A tumultuous few months ends with founding organization the ESA making the call.
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E3 2020 has been canceled
- Thread starter JournalBot
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Meh. Okay.
Edit: While I will not mourn the show being cancelled (the big companies can always hold their own live or online events to present their new products), I do feel bad for the smaller companies who were hoping to get some exposure, as well as the convention and hospitality employees who will lose out on extra wages/tips.
As usual, it's not the big folks who get hurt by these things, but the smaller folks.
Edit: While I will not mourn the show being cancelled (the big companies can always hold their own live or online events to present their new products), I do feel bad for the smaller companies who were hoping to get some exposure, as well as the convention and hospitality employees who will lose out on extra wages/tips.
As usual, it's not the big folks who get hurt by these things, but the smaller folks.
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I don't have a dog in this fight but PAX has always seemed to be more consumer and 'fan' oriented anyway, and given the internet and streaming options hosing a big (mostly private industry) affair like this has just seemed... less and less important or valuable over time. The days of E3 being an 'event' are over.
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I only ever got to go to one E3, before they permanently moved it to the West Coast. I got in as an Industry guest, but it was more of a mistake on their part. I had a trip and a half. This was way back when plasma TV's were super new and expensive. I was shocked there were plasma TV's ALL OVER the place. Brand new games that hadn't been released were sitting around for anyone to play for free. Every booth was handing out free stuff (I was just out of college, and so free t-shirts were VERY important to me, I needed clothes).
It still is probably one of the highlights of my life. I still have the hat!
But it changed in the intervening decades. I probably wouldn't enjoy it now nearly as much as I did then. I do feel bad for the people who were looking forward to it, but maybe it is for the best. Maybe when they bring it back eventually, maybe next year or the one after that, they will have rediscovered the magic that I saw all those years ago...
It still is probably one of the highlights of my life. I still have the hat!
But it changed in the intervening decades. I probably wouldn't enjoy it now nearly as much as I did then. I do feel bad for the people who were looking forward to it, but maybe it is for the best. Maybe when they bring it back eventually, maybe next year or the one after that, they will have rediscovered the magic that I saw all those years ago...
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E3 is the event equivalent of gaming magazines. They used to be relevant before everyone got internet access, nowadays even people without reliable electricity have internet access. E3's days had been numbered since 2005, and it looks like the life support has run out.
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They'll blame it on coronavirus but the writing was on the wall a long time ago.
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I wonder how much is US domestic pressure about coronavirus concerns, and how much stems from the fact that a bunch of the products for display are already a couple of months behind due to China getting hit first.
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E3 was never meant to be directly for fans. It was where journalists, merchandisers, and other influential types could gather for a few days to learn the latest and greatest before it was practical to show them or send them everything digitally. It was an important way to plan out the year as supply chains and marketing had to be rolled out. It's not as needed anymore in that way, but the holiday-like event still becomes worthwhile for the marketing exposure.
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IIRC, the last mention about the potential closing of E3 included that image of the dumpster. One of the comments in that article, which was heavily up-voted, was that the dumpster should have properly been shown on fire.
Looks like they got that part checked off the to do list for this article announcing the closing of it.
Given its decline over the last several years, I'd be surprised if they even try to have it again.
Looks like they got that part checked off the to do list for this article announcing the closing of it.
Given its decline over the last several years, I'd be surprised if they even try to have it again.
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We're blessed with excellent article images here at Ars.
I'm still partial to Judge Otis "The Hulk" Wright, myself.
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Puny lawyers make Otis Wright mad. Otis Wright smash puny lawyers!
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I actually did the dumpster fire image just for the comments on the last one, since it was requested and I couldn't resist. Sam messaged me today to ask if it was in the CMS, he had a need. I just did it as a bit of fun for the commenters, but came in handy tonight, I was about to finish making dinner when he asked, easiest story image ever.
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Good news, everyone! Now Microsoft and Sony can announce their new console press releases immediately instead of waiting until E3.
I expect that to happen in 3... 2... 1...
...wtf? Where are the videos? The clickbait articles that dripfeed every detail in its own link? The console war? Angry Nintendo fanboys?
