1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to text Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:17,280 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,760 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you? Well, folks, it's time. 5 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: It's time for the obligatory is E three Dead? Episode edition? 6 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: And yeah, I thought we could chat about E three 7 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 1: the video game trade show and more recently fan Expo 8 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: that for the second time within three years, got completely 9 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: scrapped due to COVID and some other factors. The conference 10 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: has had some pretty major setbacks and controversies over the 11 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 1: last few years, and frequently journalists and analysts have been 12 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: left asking is E three still relevant? And have we 13 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: seen the last of E three? So today I thought 14 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: it would talk a little bit about what E three 15 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: is and where it came from. So why E three is, 16 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: or perhaps maybe why E three was and why things 17 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:13,399 Speaker 1: are so different today apart from, you know, the obvious 18 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: case of the pandemic. So spoiler alert, it's not just 19 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: because of COVID, although obviously COVID plays a really big part. Okay, 20 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: So to understand E three, we first have to go 21 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: back to the early nineteen nineties, before there was a 22 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: dedicated video game trade show in the United States. In fact, 23 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: this was before there was even an organization that could 24 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: throw such an event. And we have to bring politics 25 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,480 Speaker 1: into this as well, because, as it turns out, political 26 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: pressure is one of the factors that led to E 27 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: three even being a thing. So the early nine nineties 28 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: saw video games maturing. Actually maturing is kind of a 29 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: weird word to use. Video games were including more controversial material. 30 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: The video games of the eighties were largely tunish, unrealistic creations. 31 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: You know, pac Man's Ghosts were not particularly disturbing. Donkey 32 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: Kong was a tribute to King Kong, and while determined 33 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: to throw barrels at poor jump Man, who would later 34 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 1: evolve into Mario, he wasn't particularly concerning either. Heck, all 35 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: the earliest arcade games, I would have to say Frogger 36 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: was potentially the most upsetting because I hated seeing that 37 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,920 Speaker 1: little green guy get smushed by a car. Anyway, my 38 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: point is that games couldn't be terribly explicit simply because 39 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: they lacked the fidelity to do that. You did have 40 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: occasional computer games that got a little bit racy, the 41 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: text based and titillating Lee titled The Leather Goddess of Phoebus, 42 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: pushed the envelope a bit, though honestly the game was 43 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: fairly tame, and the leisure suit Larry series indulged in 44 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: juvenile male fantasies, straight male fantasies, i should say, but 45 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: it featured really primitive graphics, so it wasn't, you know, 46 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: particularly explicit. It was explicit and intent, but the graphics 47 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: failed to be able to carry through that. So for 48 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: the most part, games were at least a couple of 49 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:12,359 Speaker 1: layers of abstraction away from being realistic. And then as 50 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: hardware and software became more sophisticated, it became possible to 51 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: create more graphic content and there was a demand for 52 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: that kind of game, so game designers began to meet 53 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: that demand. One famous example of this was the Mortal 54 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,799 Speaker 1: Kombat games. So fighting games were not a new thing, 55 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: but Mortal Kombat's focused on blood and violence, particularly with 56 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: the fatalities that gamers could pull off if they knew 57 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: the right combo to do. Those caught a lot of attention, 58 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: and on the more lascivious front, there were games like 59 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: night Trap, which was a full motion video game. Uh 60 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: full motion video is when you use actual video footage 61 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: within a game. And that game night Trap, it featured 62 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: you as player that's peeping in on a lot of 63 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: young women and a sleepover, running around in nightgowns. Now, 64 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: the point of the game was that you were ostensibly 65 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: trying to protect those young women from intruders who were 66 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: inside the house, but really most folks just focused on 67 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: the fact that you're kind of a peeping tom. The 68 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: game companies were thriving on controversy, as the concern over 69 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 1: the games would naturally lead to greater interest in those 70 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: games and sales numbers would go up. But that also 71 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: meant that lawmakers, particularly those who were the think of 72 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 1: the children type of lawmakers, were pretty certain that these 73 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 1: games were a harmful influence on the young. It's a 74 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: story that we've seen again and again, from Rock and 75 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: Roll to Dungeons and Dragons to video games, that you 76 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 1: know video games are somehow the domain of children, that 77 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 1: only children play video games, and that this content clearly 78 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: is not suitable for children. Now today, I think a 79 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: lot of folks are aware that video games are something 80 