Summary
E3 used to be a celebration of everything great about gaming - the games. Romanticizing games on a huge scale for press and public to see was a testament to an industry fat and happy with itself. With console changes...came conservatism. And E3 now reflects an industry worrying about huge escalations in development costs and new consoles with dramatically less penetration. All the Publishers are scared. Scared that new franchises wont make the transition, that they will fall behind other publishers that better use the new console technology.
Analysis
Used to be everyone was making so much money on games that even the corporate spies partied with each other at E3. But now that some publishers are pushing 60 million at Nex Gen games the industry is trying to grow up.
I know 2 publishers who would use E3 to gather intelligence on their competitors. With everyone so self confident and cash rich from PS2 and Xbox titles, let's just say that some publishers were just plain careless.
But the Next Gen revolution, the new higher price points, the higher risks involved in making titles made the industry grow up a little. This year was more about business, less about celebration. Maybe because few publishers profits look like they did 2-3 years ago...
Some say this was necessary, that the gluttony of previous E3 conferences, was bad for business. But let's be realistic, business for publishers isn't good right now. It's cautiously optimistic at best.
Sure hits like Gears of War and much anticipated titles like Mass Effect look to be sure bets and profitable. But what about games like Wheelman, a title that cost 10s of millions to produce. A title that may make or break a top 15 publisher like Midway? Why aren't they spending 2 million on a display at E3? And who could blame them for not spending.
E3 evolving into the mild mannered hotel conference that it was this year should make us all take notice. Gaming is getting leaner. And E3 is proof that the industry is still waiting on a next gen marketplace to mature.
