grandiose event in the middle of July just seems redundant.
Capcom is the most recent company to have completed their press event, and Ubisoft’s is coming up later this month. Sony has their own also, and Microsoft has X08.
I mean think about it, wouldn’t you rather show off your stuff when members of the press are spending a day or two only looking at YOUR stuff. Self contained events give writers no opportunity to wander off and find something else they like at a competing company.
E3 is now press (and invite) only. Every single company there can do that on their own. On top of all that E3 is now held in July, a month far to late in the year to allow companies to big holiday announcement. You can’t announce something in July that is coming out in November if you want the hype to build. Imagine Halo 3 announced only 2 months before launch. E3 needs to be earlier in the year… like April or May, where it used to be. That way maybe the largest publisher won’t back out.
[Via Tom’s Hardware]
