Having been into video games for so long, I have watched the industry grow so much. I take it completely for granted that not everyone knows what E3 is. This became a realization for me when we went to the supermarket after the event, and the lady who was ringing us up asked us how our day was. As we recounted our day at the convention, she interrupted us by asking “What is E3?”.
E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo. It’s an annal convention and trade show that is currently held in Los Angeles. Anyone involved in creating anything that has to do with video games is on hand to show off their newest technology to the press and other gaming professionals. It is currently one of the largest trade shows of its kind, with the 2009 attendance reaching over 70,000 people.
The idea for E3 was originally conceived in 1995 by Infotainment World and the Interactive Digital Software Association. They were at a convention called the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where they realized something was missing. Their booths only had enough room for their product. They didn’t have enough room to have a private area for special demos or business discussions so they would have to make these special appointments elsewhere. It would be much more convenient for the people they were trying to impress to simply meet right there at the booth. At the time, CES refused to expand to support this idea, and E3 was born.
Since then, E3 has grown to become the biggest platform for developers to show off their wares in the U.S. As E3 became more popular, it evolved into a very glitzy and competitive event. A few years ago, the competition heated up so much, that complaints were raised about sound level and scantily clad women distracting from important press conferences and announcements. In response, the powers behind E3 decided to make it a press/invite only event. Instead of having all these companies crammed into the L.A. Convention Center, they spread the event out over the greater Los Angeles area, and the huge booths and glamorous attractions were all but eliminated. This didn’t sit well with the press because of the difficulties of commuting around L.A. and making appointments in a timely manner.
To accommodate, the convention has been building itself up again, and this year has reached new heights in size and presentation. The booths were impressive, with plenty of eye candy and demos for most of the hottest titles. It has become popular for companies to save announcements of their new consoles and games for this event. If the game is already announced, you might be able to find a new demo or even a playable demo of a system or game that has never been shown to the public before. This makes it a very special time for gamers, and all the press is out to report their experiences to you so you know the best ways to spend you money.
While E3 is the biggest and most exciting video game conference in the U.S., it isn’t always the best place to introduce certain titles. Occasionally developers will save announcements for special titles for smaller events so it can get more attention.
There are so many video game websites you can visit to read all about the different things shown at this year’s E3, and if you want to sift through all the mess, you can probably find some great things out there. Married with Video games was lucky enough to be able to attend the event, however with our limited resources, could only catch the highlights of the event. Our focus was on games fun for the family, however, it was also important for us to see all the hot new titles so our readers can be more informed. Here is a list of the booths that we visited this year at E3:
Nintendo
Sony
SOE
Microsoft
Natsume
Harmonix
Ubisoft
2K Games
Sega
Disney
Electronic Arts (EA)
Square Enix
Namco Bandai
Capcom
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