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:00,080 Speaker 1: that people of all ages enjoy, but I suspect are 81 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,480 Speaker 1: still some fossils and leadership roles who can't get their 82 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 1: heads wrapped around that. Anyway, the US Congress was threatening 83 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: to set up a government agency that would assign essentially 84 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: decency ratings to video game releases. The video game industry, 85 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: in an attempt to sidestep governmental oversight, elected to create 86 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: its own ratings board. To do that, the industry first 87 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: formed an organization that originally was called the Interactive Digital 88 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: Software Association or i D s A. That group would 89 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: later in two thousand three, rebrand itself as the Entertainment 90 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: Software Association or e s A. And I'm just gonna 91 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: use E s A from here on out, but just 92 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: you know, be aware that before two thousand three it 93 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: was the I D s A. After two thousand three 94 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: it was E s A. Same organization though anyway, what 95 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: would become the E s A created the Entertainment Software 96 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: Ratings Board or e S r B. And it's this 97 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:00,799 Speaker 1: group that evaluates games and assigns an appropriate age rating 98 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: to those video games. So it's a lot like the 99 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,239 Speaker 1: mp A A, which does a similar thing for cinematic films. 100 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: Now let's finally get to some E three stuff. Now 101 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: I would argue there are two really big factors that 102 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 1: made E three necessary. One was that as a whole, 103 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: the video game industry didn't have the respect of the 104 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: broader tech sector. While video game companies would occasionally secure 105 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: a booth at other major general tech trade shows like 106 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: c e S, they were frequently pushed out of the 107 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: way of main show traffic. So there are famous stories 108 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: of companies in the games industry being forced to set 109 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,839 Speaker 1: up in leaky tense out in the parking lot outside 110 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: the Las Vegas Convention Center with only access to like 111 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: porta potties and no access to food. And you know, 112 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,200 Speaker 1: leaky tents are a bad shelter if you've got a 113 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:55,280 Speaker 1: lot of television's computers and game consoles running in an 114 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: effort to show off various games. The video games industry 115 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: itself was actually picking up a lot of momentum, so 116 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: it seemed really insulting to these companies that they should 117 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 1: be pushed so far off the main show floor. Uh. 118 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: And you know, video games have been popular in the eighties, 119 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 1: but that popularity was really starting to pick up in 120 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: the nineties, and yet publishers, distributors, developers, and others in 121 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: the business they didn't have trade show opportunities that would 122 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: help them do business and aid in discovery, you know, 123 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: using the press and media, and just generally achieve the 124 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: goals of your typical trade show. So there was a 125 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: need there. But another factor that made E three and 126 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: necessity is that something needed to foot the bill for 127 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: the s A and the E s RB. There needed 128 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: to be a way to fund the organization that existed 129 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: so that the games industry could keep the US government 130 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,160 Speaker 1: off its collective back and a trade show could be 131 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:56,760 Speaker 1: really profitable if run correctly. Game companies could spend bookoos 132 00:07:56,800 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: of buckos to get show floor space. You could charge 133 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: industry attendees a fee to get a badge that guarantees entry. 134 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: Press would be allowed free entry upon successful registration, as 135 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: the press would elevate everyone else at the show. So 136 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: there was this financial need for something like E three 137 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: as well. And so in nine the future E s 138 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: A would organize the very first Electronic Entertainment Expo, providing 139 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: an alternative to the summer session of ce S. Because 140 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 1: back in those days, c e S actually held two 141 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: shows a year. These days it has scaled down to 142 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 1: a single show held in January in Las Vegas, Nevada, 143 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: generally speaking, companies use E three to promote upcoming hardware 144 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: and video games, often splurging for massive press events that 145 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: stacked video game trailers and hardware demos to drive up 146 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:53,359 Speaker 1: anticipation for upcoming releases. You also typically see celebrity cameos 147 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: in these where you get some celebrity to come out 148 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: and announce a game. You also see a lot of 149 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: cringe e kind of sketches and attempts at comedy. And 150 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 1: there have been a lot of big announcements at E 151 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: three over the years, including announcements for games and systems 152 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: that never actually came out, and then there are a 153 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 1: few that did come out but severely underperformed. I'm looking 154 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: at you, fall Out seventy six. Oh and initially there 155 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 1: was one other important element to E three. It was 156 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 1: an industry only event, so the only people allowed to 157 