1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:18,759 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts. And how the 4 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,919 Speaker 1: tech are you? So I read the news today. Oh boy, 5 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: technically I read it yesterday when all my troubles seemed 6 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: so far away, But I had already recorded yesterday's tech 7 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: News episode, so I couldn't include it in that episode. 8 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: But the news is that E three, also known as 9 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is no more. It has ceased 10 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: to be. It has rung up the curtain and joined 11 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: the choir invisible as it were, or to be less 12 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: monty python ish about it. The Entertainment Software Association or 13 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: ESA has announced that E three will stop trying to 14 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 1: make three happened. It's like fetch, It's never happening. E 15 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: three is over now. Some people would argue that E 16 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: three had already died years ago, and that in the 17 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:17,040 Speaker 1: years following it was just a shambling, zombie husk of 18 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,040 Speaker 1: what it once was. So today I thought we would 19 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: do a very short overview of E three, why it 20 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: was a thing and why it's now no longer a thing, 21 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: and I have done lots of other episodes about E three, 22 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: including some deep dives on E three's history, so please 23 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: check the tech Stuff archives for other E three episodes 24 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: if you want to learn more. This is more of 25 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: a high level look at the event and what happened. 26 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:49,280 Speaker 1: So here we go. Now. Before E three, which officially 27 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: began in nineteen ninety five, the video game industry found 28 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: it difficult to promote itself, and this was for a 29 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: whole bunch of reasons. So, first of all, back in 30 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties in the United States, there was this 31 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: massive industry wide video game collapse and it reset home 32 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: video game entertainment and made a lot of retailers wary 33 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:17,640 Speaker 1: of another potential crash. It really set back specifically console games. 34 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:20,519 Speaker 1: Here in the US. There was a general point of 35 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 1: view among much of the mainstream public that games were 36 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: for kids and really only for kids, and a lot 37 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: of people found it beyond belief that an adult would 38 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: actually like to play video and computer games. This meant 39 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: that when games began exploring material that wasn't suitable for kids, 40 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: there was a huge disconnect. You know, people were saying, 41 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: you can't make a game where one guy rips off 42 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,519 Speaker 1: his face and breathes fire to torch another guy. These 43 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: are for kids. That was the sort of thinking that 44 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: was going on back then. In fact, that problem led 45 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: to the formation of the Entertainment Software Association itself, the ESA. 46 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,399 Speaker 1: This is the organization that formally put on E three. Now. 47 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,120 Speaker 1: At the time, it wasn't called the ESA. It was 48 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: called the Interactive Digital Software Association or IDSA, but eventually 49 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: it would change its name. So the game's industry needed 50 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: to create a review board that could assign maturity ratings 51 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,799 Speaker 1: to game titles to let people know what ages are 52 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: appropriate for specific video games. If the industry could prove 53 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:34,639 Speaker 1: that it could regulate itself well, that would help prevent 54 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: the US government from getting involved. So this was really 55 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,119 Speaker 1: an act of self preservation in the video game industry, 56 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: and it was all made necessary largely because the US 57 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: government was mostly comprised of old poops who were totally 58 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: out of touch with the modern world. Some things never 59 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: seemed to change. So the Entertainment Software Ratings Board or 60 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: ESRB became a thing, and the ESA, the organization behind it, 61 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: was a nonprofit. The ESA also would form working groups 62 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: to help tackle specific challenges in the home video and 63 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: computer game spaces, so stuff like intellectual property policies and 64 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: that kind of thing. E three would end up being 65 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:20,040 Speaker 1: the main way that ESA would pay for all this activity. 66 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: It became a primary revenue generation kind of outlet, but 67 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 1: that wasn't the main purpose of E three. So the 68 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: main purpose outside of funding the ESA was to give 69 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: video game companies their own trade event where they could 70 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:42,280 Speaker 1: speak directly to retailers and distributors and the press. They 71 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: could promote upcoming titles, they could make announcements, they could 72 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,600 Speaker 1: provide people the chance to experience early builds of games 73 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,719 Speaker 1: through demos. This meant that the companies wouldn't have to 74 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: accept the indignity of going to events like CES only 75 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,279 Speaker 1: to get pushed out to a leaky ten in a 76 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: parking lot, because seriously, that's the sort of space these 77 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 1: companies would usually get assigned because no one in consumer 78 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: electronics actually respected the video game industry at the time, 79 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: so going to a big event like CES, it was 80 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: hard to get noticed and to stand out among every 81 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,280 Speaker 1: other company at CES, and at the same time you're 82 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: in enduring really uncomfortable circumstances, all right, So E three 83 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: would become part promotional event, part networking opportunity, and part 84 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,159 Speaker 1: revenue generator for the ESA. And then the ESA could 85 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:39,839 Speaker 1: fund stuff like the ESRB and various working groups and 86 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,920 Speaker 1: keep the entire industry safe from government intervention. So it 87 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: was a mutually beneficial system for everyone involved. But over 88 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: time potholes formed in the road for E three. It 89 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: got pretty wild pretty quickly, and this excess garnered attention. 