Bah! I'm going back to bed.
I expect that to happen in 3... 2... 1...
...wtf? Where are the videos? The clickbait articles that dripfeed every detail in its own link? The console war? Angry Nintendo fanboys?
Bah! I'm going back to bed.
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I'd say 50/50 Pax West is cancelled too the way the virus is rampaging in the US.
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dont think it matters. I think everyone is scared, this year is a wash event wise.
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I’m so disappointed to hear this. A lot of people say that the internet made E3 irrelevant. I disagree. I think the internet is what made E3 truly great.
As a fan who only dreamed about attending the show, E3 went from something I would read about in magazines a month or two after to being able to read articles about events the same day they happened to being able to experience everything in real time. The internet brought the events of E3 straight into my gaming room.
It grew from a day or two of streaming a couple conferences to a full week of gaming events events. Gaming tournaments. Nintendo Treehouse Live. E3 Coliseum. So much more. You got to see not just the latest games and hardware, but also meet the people who made them.
It was a week long celebration of gaming I looked forward to every summer. It was a special time not just for my platform of choice, but to see in depth what exciting things everyone else was doing too.
Now it’s true that things like major announcements will still happen anyway throughout the year. But the magic, the hype, and the experience of that super week of gaming goodness will be sorely missed.
As a fan who only dreamed about attending the show, E3 went from something I would read about in magazines a month or two after to being able to read articles about events the same day they happened to being able to experience everything in real time. The internet brought the events of E3 straight into my gaming room.
It grew from a day or two of streaming a couple conferences to a full week of gaming events events. Gaming tournaments. Nintendo Treehouse Live. E3 Coliseum. So much more. You got to see not just the latest games and hardware, but also meet the people who made them.
It was a week long celebration of gaming I looked forward to every summer. It was a special time not just for my platform of choice, but to see in depth what exciting things everyone else was doing too.
Now it’s true that things like major announcements will still happen anyway throughout the year. But the magic, the hype, and the experience of that super week of gaming goodness will be sorely missed.
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Yep, they took an arrow to the knee
I was hoping to hear more about the next Elder Scrolls
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warr10r_za
Ars Centurion
I'll miss E3 but at the same time I think Gamescom is a bigger deal now.
RIP E3. Lots of good memories from my PC gaming magazine consuming days. RIP magazines with cover DVDs as well...
RIP E3. Lots of good memories from my PC gaming magazine consuming days. RIP magazines with cover DVDs as well...
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But what will Devolver do now? I've really enjoyed their E3-adjacent presentations the last few years.
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This is terrible news. Now I won't be able to play that game where you play as a virus and you go around infecting as many cells possible, and try to avoid the immune system police.
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It definitely put the "finishing touches" on this saga. E3 is probably dead after 2020, but the addition of flames to the dumpster fire of its future was epic.
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The first and last time that I went to E3 was in 2004, shortly after the Dear Friends Concert. I think that was also where I was first introduced to the Nintendo DS but I hadn't been sold on it yet. I was able to get into E3 on the last day, I think, on one of my dormmate's pass because they were stuffing bags for the E3 event. When I got there, I thought we would be stuffing bags as well but the organizers allowed us to go in and run around so that was a whole day of walking around, getting free t-shirts from some booths, and trying out some of the new games.
I saw Red Ninja and thought that it had some interesting mechanics. I just think that the Tenchu developers would probably have done better with the same mechanics.
I saw Red Ninja and thought that it had some interesting mechanics. I just think that the Tenchu developers would probably have done better with the same mechanics.
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It's alright, but I will always remember the E3 insanity stories from Swedish PC Gamer from waaayyy back. To a kid from the northern wastes it looked both awful (all those people) and amazing.
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Their real fear is not becoming a nest of Coronavirus, but having a year go by where people realize they haven't given a crap about E3 for 10 years and start making other plans going forward.
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Meh...I don't know why folks so upset about E3 2020 being cancelled.
E3 died a long-ass time ago.
It's not even fun anymore. It's been a shell of its former self, for quite some time now.
E3 died a long-ass time ago.
It's not even fun anymore. It's been a shell of its former self, for quite some time now.
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