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: attend the show were people who were in the video 158 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: games industry or journalists who covered that industry. The general 159 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: public was not allowed entreat to E three, which of 160 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 1: course gave the event a type of exclusivity that made 161 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:43,439 Speaker 1: gamers really want to go. So if you ever need 162 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 1: to have people really want to go someplace, just tell 163 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: them they're not allowed to go there. Piece of cake. 164 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,960 Speaker 1: It takes care of itself. Now, we're actually gonna skip 165 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: around a bit in the history of the three because 166 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 1: I've already done some episodes about E three in the 167 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: past and covered the history in greater detail. So we're 168 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 1: going to talk about some big moments in E three 169 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:09,600 Speaker 1: that threatened the show's existence. Because this is not the 170 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,959 Speaker 1: first time people have asked the question, is E three doomed? 171 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: Is it not coming back? Uh? And I'm not gonna 172 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: dwell on disastrous press events like the ones that the 173 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 1: individual companies have held. There have been lots of those, 174 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:27,880 Speaker 1: some combining you know, cringe worthy entertainment and wooden presentations 175 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:33,640 Speaker 1: to lackluster response, and like, there are numerous press releases 176 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:36,480 Speaker 1: that kind of vie for the title of worst E 177 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:40,720 Speaker 1: three press release ever or press event ever. So those 178 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: definitely happened, and most of those press events had at 179 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: least a few low spots. Some of them had more 180 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,360 Speaker 1: low spots than anything else, and those can stand out 181 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,439 Speaker 1: as an embarrassing footnote in a video game company's history, 182 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: but they weren't really a threat to E three's very existence. 183 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: So while it would be fun to talk about really 184 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: big misfires and press event history and E three that's done. 185 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 1: What this show is really going to focus on. All right, 186 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:10,200 Speaker 1: when we come back after this break, we'll talk about 187 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: some of the things that happened in E three's history 188 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:17,680 Speaker 1: that really put it on unsure footing. But first these messages. 189 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:32,080 Speaker 1: From the beginning, the E s A organizers chose the 190 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:36,680 Speaker 1: Los Angeles Convention Center as the location for E three. However, 191 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 1: in the E s A move D three to my 192 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, because well, in some accounts it's 193 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:51,200 Speaker 1: because the l A Convention Center needed to have some renovations, 194 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:54,599 Speaker 1: and in others it's because contract negotiations between the E 195 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:57,320 Speaker 1: s A and the convention center had kind of fallen through. 196 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:00,440 Speaker 1: So the move to Atlanta was a bump. Be one, 197 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: there were fewer exhibitors who would actually make the journey 198 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:05,840 Speaker 1: out to Atlanta. There were a lot of companies that 199 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,839 Speaker 1: had a West coast presence but not an East coast one, 200 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 1: and they just said, no, it's too expensive and difficult 201 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:13,440 Speaker 1: to go all the way there and set up a show. 202 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:16,560 Speaker 1: We're not gonna do it. And a lot of attendees 203 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: felt that the Atlanta show was just inferior to the 204 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,959 Speaker 1: one in Los Angeles that was harder to navigate and 205 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: just less satisfying. So a stumbled that was that early 206 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,599 Speaker 1: in E three's history was a bit concerning. However, E 207 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:32,840 Speaker 1: three would recover and it would return to Los Angeles 208 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:37,439 Speaker 1: in now from two thousand and six. The show grew 209 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: year over year, and as the show got bigger, companies 210 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,960 Speaker 1: felt compelled to make a larger presence there. That meant 211 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 1: spending a lot more money. Companies would shell out huge 212 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:51,959 Speaker 1: amounts to create spectacular booths and hold flashy press events 213 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 1: complete with celebrity cameos. I remember one year I went 214 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:59,680 Speaker 1: and I saw the the booth for Fallout New Vegas, 215 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 1: and I could only see it from the outside because 216 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: it was walled off and you had to have an 217 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: invite to go in, and I did not have an invite. 218 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 1: But man, there must have been a lot of money 219 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:13,640 Speaker 1: spent just making that booth look so incredible. This was 220 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 1: also an era where you started seeing, you know, more 221 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 1: celebrity cameos, and there was this prevalent trend of hiring 222 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,720 Speaker 1: young women to staff booths in an effort to entice 223 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: people to come into them because In these years, the 224 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 1: video game industry was still largely focused on catering to 225 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:37,960 Speaker 1: young straight men, not entirely, but predominantly, and so this 226 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:41,320 Speaker 1: was the so called booth Babe became a booth standard. 