90 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: E three started looking less like a professional trade industry 91 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: event and more like a wild Hollywood party with lots 92 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,039 Speaker 1: of excess, and so the ESA tried to course correct, 93 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,279 Speaker 1: but it used way too heavy of a hand. So 94 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: for a couple of years ethere was much much more subdued, 95 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 1: with individual sessions located in different hotels across town, and 96 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: gone was the party atmosphere, And gone too was a 97 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,919 Speaker 1: lot of the appeal that brought people an attention to 98 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: the event in the first place. And so the ESA 99 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,920 Speaker 1: course corrected again and a bit more party crept back 100 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: into the event. It wasn't as wild as the earlier days, 101 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: but it certainly wasn't as buttoned down as the more 102 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: restrictive years. But then another challenge began to emerge. See 103 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,280 Speaker 1: some of the bigger companies started to realize that they 104 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: could hold their own event, and it could be a 105 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: physical event where people attend in person, such as Blizzard's 106 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,440 Speaker 1: BlizzCon that started in two thousand and five. That allowed 107 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: the general public to purchase takes to this event, which 108 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: really set it apart from E three. E three was 109 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 1: still an industry only event, which meant to attend E 110 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: three you needed to be a game developer, a publisher, 111 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: a distributor, a retailer, or a journalist. The general public 112 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: was not allowed inside, although a lot of enterprising young 113 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:22,559 Speaker 1: people would launch game focused blogs or websites or such 114 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: and they would gain access to E three that way. Anyway, 115 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: blizz Con was an early example of a company decided 116 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: to strike out and do its own thing and use 117 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: that as a promotional event for its various products. The 118 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: Internet also was really changing things up, so in the 119 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:43,240 Speaker 1: mid nineteen nineties when E three first launched, the primary 120 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: media covering video games tended to be magazines, you know, 121 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: physical paper magazines with names like Nintendo Power or Game 122 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: Pro or Computer Gaming World. The Internet and the Web 123 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,440 Speaker 1: were definitely things in the mid nineties. They exist, but 124 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: they hadn't saturated our world just yet, But by the 125 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: mid two thousands it became a different story, and upon 126 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: the rise of the consumer smartphone, things would really change quickly. 127 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:14,559 Speaker 1: Folks turned to the Internet more and more for news 128 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: and entertainment, and this also meant it would become possible 129 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: for a video game company, particularly the larger ones, to 130 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: hold their own events digitally online and to control the 131 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: entire experience. See One of the downsides of E three 132 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: is that every company there is competing against everyone else 133 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: for attention. Usually, the big companies would have their own 134 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:39,560 Speaker 1: presentations scheduled so that they weren't going up against anyone 135 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: else at that time. So Sony would have a press conference, 136 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: then later on Nintendo would have one, then Microsoft, et cetera. 137 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: Another downside is it was very expensive for these companies 138 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: to attend E three. They were spending millions of dollars 139 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: on presentations and booths. That's a lot of money. Yet 140 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 1: another is that E three happened on its own schedule, 141 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 1: regardless of how far along a company might be in 142 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:08,199 Speaker 1: development of their next game. So imagine that you are 143 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: in charge of running a video game company and E 144 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,559 Speaker 1: three is coming up, So you've got a new title 145 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: that's in development, but it's so early in the development 146 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:19,560 Speaker 1: phase that it hasn't really coalesced into something that you 147 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: can talk about easily. So do you go to E 148 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:25,960 Speaker 1: three with nothing new to show and just rely on 149 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:29,080 Speaker 1: older titles that have already been released to kind of 150 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: carry you through? Do you not go and you're not 151 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: part of the conversation at all. Do you make a 152 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: guess as to where your barely formed game is heading 153 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: and then mock up something to show folks, And then 154 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: what happens if development takes a different turn and the 155 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: game you produce ends up being significantly different from the 156 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: preview you showed. It was a real problem. Holding your 157 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 1: own event would give you far more control, and you'd 158 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: have the spotlight all to yourself, and you wouldn't have 159 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 1: to worry about whether or not you quote unquote one 160 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: E three. So the transition of companies leaving E three 161 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: didn't happen all at once, but there were signs as 162 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: early as twenty eleven. That's where we'll pick up after 163 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: we take this quick break. So before the break, I 164 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: mentioned that in twenty eleven things began to change. That's 165 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:33,040 Speaker 1: when Nintendo held its first Nintendo Direct Video News Conference, 166 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:37,480 Speaker 1: and in twenty thirteen, Electronic Arts and Nintendo both chose 167 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: to forego a live stage keynote presentation, instead opting to 168 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 1: hold their own digital showcases around the same time as 169 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 1: the E three event. They did still maintain a presence 170 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,599 Speaker 1: on the exhibition floor, so they still had booths and 171 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 1: stuff on the floor, but they didn't do a big 172 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:59,079 Speaker 1: stage keynote, they didn't do a live presentation in front 173 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: of a live audience. Electronic Arts would further distance itself 174 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:05,680 Speaker 1: from E three and twenty sixteen, and then Sony and 175 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 1: Microsoft began to hold their own events in order to 176 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:12,320 Speaker 1: unveil hardware. They would just use E three to kind 177 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: of announce software. But then Sony announced in twenty eighteen 178 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: that it was not going to come back for E 179 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 1: three twenty nineteen or twenty twenty. In fact, nobody went 180 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: to E three twenty twenty because Covid took care of that. 181 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,800 Speaker 1: Sony has been out of E three ever since. Nintendo 182 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: and Microsoft would announce earlier this year, back in January 183 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 1: in fact, that they were not going to go to 184 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:41,080 Speaker 1: E three twenty twenty three, and again nobody would end 185 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 1: up going to E three twenty twenty three, because the 186 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:47,560 Speaker 1: ESA chose to cancel the event because frankly, hardly anyone 187 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:51,200 Speaker 1: was agreeing to show up to it. In fact, since 188 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, E three has only happened once, and that 189 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:00,319 Speaker 1: was a digital only event in twenty twenty one, twenty 190 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:03,680 Speaker 1: two to twenty twenty three. All of those events were canceled. 191 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 1: Other things contributed to E three's decline. For example, in 192 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, the ESA chose to open the event up 193 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:14,079 Speaker 1: to the public on a limited basis. They offered tickets 194 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,160 Speaker 1: for sale for the public to attend E three, and 195 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:19,680 Speaker 1: a lot of the industry folks found this really frustrating, 196 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 1: particularly the journalists, at least in my experience, because those 197 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,320 Speaker 1: were the people I was hanging out with. And that 198 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: was because getting around E three and doing your job 199 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 1: got a whole lot harder when the general public was 200 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,880 Speaker 1: taking up space. But the ESA was in a losing battle. 201 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,079 Speaker 1: E three was becoming less relevant as more companies drifted 202 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: away and started to hold their own events. Now that's 203 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: not to say that everyone found E three to be irrelevant. 204 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:47,880 Speaker 1: A lot of independent game developers used E three to 205 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,199 Speaker 1: connect with media and with fans, and for a while retailers. 206 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: But that does bring us to another thing that has 207 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: changed dramatically since the founding of E three. So back 208 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:58,240 Speaker 1: in the mid nineties, if you wanted to buy a 209 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 1: new computer or video game, then you, as a consumer 210 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: had to go to a store, probably a toy store 211 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: or maybe a big like electronics box store. You'd peruse 212 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 1: the aisles and you would look for the title you 213 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:13,560 Speaker 1: wanted and you would hope it was in stock. But 214 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 1: these days, with digital distribution, buying a physical copy of 215 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: a game is far less common outside of cartridge based systems. 216 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: That change meant that the role of distributors and retailers 217 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:28,520 Speaker 1: pretty much disappeared, so a big chunk of E three's 218 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: reason for being also went away. Meanwhile, you had folks 219 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 1: like Jeff Keeley, who once upon a time played a 220 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:37,720 Speaker 1: very important part in E three, but then would go 221 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,840 Speaker 1: on to launch their own events that would compete largely 222 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:44,440 Speaker 1: in the same space. Keighley's Summer Game Fest has become 223 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: an alternative platform where developers can announce upcoming titles to 224 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 1: drum up excitement, and then the game Awards would also 225 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:55,439 Speaker 1: become a place to promote upcoming games. Also, you know 226 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:58,760 Speaker 1: you could hand out awards and stuff, but if you 227 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 1: saw this year's Game Awards, you know there was way 228 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:06,440 Speaker 1: more focus on video game trailers and celebrity appearances than 229 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 1: on the actual awards and recipients. That might be a 230 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: little commentary from my point of view. Anyway, you could 231 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: argue that E three's relevance really faded away a few 232 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 1: years back. Actually, since only one event and a digital 233 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 1: only version of E three has happened since twenty nineteen, 234 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: I don't think it's even arguable. I think it's obvious 235 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 1: E three was no longer relevant. Now. That's not necessarily 236 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: a bad thing, at least not for the individual companies involved. 