E3 Second Hand Look Analysis Addenduuuuuuum!

Okay so that was a little harsh, but it's the truth. E3 doesn't matter in the way that it used to. Once upon a time, dedicated gamers got their news from journalists, and when that was the case, E3 was extremely important. It was one of the biggest platforms for developers to clue in the media as to what they're making. People used it to announce things, report on progress, and get any other messages out there they wanted to convey.

However, after the advent of easy, cheap video hosting, the dynamic shifted. By now, gamers don't need the middle man for information. Sure, sites like Kotaku are useful for providing context, but as far as the raw data goes, gamers can get it themselves. Gametrailers.com is possibly the biggest factor in the fall of E3. Developers don't have to release their trailers to the press along with everyone else's anymore. They can make all the trailers and marketing videos they want, and release them directly to the public whenever they damn well please. The information is out there and, unsurprisingly, everyone who is interested is finding it.

Now, to be fair, E3 isn't as boned as it looked like it was a few years ago. It's done a fairly good job of getting back on it's feet, but the show does not hold the cultural significance that it used to. It's still a good platform for making announcements and demoing their new technology, but that makes for far less than a comprehensive look at the future of the industry. This bears significance since a sizable portion of the fan reaction seems to be extreme dread about the future of the industry.

It's a similar, if not identical, reaction to people "expressing concern" about the industry's focus on casual games. And by "expressing concern" I mean "pissing and moaning." The fact of the matter is that, with gamers getting their information for themselves, most of the industry focuses it's marketing on different areas. Just because they're not actively courting you doesn't mean that they don't give a shit about you anymore. It really doesn't do much to break the negative stereotypes surrounding gaming when the so-called hardcore gamers throw a temper tantrum every time developers pay any amount of attention to anyone else. I have a dog that does that. You know what we do with her? We put her outside.

The complaining about the industry has been going on for years. People are up in arms about Kinect now, but before it was product placement, and before that it was casual games. Ultimately, though, to see if these concerns have any grounding in reality, the only question that really needs to be asked is whether there is a shortage of good- I mean really good- games.

I'll save you some time. No. No there isn't. For the last few years, quality games have been coming out with surprising regularity. Even this year, even now, during the summer. This might be the first summer in my life where the limiting factor for new games is my ability to afford them. So yeah, if reality is any indication, the industry isn't in any immediate danger of drying up.

As for E3, it wasn't a bad show this year. It yielded some demos for the Kinect and the 3DS, the former of which could be cool if A) it works and B) somebody actually does something with it. As for the 3DS, I am very excited. I've never regretted owning a Nintendo handheld, and I'm excited to see how they pull off 3D with goggles. People who've tried it say it works. I'm as confused as you are.

Other than that, I didn't glean much from the show. I guess Deus Ex 3 could be cool, and The Old Republic seems promising. They're both far enough away that we can expect to see a good deal more information outside of E3 that we got from the show itself.