227 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: Just to be clear, I don't mean to diminish the 228 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,439 Speaker 1: women who played that part. They were taking a gig, 229 00:13:47,679 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 1: and a gig is a gig. My judgment is more 230 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: toward the general trend of objectifying women for the purposes 231 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:57,440 Speaker 1: of pulling in more foot traffic. Really objectifying women in general, 232 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 1: but specifically like using them as advertisement is to get 233 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:04,080 Speaker 1: people to come into the booth. So my judgments not 234 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 1: aimed at the women themselves, but rather this kind of 235 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 1: objectifying tendency. Moving on, one challenge E three had early 236 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: on was in timing. The show Originally would happen in May, 237 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: so for a company to really take advantage of the three, 238 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:24,480 Speaker 1: it needed to have something to show off at E three, 239 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: and a lot of video game companies really focus on 240 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,280 Speaker 1: getting releases out so that they're available during the holiday 241 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: shopping season so late in the year, but that meant 242 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: that May was sometimes too early for companies to really 243 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 1: have something to show off. So E three would gradually 244 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: shift over to June to give the industry a little 245 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: bit more time to prep something, because there's nothing like 246 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,960 Speaker 1: attending a trade show but having nothing to exhibit other 247 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: than games that have already released. By two thousand and six, 248 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: the E s A, because by now it was officially 249 00:14:55,760 --> 00:15:00,080 Speaker 1: called that, was getting complaints from various game companies. Some 250 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,720 Speaker 1: of those companies were threatening to drop out of future 251 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 1: shows because the costs were getting out of hand. E 252 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 1: three had become such a huge party of a show 253 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:11,920 Speaker 1: that it was eating too much out of company budgets, 254 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: particularly for the larger companies that were competing against the 255 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 1: other larger companies. And so in light of these criticisms, 256 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: the E s A made the decision to scale E 257 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: three back dramatically. The two thousand seven show wouldn't happen 258 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: at the l A Convention Center at all. Instead, it 259 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 1: was moved out to Santa Monica, California, and would be 260 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: in several hotels as opposed to a central convention center. 261 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 1: The event itself adopted the name the E three Media 262 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,600 Speaker 1: and Business Summit, which, hey, you know, that's one way 263 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: to take sexy out of the event. It also moved 264 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 1: to July. The e s A cap attendance to around 265 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:52,720 Speaker 1: ten thousand people, which was a dramatic reduction from previous years, 266 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: And in two thousand eight, E three returned to the 267 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: Convention Center in Los Angeles, but was a much much 268 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: smaller event, with attendance capped to around five thousand people. 269 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 1: That party atmosphere was gone and costs were way down, 270 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 1: but interest in the event also dropped. There wasn't a 271 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 1: lot of media coverage, and big companies began to rethink 272 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 1: their objections to the extravagance of previous years. The E 273 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: s A received several new complaints, which I suspect is 274 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 1: exactly what they anticipated and in fact, is what they wanted. 275 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: After all, leading up to the two thousand six decision, 276 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,560 Speaker 1: the E s A was raking in millions of dollars 277 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 1: through E three. It was an incredibly lucrative event, and 278 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: then with the big companies complaining and threatening to drop out, 279 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 1: that became an existential threat to E three because if 280 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 1: the big companies dropped out, well, other companies might follow 281 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 1: and E three would just cease to exist. So by 282 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: scaling way back and giving the big companies what they 283 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,040 Speaker 1: asked for and thought they wanted, the E S He 284 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:02,800 Speaker 1: was able to show that what those companies thought they 285 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: wanted wasn't actually what they wanted. If that was the 286 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 1: essays plan. It was a calculated risk that paid off, 287 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 1: But that really could have been the end of the 288 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 1: three right then and there. Now. One thing that did 289 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:19,679 Speaker 1: shake E s A up a bit was that in 290 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:24,200 Speaker 1: two thousand eight, Activision, fresh off its acquisition of Blizzard, 291 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: pulled the eject cord not just on E three but 292 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,160 Speaker 1: also the E s A as well. Activision had been 293 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 1: one of the founding members of the E s A 294 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: back when it was the I D. S A. So 295 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 1: this was a big deal and it was a sign 296 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,520 Speaker 1: of things to come. And in two thousand nine things 297 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 1: started heading back into the more splashy, extravagant, and more 298 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:52,280 Speaker 1: importantly expensive direction for E three. I also think two 299 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,399 Speaker 1: thousand nine was the first E three I attended, so 300 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:57,920 Speaker 1: I went the year that it shifted back toward becoming 301 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 1: a big spectacle. For a few years, E three flourished, 302 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:06,639 Speaker 1: but things began to shift as early as that was 303 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:11,200 Speaker 1: the year that Nintendo changed it's E three strategy. Now, previously, 304 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:14,680 Speaker 1: the company had done the usual routine, which involved holding 305 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 1: an in person live press event in front of an audience, 306 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,920 