E3 Brings Back The Booth Babes, oh, and Developers

February 2, 2009| schommer| 0 Comment| 8:20 pm

Categories:

As not to be shown up by other conferences, E3 is bringing back the booth babes, the glitz, the glamor and the publishers and developers. All but NCSoft is reported to be making it to E3 this year and they’re opening up registration again, without having an invite only exclusive club.

Is it really that easy to breath life back into E3? It makes me question why they changed it to begin with as developers and publlishers were the ones reported to not want to spend the millions of dollars in cost to obtain a few extra eyeballs on their products. We all contemplated mini-conferences with each major developer to take the place of the big E3 where each confierence would focus on just a few small brands.

Now, we’re heading back to the way it always was… isn’t this what the big boys were trying to avoid? Apparently not, because they’re all signed up and ready to return and hype their product. Perhaps these same developers saw some falling trends and realized E3 is needed to push their new games?

Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft and all their friends are back again to battle, this is like a long awaited Street Fighter sequel. The new Super Smash Bros Brawl of press events with the hot chicks in tow hoping to flash the lights upon their awesome next greatest game development.

Will this really reinvigorate the conference? Will it cause other conferences like TGS and GDC to lose attendance this year? We know many mainstream press folks are sighing as they realize they’re going to all have to show up and really work the show, for them this is business and ratings. While a few of us are impressed by the anime clad chicks, most of the folks there are actually working for a living.

0 thoughts on “E3 Brings Back The Booth Babes, oh, and Developers”

jonahfalcon says:

February 2, 2009 at 9:02 pm

I’ll be covering E3 this year. I miss the loudness.

Reply

Robbie Bach says: There Will Be Multiple VictorsRobbie Bach says: There Will Be Multiple Victors

It’s amazing to think we’re in our third year of “next generation” console bliss. Three years have passed since the first Xbox 360 shipped, for good or bad, and it’s time to start thinking about the future.

Or is it?

Bobbie Bach, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices president, seems to believe this generation of consoles will expand out further than the typical four-year release cycle. Perhaps because the console developers have invested so much money in defeating each other in the market and making their console “number one” in the eyes of their investors.

Bach does not believe we’re cresting on the current generation, that is for certain, and we’ve yet to hear any hype over a new next-generation console from Microsoft. They were the first to market so, theoretically, they should be the first in the next-generation as well, right?

Their move to be number one was really a strategic attack which has paid out well, leading them above the past domination of Sony and Nintendo before it. However, they are holding strong with the Xbox 360 and there might be cause to sit tight and let this generation playout before bringing in another piece of hardware.

Bach stated that he believes consoles today are competing at different levels than ten years ago. There isn’t one clear winner, there isn’t one dominating console. There will be victors in different areas of the industry; casual consoles, top game sellers, best graphics and others. It’s not about sheer “units sold” it’s more about being profitable and building a community around your hardware, see Xbox Live as a great example.

Next generation will be full of fantastic new features, ways to connect and crazy hardware specifications, no doubt, but… for many of us, it will take years before we forget the pain and suffering we paid shipping our dead Xbox 360’s back to Microsoft for repairs. Would you be willing to buy into their next generation as their first customer?

(Thanks, 1up)

Episode 508: MarriageEpisode 508: Marriage

TJ announces his nuptials the previous week, finally marrying his live-in girlfriend of 10 years. All that, and many parables that had to be cut from the podcast lest it last 90 minutes.

That said, there’s plenty of news this week:

The Battlefield 5 beta will take place in early September
Rainbow Six Siege now insta-banning players using hate speech
Pokemon GO Fest attendance announced
Star Citizen refund refusals

Let us know if you spent $50,000 on a virtual spaceship.

Does Sony Need M.A.G and God of War 3 This Year?Does Sony Need M.A.G and God of War 3 This Year?

There is a bit of confusion regarding the release dates of both M.A.G and God of War 3 for the PlayStation 3. Initially people believed 2009 was the target drop for both titles after a Sony press release mentioned great games being “ushered in” this year following Killzone 2.

godofwar3 The “year” Sony may be talking about is fiscal year 2009… which rolls into March 2010. Although Sony hasn’t tagged either title with an ETA, it’s being assumed that we’re talking 2009 until spring 2010. Given most games launch in the September and October time for the holiday season that leads us to believe it will either arrive for the holiday or slide to 2010. If the title isn’t ready for prime time by the holiday season, can you wait a full year for these games?

More importantly, can Sony?

The best way to build up momentum for the console is to release some hot long awaited titles, M.A.G and God of War 3 seem to be just that product. We now have LittleBigPlanet, KillZone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 which were three big hopefuls for the console it would be a huge smash in the face of Microsoft to follow that up with two more one-two punches.

A year seems a bit too far to deliver the blow to their competition. What game are you waiting for on the PS3 and believe will kick unit sales into high gear?