Two Unlikely Voices August 24,2006 - The announcement of the rearrangement of E3 is an announcement that will be talked about for ages. It is perhaps one of the biggest bombshells ever dropped and without a doubt the most startling announcement made this year. We have heard feedback from company execs and journalists such as myself. There are others from outside the industry, however, who have their own thoughts on the matter. Two opposing views from two unlikely voices. Former Ubisoft Public Relations Director Robin Carr, and Smartbomb co-author Aaron Ruby both share their thoughts on the shocking news.

Robin Carr, Former Ubisoft Public Relations Director
So it’s the end of E3 as we know it. E3’s demise is not earth-shattering, yet there are those who do think it’s mistake, in that E3 was the "one time of year” that attention was paid to video games (er, it’s not). Many folks are grateful that they no longer have to dread that “one time of year” anymore: those who spent days and weeks getting their feet (and livers) primed for those three days (or really, about six) when voices were lost, giveaways were trampled upon, and that mid-afternoon time of day when folks searched for food (decent or otherwise)…and that was just breakfast.

Let’s all move on.

This isn’t the first of the beloved trade show to downsize or go away completely. Much has already been written about the passing of COMDEX, so we won’t belabor that eulogy. Yet, E3’s “evolution” is right on trend. Let’s take a look at another behemoth trade show who recently called it quits…SGMA's The Super Show.

I used to work at Nike, and in the mid-to-late 1990s, this Show was it. We’re talking, Atlanta in February, when snow was a certainty, cab lines were miles long for no cabs (hey, it’s SNOWING! No Atlanta cabbies drive in the SNOW!) and room service was a 4-hour wait. This was THEE sports trade show, with everything from league-products to sports footwear and apparel, to helmet lampshades and baseball bedroom sheets for your kid with the sports car bed. Every piece of sports crap you see ANYWHERE was featured here – both at the Georgia Dome and the Convention Center next door. Everyone in the industry dreaded The Super Show – and planned on it for months on end.

Then, one company decided to back out; they realized that they were spending millions of dollars on the Best Booth in The Show… and for what? Trying to eke out some news through the clutter of sports product stories and vying for air time with NFL has-beens and Kathy Ireland promoting her sports socks? All the while, the mucky-mucks were having meetings with Sports Authorities and other retailers throughout the land – all in Atlanta; in February. Well Nike was that company who realized – hey, we could have our own meetings, whenever and wherever we pleased. And the media? Never was an issue. So Nike pulled out and slowly others in the industry did as well.

I joined Electronic Arts in 1998, worked my first E3 in 1999, and in 2005, my last with Ubisoft. Seven E3s. As someone who witnessed what happened with The Super Show, I only anticipated the day when the Nike of Video Games, EA, dared to pull out of E3.

But E3 beat everyone to the punch. They’re going to be a “more intimate program, including higher quality, more personal dialogue with the worldwide media, developers, retailers and other key industry audiences.” They realized what happened to Super Show –which had downsized every year since Nike took their dance-club-like booth out of the Peachtree Convention Center (or whatever it is) and went home. But give the folks at E3 credit: Like George Costanza, they wanted the upper hand. Witness this sad little note on the current site of The Super Show:

“Thank you for visiting the site of The Super Show. The 21st and final Super Show was held in January 2006. Beginning in 2007 SGMA will host two new events to create more focused retail opportunities for SGMA member companies. With a focus on specialty and trendsetting retailers, independent, regional and small retailers, and team dealers, the buyer relationships you build at SGMA Spring will become your most profitable opportunities yet!” 

So no R.I.P for E3, but credit them for not waiting ten years too long to get out of what was really an enabling, stifling relationship. And congratulations to all involved to be in an industry who really is ahead of the game.

Games, News, Reviews, Media and More

Review: Boom Blox	5/15/08
Preview: Enemy Territory: Quak...	5/14/08
Preview: Enemy Territory: Quak...	5/14/08
Review: echochrome	5/13/08
Review: echochrome	5/13/08
Preview: Strong Bad's Cool Gam...	5/9/08
Preview: Strong Bad's Cool Gam...	5/9/08