Speaker 1: and you would have presenters revealing game trailers and footage, 307 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: and occasionally scripted conversations between people that was tried to 308 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,359 Speaker 1: be passed off as like natural conversation that never worked, 309 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:35,679 Speaker 1: by the way. Instead, Nintendo decided to go and present 310 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:39,880 Speaker 1: digital pre taped segments, which makes sense. You have far 311 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 1: more control there, like you can do take after take 312 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: until you get it right. When it's live, you get 313 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:49,360 Speaker 1: one shot, and if it went wrong, well that's that's 314 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,119 Speaker 1: live theater for you. It's one of the things I 315 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 1: love about live theater. It's one of the things big 316 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:58,200 Speaker 1: companies hate about live prece events because unless everything goes perfectly, 317 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:01,600 Speaker 1: it could become a disaster. So this was the beginning 318 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 1: of what would become Nintendo Direct, and over time, Nintendo 319 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:10,359 Speaker 1: would actually shift these digital presentations away from E three 320 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 1: timelines entirely, which freed up Nintendo to reach its audience 321 00:19:15,119 --> 00:19:19,160 Speaker 1: on the company's own schedule, rather than having to account 322 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: for a trade show schedule thrown by an independent organization. 323 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:28,639 Speaker 1: In Electronic Arts or e A left E three and 324 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:32,919 Speaker 1: started its own event held before E three would actually start. 325 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: So Electronic Arts had its own specific event catering to 326 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,320 Speaker 1: e A's announcements, and I gave e A the chance 327 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: to really stand out without having to compete against all 328 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 1: the other companies, and so it could hold the spotlight 329 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:49,120 Speaker 1: for itself. And e A was a big enough company 330 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: to pull this off. As we will see, this was 331 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: the beginning of a trend. We'll be back to talk 332 00:19:55,359 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 1: about this more after these messages. Okay, So we talked 333 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:12,960 Speaker 1: about how Activision had pulled out of E three, how 334 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:17,960 Speaker 1: Nintendo gradually migrated away from E three, and how Electronic 335 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:21,160 Speaker 1: Arts would do the same. Blizzard, which by this point 336 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:24,400 Speaker 1: was part of Activision. Blizzard would also begin to sit 337 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,959 Speaker 1: out E three. Since two thousand five, the company had 338 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: been holding its own fan event called blizz Con, and 339 00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:36,840 Speaker 1: slowly blizz Con became the main showcase for upcoming Blizzard titles. 340 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:41,080 Speaker 1: So instead of revealing that stuff at E three, Blizzard 341 00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: would reveal it at blizz Con in front of rabid 342 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 1: Blizzard fans because it was the best chance for getting 343 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 1: that big reaction that could help promote upcoming titles. Like 344 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 1: e A and Nintendo, Blizzard saw the value of catering 345 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 1: to its fans directly on its own schedule without the 346 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: distraction of other game companies vying for the spotlight. In 347 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:07,120 Speaker 1: two thousand nineteen, we saw Sony pull out of E three. 348 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 1: That was a truly tremendous blow. For years, one big 349 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 1: discussion around E three was always around who quote unquote 350 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: one the show, and typically the conversation was did Nintendo, 351 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: did Xbox or did PlayStation win the show? Did Sony win? 352 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:29,720 Speaker 1: Did Microsoft win? But by two thousand nineteen, Nintendo was 353 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,560 Speaker 1: no longer really a prominent presence, at least not at 354 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:36,679 Speaker 1: press events, and Sony was gone to Microsoft would remain, 355 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:40,359 Speaker 1: and of course video game companies would still bring Nintendo 356 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:43,680 Speaker 1: and PlayStation systems and games to the show in order 357 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 1: to demonstrate them. So it's not like you would walk 358 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:48,959 Speaker 1: into E three and all you would see would be 359 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 1: PCs and xboxes. There were other systems there, but those 360 00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:56,160 Speaker 1: withdrawals stirred a lot of talk about E three kind 361 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,280 Speaker 1: of losing its purpose, that more and more company knees 362 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 1: were drifting away from E three. Now, something else that 363 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:06,159 Speaker 1: cheesed off a lot of folks in the industry happened 364 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,119 Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen. That was the first year that the 365 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:12,600 Speaker 1: Essay decided to sell tickets for E three to the 366 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:16,399 Speaker 1: general public. Now that first year they kept ticket sales 367 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:20,360 Speaker 1: at fifteen thousand, and of course tons of people were 368 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 1: eager to get in there. They had seen the videos 369 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 1: of extravagant press releases with celebrity appearances. They'd seen footage 370 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:30,080 Speaker 1: of folks getting to play games that the rest of 371 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:32,159 Speaker 1: us would have to be, you know, waiting around for 372 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:35,879 Speaker 1: months or years to try. And for two decades the 373 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 1: general public had been told it was not welcome to attend. 374 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 1: So of course those tickets sold out in a heartbeat. 