E3 2014
Yesterday was the big kickoff for this year's Electronics Entertainment Expo, the video-game-palooza netter known as E3. And by "big kickoff" I really mean started... just started.
That's not to disparage the event, but the excitement around this year's E3 is understandably not close to what it was last year. That's because last year was the year of the major console releases. The Xbox One and PS4 had their big unveil last year. No E3 is as big as the year that the new hardware is revealed. With the console launches last year the only real surprise would have been a new handheld, and there were no rumors of that at all.
Which gets to the next point, which is that it's really hard to surprise anymore. I'll get into the topic of too many cooks in the kitchen tomorrow or sometime this week, but essentially that is part of the problem with regards to the excitement factor at something like E3. In this instant gratification, internet connected world, it is no easy feat to keep new projects under wraps. Without hardware, everything at E3 this year is going to be about games. Chances are there will be few if any games announced or demonstrated at E3 that haven't already been talked about, theorized, or spoiled online already. Even something like the announcement of Forza Horizon 2 is a non-surprise surprise because everyone pretty much knew one was due. Even the newer titles announced at Sony and Microsoft's conferences yesterday, and likely any that will be talked about at Nintendo's today, are games folks have either already known were in development, were waiting for a release date on, or heard relatively reliable rumors on in the past weeks or months.
Sure, there is excitement to be had when you see an idea with life breathed into it, moving on the screen as a cohesive project approaching a point of completion, rather than some idea someone jotted down on a piece of paper. Nevertheless it's certainly not like it once was when you could tune in to E3 or read about it days later and find out some amazing new game was announced that no one knew was coming, when even sequels were a keen surprise announcement because publishers and makers had no pressure to spill details or leakers any outlet to reach a wide audience. Nowadays people are so adverse to surprise that they expect to get regular updates on the progress of titles they not only know are being developed, but for which there already is a release date.
All this together makes it hard for something like E3 to be as much fun and as exciting as it was in its heyday. E3 was the place the Big 3 of video games got together and spoiled gaming fans with the avalanche of all the blockbuster ideas they were going to shower over the next year or so. Even the console announcements last year lacked as much impact as they might otherwise have because Sony gave out most of the headline details months before, and Microsoft revealed the whole shebang a month before the get-together.
So, here's to E3, which for what it's worth remains a major draw for the gaming industry as one of the only gaming conventions of its magnitude state-side. But enjoy it while it lasts, because with the way our culture is heading it might not be around for very much longer.
That's not to disparage the event, but the excitement around this year's E3 is understandably not close to what it was last year. That's because last year was the year of the major console releases. The Xbox One and PS4 had their big unveil last year. No E3 is as big as the year that the new hardware is revealed. With the console launches last year the only real surprise would have been a new handheld, and there were no rumors of that at all.
Which gets to the next point, which is that it's really hard to surprise anymore. I'll get into the topic of too many cooks in the kitchen tomorrow or sometime this week, but essentially that is part of the problem with regards to the excitement factor at something like E3. In this instant gratification, internet connected world, it is no easy feat to keep new projects under wraps. Without hardware, everything at E3 this year is going to be about games. Chances are there will be few if any games announced or demonstrated at E3 that haven't already been talked about, theorized, or spoiled online already. Even something like the announcement of Forza Horizon 2 is a non-surprise surprise because everyone pretty much knew one was due. Even the newer titles announced at Sony and Microsoft's conferences yesterday, and likely any that will be talked about at Nintendo's today, are games folks have either already known were in development, were waiting for a release date on, or heard relatively reliable rumors on in the past weeks or months.
Sure, there is excitement to be had when you see an idea with life breathed into it, moving on the screen as a cohesive project approaching a point of completion, rather than some idea someone jotted down on a piece of paper. Nevertheless it's certainly not like it once was when you could tune in to E3 or read about it days later and find out some amazing new game was announced that no one knew was coming, when even sequels were a keen surprise announcement because publishers and makers had no pressure to spill details or leakers any outlet to reach a wide audience. Nowadays people are so adverse to surprise that they expect to get regular updates on the progress of titles they not only know are being developed, but for which there already is a release date.
All this together makes it hard for something like E3 to be as much fun and as exciting as it was in its heyday. E3 was the place the Big 3 of video games got together and spoiled gaming fans with the avalanche of all the blockbuster ideas they were going to shower over the next year or so. Even the console announcements last year lacked as much impact as they might otherwise have because Sony gave out most of the headline details months before, and Microsoft revealed the whole shebang a month before the get-together.
So, here's to E3, which for what it's worth remains a major draw for the gaming industry as one of the only gaming conventions of its magnitude state-side. But enjoy it while it lasts, because with the way our culture is heading it might not be around for very much longer.
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