Well it’s that time of year again… you know when it’s Christmas for gamers? Or at least people like me. Planning that week to manage work and sleep to see all the conferences and announcements live… as they happen!
The Hype, the anticipation… What could be coming, new games! Sequels, IPs, more content and services for the consoles we chose for that coveted spot under our TVs. I mean it’s not just something that sits under the TV, it has life! We will spend the next 5-10 years invested in the stories, the gameplay, the rise and fall of our heroes and heroines… and WE create part of that story… we give life to them all, and in so doing give life to the consoles themselves.
Maybe I’m being way too melodramatic, and it’s just another day… but E3 has always been a special date to me. From the announcement of the Dreamcast, PS2, the new Xbox… Exciting! But I have also been very disappointed. Like many people I think some years are lackluster, with concepts, shovel ware and services pushed down our throats. More marketing rather than showing off what’s been created.
So this brings me to think… What makes a good E3? Many of us have thought about this, debated this and fought year after year as to who had the best conference! Well here in my first blog post, these are my thoughts…
Be Thankful and Humble…
No company should come out “tooting their own horn”… Look at us, we sold this much and you will buy it because we are awesome! NO! Thank the gamers for making you a success, and then briefly show them the numbers. We know a sales chart and details are inevitable… be graceful and humble about it. This was no doubt Sony’s downfall at the PS3 announcement. They were in awe of themselves and the PS2 success... hey we will need to jobs to buy a PS3, and we will do it! NO! More recently this was MS.. Kinect, $500… If we want an offline device we can get a 360! Ok then we won’t buy your console!
Gamers have a choice, we have the buying power to make these manufacturers and publishers change!
The Games
Well this is what it’s all about… The games. The last generation gave us so many new IPs, ideas and concepts… Gears of War, Uncharted, Indie Games! This is what makes or breaks a console after launch. Support from all publishers and parties… both exclusives and multiplatform. But so they show the games we want? Our perception on what’s good or bad may differ greatly here… But too much time showing services, Kinect, Move, Wonder book etc. and these types of games just eat into the conference time. I firmly believe that it’s the core gamers who watch E3, the ones who follow the gaming news, culture and stay up all night for E3. Why do I want to see kids jumping around in a fairy tale? Or books being read with a camera. This in my opinion is a waste! Same as TV and services! At the most this should be 10% of the conference.
Give us the “mega tons”… New IPs, revival or old beloved IPs, Sequels and ideas that genuinely enhance gameplay. Not some shovelware BS that make us cringe!
The Presenters
Well I won’t spend a lot of time going on about this… but how hard is it to find someone engaging and enthusiastic? Let’s not forget “Mr Caffeine” and “Ridgeeeeee Racer”. These companies can do a lot of better than CEOs that lack charisma and presence. Trenton got better of the years, and Mattrick was always dull and boring.
Let get more developers and people who really care and know about their games. Or at least better presenters.
Time, Organisation and Flow
Self-Explanatory … Yes you Sony! Come one the world is watching! Including your investors. How can a multimedia, multinational company can’t arrange and start a conference on time?
No more than 2hrs in length. People tend to switch off after that. Make sure the conference flows smoothly, with not too many dips in engagement. This means big games and announcements timed after small ones. Especially when opening and closing. Both must be memorable.
And one final thought… SHOW GAMEPLAY. Please enough CG trailers which tells us nothing about the game, gameplay or how the game may actually look.
Thanks for reading.
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
What makes a good E3?
Well let me think....hmm...What would make a video games conference good?
Is it make sure you have nicer sandwiches than the competition?
A livestream that isn't always crapping out.
THAT'S what comes to mind for me.
I have Blast 50 and every damn E3 the video quality is dreadful.