375 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 1: But here's the thing. E three was not organized to 376 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,960 Speaker 1: handle that kind of experience or traffic. That's not what 377 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:54,639 Speaker 1: E three was built to do. There were other fans 378 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:58,439 Speaker 1: centric events that were far better prepared and designed to 379 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:02,480 Speaker 1: handle the general public. The Penny Arcade Expo later just 380 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 1: known as PACKS is a big one. PACKS events see 381 00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:10,679 Speaker 1: tens of thousands of attendees, and generally speaking, these events 382 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:13,440 Speaker 1: have a reputation for being well organized and well run. 383 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:16,239 Speaker 1: But E three was a different beast, and so a 384 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:19,400 Speaker 1: lot of folks discovered their ticket really just gave them 385 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,000 Speaker 1: the opportunity to wait in a line for four or 386 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: five hours and order to play just about ten minutes 387 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:29,360 Speaker 1: worth of video game content. It hardly seemed worth it, 388 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,440 Speaker 1: but selling those tickets was a big source of revenue, 389 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,040 Speaker 1: and the E s A was not going to stop, 390 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 1: nor was it going to put in the right amount 391 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,679 Speaker 1: of time and effort to adjust the experience to better 392 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 1: suit an event open to the general public. So it 393 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: kind of shows the worst of both worlds. It alienated 394 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 1: the industry attendees who found it increasingly difficult to navigate 395 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:54,120 Speaker 1: the show floor, and it disappointed fans who had traveled 396 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: really long distances and spent a lot of money to 397 00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: attend an event that was pretty poor as a return 398 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:03,800 Speaker 1: on investment. There were other massive problems too. One of 399 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 1: those happened in two thousand nineteen when folks discovered that 400 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:11,480 Speaker 1: the e ESA had been terribly negligent with attendee personal data. 401 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: On the E s A website, there was a way 402 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:18,399 Speaker 1: to access attendee personal information, which led to tons of 403 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 1: folks effectively being docked by the e s A, including 404 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:27,400 Speaker 1: lots of video game journalists in fact, primarily video game journalists. Now, 405 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: I'm not sure if anyone I know personally was affected 406 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:33,640 Speaker 1: by this, but certainly people that I admire and follow 407 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:37,679 Speaker 1: were And y'all, if you haven't followed video game journalism, 408 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:42,119 Speaker 1: you don't know how ugly that stuff can get. Passionate 409 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,960 Speaker 1: gamers can get very opinionated about people who failed to 410 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:50,440 Speaker 1: fawn over a specific game system or title. Someone who 411 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,480 Speaker 1: is a die hard fan can take personal offense to 412 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,399 Speaker 1: a less than glowing review, and several game journalists have 413 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:01,240 Speaker 1: found themselves the targets of online abuse and worse. So 414 00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:03,880 Speaker 1: with this, dock sing and meant that those threats could 415 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:08,159 Speaker 1: extend beyond online harassment and into the real world. And 416 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: considering that the ugliness of gamer Gate wasn't that far 417 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: in the rear view mirror, I mean gamer Gate really 418 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 1: got started in two. There was a very real threat 419 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:22,240 Speaker 1: going on here, particularly for women who appeared in that database. 420 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:24,639 Speaker 1: A lot of the names on that list, which it 421 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,119 Speaker 1: also wasn't every attendee at E three, it was like 422 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,320 Speaker 1: two thousand of them, but a lot of those names 423 00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: were media and social influencers, So as you can imagine, 424 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:37,440 Speaker 1: that prompted a pretty harsh reaction to the essays negligence. 425 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:40,359 Speaker 1: While the e s A pulled the initial list down, 426 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:44,640 Speaker 1: other people found older databases that were still accessible from 427 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 1: the SAS site, so people who had attended past E 428 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:50,480 Speaker 1: three's E s A would take care of those two, 429 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:54,600 Speaker 1: but the organization had severely tarnished its reputation among the media, 430 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,440 Speaker 1: which you know, for a trade show big on press 431 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:01,400 Speaker 1: events was not a good move. In twenty eighteen, there 432 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:03,919 Speaker 1: were reports that emerged that the E s A itself 433 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,959 Speaker 1: had a toxic culture, and that there were allegations that 434 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:10,879 Speaker 1: the then president of the association, a guy named Mike Gallagher, 435 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,720 Speaker 1: would frequently pit his employees against one another, and he 436 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:19,159 Speaker 1: also had a tendency to insult his subordinates. The complaints 437 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,919 Speaker 1: prompted an internal investigation, and in October two thousand eighteen, 438 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:25,919 Speaker 1: Gallagher stepped down from the E s A and was 439 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:30,200 Speaker 1: replaced by Stanley Pierre Louis, who initially was an interim 440 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:32,520 Speaker 1: president but who has since taking the job on a 441 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:36,000 Speaker 1: more permanent basis. The E s A had planned to 442 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:38,879 Speaker 1: increase the number of tickets sold to the general public 443 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,639 Speaker 1: in to twenty five thousand, with the E s A 444 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 1: saying that E three would become a fan and media festival, 445 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,159 Speaker 1: which sounds like the SA's plan was to try and 446 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:50,919 Speaker 1: make E three more like a PAxx and less like 447 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,919 Speaker 1: a trade show. That kind of makes sense, as a 448 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 1: lot of the big names had already withdrawn from E three, 449 