237 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,000 Speaker 1: It can be bad for some of the independent companies. 238 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: It decreases the opportunities they have to get in front 239 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,640 Speaker 1: of people. It can be really challenging for an independent, 240 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: a small independent developer to get that kind of attention. Sometimes, however, 241 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:55,080 Speaker 1: it can partner with a larger company like a Microsoft 242 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:57,920 Speaker 1: or a Sony and become part of a showcase for 243 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: one of their events, but it's still challenge. For the ESA, 244 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:04,560 Speaker 1: the loss of E three could be a real headache 245 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: because now the organization will need to determine how to 246 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 1: manage funds to still fulfill its other functions. Like E 247 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: three was probably the most visible thing that the ESA did, 248 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 1: but that ESRB, that's still a thing that goes on, 249 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 1: and there are still these issues of the working groups 250 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: that try to help forge the video game industry stance 251 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:31,320 Speaker 1: on important issues, so that's still a challenge. I didn't 252 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 1: even touch on some of the scandals around the ESA 253 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:39,920 Speaker 1: itself because it's not like it is immune to well 254 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: to scandal. There are lots of them, in fact, including 255 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 1: the time that the ESA accidentally docsed hundreds of video 256 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:52,600 Speaker 1: game professionals, particularly journalists. Yikes. In an era where there 257 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: have been death threats made against game developers and journalists 258 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:03,240 Speaker 1: from extremes, I guess I should say it's bad to 259 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: have all your personal information revealed online, And yeah, the 260 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: ESA did that. It was a whole thing. Anyway, after 261 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 1: years of asking the question, is E three dead, we 262 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: can now say definitively yes, it is really most sincerely dead. 263 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 1: Does that mean it will never come back? Never say never. 264 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 1: I mean maybe sometime in the future someone will resurrect 265 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 1: the E three brand. I mean, people do love nostalgia, 266 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: after all, Whether it's the ESA or maybe some other 267 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: entity that purchases the rights to the E three name. 268 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: Maybe that will happen, But the original intent of E 269 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:49,360 Speaker 1: three isn't really a thing anymore. Right. We don't have 270 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 1: the barriers to promote oneself that existed back in the 271 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: nineteen nineties. We don't have the retail and distribution channels 272 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 1: that we had back in the nineteen ninety so a 273 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: lot of the stuff that E three was trying to 274 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: address no longer is an issue. It's moot. So I 275 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 1: don't think we're gonna get an E three, at least 276 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 1: not the way we had in the past. Maybe we 277 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:16,440 Speaker 1: get some sort of larger public facing event that's run 278 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:21,199 Speaker 1: by a different organization, but I don't know. Anyway, you 279 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,359 Speaker 1: could say that it really stuck around longer than was necessary, 280 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: but still farewell E three, Fair winds and following seas. 281 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 1: I only attended E three maybe three times total since 282 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: since I started working this job back in two thousand 283 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,680 Speaker 1: and seven, so I am by no means a veteran 284 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:43,400 Speaker 1: of E three, like I've only been a few times. 285 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: But I can say like there was some stuff that 286 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: happened to E three, like some of those presentations. They 287 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:53,160 Speaker 1: were so wack adoodle weird that I do. I am 288 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:57,280 Speaker 1: sorry that they're gone, because I mean, it was real spectacle. 289 00:17:57,359 --> 00:17:58,680 Speaker 1: I will I don't. I don't know that it was 290 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 1: always effective in promoting a company or its video games, 291 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: but it was always worth talking about, not necessarily in 292 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:08,960 Speaker 1: a positive way. But yeah, I kind of miss that 293 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,399 Speaker 1: that's no longer a thing. I mean, you can still 294 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:15,240 Speaker 1: sometimes see that in these individual companies events online, but 295 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 1: it's not quite the same because they're not trying to 296 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,920 Speaker 1: outdo each other in the same space, so that takes 297 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:23,359 Speaker 1: a big part of it out. Anyway, that's the update 298 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 1: on E three. As I said, you can go back 299 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:28,680 Speaker 1: into the tech Stuff archives. There are lots of episodes 300 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:31,959 Speaker 1: about E three. They go into much greater detail and 301 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 1: talk about the various changes that happened over the course 302 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:40,160 Speaker 1: of its existence. But yeah, it's it's sad to say goodbye, 303 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:43,360 Speaker 1: but I think it was pastime. I hope you are 304 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,920 Speaker 1: all well and I'll talk to you again really soon. 305 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 306 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, app podcasts, or wherever you listen 307 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:02,919 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.