Why E3 Is Terrible For Video Games: Overpromises, Promises

GR: "In this (brief) series of articles leading up to gaming's Electronic Entertainment Expo, we'll look at why E3 is bad and why you should feel bad. Outside of the insane marketing budgets and globe-spanning levels of hype, what does E3 really do for the video game industry?"

[alexcosborn]

Yeah man, E3 blows.

[doctorstrange]

Countdown clocks!

[alexcosborn]

Countdown clocks that countdown to countdown clocks.

[Relientk77]

^This, because I had to read it twice to understand it lol

[knifefight]

Giant Enemy Crabs.

[SKUD]

Avatar shoe bottoms.

[Irishguy95]

"Historical battles"
*Giant crab jumps out

MS E3's were dreadfully hilarious the last couple of years. Specially the kinect one. This E3 should be amazing though. Ps4 and Nextbox? Yes/

[linkenski]

Excellently put. You get a "well said" for that!

[Loki86]

Yet every year people like the OP flock to their computer anxiously waiting for the next conference to transpire.

[Godmars290]

That's because more and more the promises made aren't kept. Games a being shown off too early only to either be scaled back or canceled outright.

Just like Metacritic rather than actual sales are being used to judge games, at one time E3 was being used to determine when a game released.

[colonel179]

Exactly. They now show games for the sake of showing something and "win" E3, only to pretend they never existed. Agent shouldn't have been announced, Final Fantasy Versus XIII either. The Last Guardian had to be shown because it was leaked by Playstation Lifestyle, but it was clearly too early.

Not only that, but because they want to make an impression, they announce things way beyond what they end up being. Killzone 2 trailer, Kinect, etc.

E3 should be about upcoming games for the year (June to June) not more. There are a lot of games that are announced and come out 2 to 3 years later, and are shown at 2 or 3 E3, so why reveal it then and not wait until the year when it would come out?

[MikeMyers]

@colonel179

I totally agree and don't worry about the disagrees. Some people obviously take offense to your games you listed even though it's true. If a game is scheduled to come out in a year then show it off. Don't show CGI trailers or just a logo like The Agent so that you hope people are talking about your system. Don't show demonstrations like Milo that never materialize.

I want to see real gameplay. I also want to see more accountability with release dates. E3 usually just leads to a pissing contest for fanboys to pick a winner. Year after year we get sucked in thinking it will be great and most times it's filled with embarrassing moments and bad pacing. Then you have speakers who look like they've never held a controller in their lives acting like what they are showing is awesome.

More real gameplay, more accountability (games that will actually ship in the near future)and more surprises. That's what I want to see.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Man is it human nature to try to fine something bad about every anything good? Or is it just an internet thing?

[knifefight]

Actually yes, psychologists have found that humans are drawn to negativity 5 times as much as positivity.
http://www.psychologytoday....

That's why TV and paper news is mostly bad news too.

[Hicken]

Yeah, it's a human thing, alright. One of the suckier things we do.

[MirandaCB]

I think E3 is good for smaller/indie game developers trying to show the hard work they've done on their game to get it known. When it comes to bigger developers and producers, it becomes a competition with the past that rarely comes to fruition as they envision it.

Money vs. quality

[taquito]

ahhhh e3.....where fake trailers and bullshots are shown, and the gullible gobble it up

[Williamson]

Well I like E3. I always check gaming sites every 10 mins for new games announced, and especially love it when unexpected games get announced out of nowhere.

[Soldierone]

It's help if we as gamers held people to their promises. Instead it becomes "meh whatever, here is an excuse to help get them out of it. Anyone that doesn't agree simply doesn't understand business!"

E3 shouldn't be like CES. CES is where IDEAS are introduced, and E3 is literally marketing a product.... If that product never comes, tell them they messed up. Instead we just let it all fly under radar. What happened to that one game? Oh who knows, whats coming out next month?

[Tei777]

E3 is my most anticipated event of the year, it doesn't matter that it falls short of most of my lofty expectations... So do most other things that are highly anticipated.

[babis1974]

i love e3!

[LAWSON72]

I love e3 just because it is that one huge week that gets you excited for future games

[isarai]

LOL stop riding the hype train, you're the one hurting the game industry for setting your expectation so damn high based on nothing but baseless speculation.