00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:58,880 Speaker 1: which you know, meant that they were opting to hold 450 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,280 Speaker 1: their own events and head so E three had to 451 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:05,720 Speaker 1: do something to adapt. Jeff Keiley, a journalist who rose 452 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,200 Speaker 1: to fame in the G four TV days and who 453 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 1: had spearheaded the development and production of the Game Awards, 454 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:15,359 Speaker 1: and also a man who hosted an enormously popular event 455 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:19,600 Speaker 1: called E three Colosseum, announced in early twenty that he 456 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: would not be attending E three that year. That was 457 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,920 Speaker 1: a pretty big announcement because Keeley had become a big 458 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 1: part of E three for several years, arguably serving as 459 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,640 Speaker 1: one of the faces of E three. As it would 460 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:34,600 Speaker 1: turn out, his decision to sit this one out would 461 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 1: end up being moot. And that's because of a little 462 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: thing called COVID. As epidemics evolved into a pandemic, it 463 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,800 Speaker 1: became clear that big gatherings filled with lots of people 464 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: in close proximity to one another might not be such 465 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: a good idea. E three, which was in the middle 466 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: of this kind of identity crisis between trade show and 467 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:57,879 Speaker 1: fan Expo made the decision to pull the plug on 468 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,320 Speaker 1: the event and canceled the twenty ty d show entirely. 469 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 1: Keiley would end up organizing a digital event called the 470 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:09,120 Speaker 1: Summer Game Fest, which for several companies served a similar 471 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,040 Speaker 1: function as E three. It gave them a chance to 472 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:15,280 Speaker 1: promote upcoming games and tease some that were in earlier 473 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,119 Speaker 1: stages of development. Keely and crew have continued with the 474 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:22,080 Speaker 1: Summer Game Fest, the most recent one being just a 475 00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 1: week ago. Unlike E three, the Summer Game Fest isn't 476 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,000 Speaker 1: confined to just a week. It can theoretically stretch across 477 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: the entire summer and give developers more opportunities to prep 478 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:37,120 Speaker 1: the best digital event that they can muster in one. 479 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:40,920 Speaker 1: E three would return, but only as a digital event. 480 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,360 Speaker 1: There would be no show floor or heavily attended press events. 481 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 1: Companies put together digital video packages that could stream out 482 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 1: to an eager public, most of whom were stuck at 483 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,880 Speaker 1: home anyway due to COVID. Initially, E s A hoped 484 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:56,320 Speaker 1: to break E three back in twenty twenty two, but 485 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,840 Speaker 1: obviously that fell through as well, and plans for a 486 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:05,600 Speaker 1: digital event never emerged, so in and in two there 487 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,120 Speaker 1: was no E three at all. That didn't stop various 488 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 1: companies from holding their own digital events, announcing video game 489 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 1: titles and showing off trailer and gameplay footage. We've seen 490 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 1: several of those over the last couple of weeks. In fact, 491 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:21,400 Speaker 1: for the record, the e s A says that it 492 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: does plan to have an event in T three, but 493 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 1: most folks now suspect that whatever that event turns out 494 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:30,600 Speaker 1: to be is going to be very different from the 495 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:34,040 Speaker 1: E three's of the past. Maybe it will be a 496 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: better run fan experience, something that lets people share their 497 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:40,960 Speaker 1: love of games with a community of fellow fans. That 498 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,560 Speaker 1: would be cool. Maybe it will be the type of 499 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: event that will inspire multiple companies to participate and tap 500 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:51,840 Speaker 1: into that fan enthusiasm. That would also be cool. But 501 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: a lot of people have written off the three, essentially 502 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:57,320 Speaker 1: saying the event itself is dead, at least as it 503 00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:01,880 Speaker 1: was initially envisioned. It's dead. Back in the web was 504 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:05,720 Speaker 1: still new, dynamic web pages capable of streaming video and 505 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:11,280 Speaker 1: holding live chats were not really a thing. Companies, particularly 506 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 1: big companies, didn't have an easy way to reach out 507 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: to other industry players, from retailers to the press, but 508 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:22,080 Speaker 1: today things are very different. The very technologies that allowed 509 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:24,480 Speaker 1: so many of us to shift to working from home 510 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: are the same ones that facilitate communications between big companies 511 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 1: and everybody else. And like I've said a few times 512 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,160 Speaker 1: during this episode, companies can now do this on their 513 00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 1: own schedule. They don't have to rush to get a 514 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:40,640 Speaker 1: presentation ready for a trade show. They don't have to 515 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:44,480 Speaker 1: fudge gameplay footage and hope no one notices that's actually 516 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: a cinematic designed to look like game footage. They don't 517 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: have to hire comedians to tell cringe worthy jokes or 518 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:55,680 Speaker 1: show a complete lack of interest or knowledge about games. 519 00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:58,880 Speaker 1: There are so many stories of press events where the 520 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:04,160 Speaker 1: host nearly had no no knowledge of video games in 521 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:06,840 Speaker 1: general and no interest in it, and it just sucked 522 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:09,840 Speaker 1: the life out of the event. It means that they 523 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:12,240 Speaker 1: don't have to hire circ dislay to come out and 524 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:14,920 Speaker 1: the alienate a captive audience for three hours, and yes, 525 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:19,560 Speaker 1: that did happen once. Now, one group that is definitely 526 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:23,240 Speaker 1: hit very hard by E three's diminished importance would be 527 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:27,719 Speaker 1: the independent game developers. These are people and companies that 528 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:32,080 Speaker 1: lack the resources and reach to hold big digital events. 529 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:35,720 Speaker 1: That get lots of attention. These people who have made 530 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:38,840 Speaker 1: some truly incredible games. Some of my favorite games of 531 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:43,240 Speaker 1: the last several years came from small independent developers. They're 532 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: in danger of losing a platform that otherwise would let 533 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:50,760 Speaker 1: them find their audiences. Some companies like Sony and Microsoft 534 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:56,120 Speaker 1: will invite independent developers to take part in larger digital presentations, 535 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:59,400 Speaker 1: so it's not all hopeless, but for many of these 536 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 1: small to mid range players in the space, the loss 537 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:05,600 Speaker 1: of E three is a really tough one. As for 538 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:10,240 Speaker 1: what I think about E three and it's diminished presence 539 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:14,440 Speaker 1: in the video game industry, uh, I'm okay with it. 540 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:19,200 Speaker 1: I didn't care for E three selling tickets to the 541 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,160 Speaker 1: general public because it did make my job a lot harder. 542 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:25,720 Speaker 1: Um not that I wanted to be elitist and say 543 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:27,520 Speaker 1: like I got to do something that no one else 544 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:31,160 Speaker 1: got to do, but rather I couldn't cover nearly as 545 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:33,920 Speaker 1: much because I just couldn't be the places I needed 546 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 1: to be because there were too many people between me 547 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,200 Speaker 1: and where I needed to go. So I was really 548 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:43,960 Speaker 1: frustrated because the purpose for E three had changed, but 549 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,720 Speaker 1: my purpose of being at E three had not changed. 550 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:51,520 Speaker 1: So after that I just decided to stop even applying 551 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:54,360 Speaker 1: to go and I sided out. I thought, well, you 552 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:56,840 Speaker 1: know what, there are plenty of other outlets out there, 553 00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:00,240 Speaker 1: most of which have huge presence, and they can cover 554 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:04,120 Speaker 1: this much better than I could. I'll just look at 555 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:07,800 Speaker 1: the coverage and go from there. So I'm not really 556 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 1: sad to see the three go in that sense. If 557 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,800 Speaker 1: E three does come back as a more fan oriented 558 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:18,200 Speaker 1: experience that actually delivers on that promise, I'm all for it. 559 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:21,440 Speaker 1: I want people to have that experience of being excited 560 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:24,200 Speaker 1: about video games, get that chance to get their hands 561 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:26,680 Speaker 1: on stuff that hasn't come out yet, to give the 562 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:29,520 Speaker 1: companies the chance to promote their work. I want all 563 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:32,160 Speaker 1: that to happen. I just don't need to be there, 564 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 1: and I do need it to be well run, because 565 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:39,720 Speaker 1: as it stood before the pandemic, the way E three 566 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:43,440 Speaker 1: was being run just was not a positive experience for 567 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:47,200 Speaker 1: most people. I mean, I can't imagine having spent all 568 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:50,000 Speaker 1: that money to travel to Los Angeles, maybe get a 569 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:53,240 Speaker 1: hotel room, buy a ticket to go to E three, 570 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:57,840 Speaker 1: and then get to play maybe two demos, maybe three. 571 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:00,440 Speaker 1: If I was really lucky, maybe I can play a 572 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:02,280 Speaker 1: few more. If I wanted to play stuff that just 573 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:05,440 Speaker 1: it's kind of like cheap mobile games or something, but 574 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:08,000 Speaker 1: like the big name stuff, You're lucky if you could 575 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:11,480 Speaker 1: do more than a couple just because the lines are 576 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:14,359 Speaker 1: so long that you'd be dedicating most of your day 577 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:18,359 Speaker 1: just waiting to play. It's not great. That wraps up 578 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:21,080 Speaker 1: this episode of text Stuff. Hope you enjoyed it. If 579 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,720 Speaker 1: you have suggestions for topics that should cover in the future, 580 00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:26,720 Speaker 1: you can always let me know through the talkback feature 581 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:29,600 Speaker 1: on the I Heart Radio app. Just navigate over to 582 00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:32,560 Speaker 1: the tech Stuff podcast page. You'll see a little microphone icon. 583 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 1: If you click on that, you can leave a message 584 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:37,480 Speaker 1: up to thirty seconds in length. You can let me 585 00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:39,880 Speaker 1: know if you want me to use the audio too, 586 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,959 Speaker 1: and I'll use it in upcoming episodes, or of course, 587 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:44,880 Speaker 1: you can reach out on Twitter. The handle for the 588 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:48,080 Speaker 1: show is tech Stuff H s W and I'll talk 589 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:56,600 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. Tech Stuff is an I 590 00:34:56,719 --> 00:35:00,360 Speaker 1: Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 591 00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:03,880 Speaker 1: visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 592 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:09,320 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. H