An afternoon at E3
Yesterday, I went to the giant videogame confab E3 with my friend Jordan Mechner, who created Prince of Persia and is writing the movie version for Disney. We were there to see footage from the next Prince of Persia game — which looks damn good, what with the chariots and Babylonian rooftops and all. (And no, I’m not breaking any non-disclosure agreements. I saw exactly what anyone on the convention floor would have seen.)
For those who don’t know, E3 is huge. Huge. Everywhere you looked, you saw flashing screens and guys with laptops waiting in lines to buy overpriced sandwiches. As Jordan put it, “It’s like a giant airport, and every flight just got cancelled.”
You often read about how the videogame and movie industries are such close cousins, but the movie industry doesn’t have anything that really compares to this. Sure, there’s the Cannes Film Festival and other international film markets, but those are really geared towards distributors. The target audience here was the hard-core gamer, the super-consumer whose tends to be the opinion-leader. Unlike a film festival, they’re not just showing you a trailer for the game, they’re putting a controller in your hands. They want you hooked.
It’s like Crack Con 2005.
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May 19th, 2005 at 8:42 am
E3 is meant to be a trade show, frequented by distributors, publishers, hardware vendors, and developers – so not unlike Cannes really!
Your average off the street person is not meant to attend. Being a game developer, that and the UK counter parts is the place we go to get a heads up on what is coming along – or to try and sell our wares to a publisher.
May 19th, 2005 at 9:08 am
Chris:
You’re right in that E3’s meant to be a trade show, but the actual experience of being there — with the crushing crowds of videogame aficionados — feels wholly different. The average age is mid-20’s. Even if these are game retailers, they’re also heavy game players.
May 19th, 2005 at 10:31 am
Oh how I’d love an E3 for movies. Though I don’t exactly know what it would have…
May 19th, 2005 at 1:40 pm
Oh man, a film expo. Latest camera, editing, effects, and film technology. Kiosks of new and upcoming films. Demos on animatronics, CG, and make up effects.
And the best part, it’s not freaking way the hell in Cannes.
Man, someone make that happen.
May 19th, 2005 at 2:41 pm
Well, the first half of your request (latest camera, editing, effects, and film technology) is met by N.A.B. in Vegas every year. Haven’t been yet, but I’m told it’s pretty good.
May 19th, 2005 at 3:02 pm
John,
Yes that’s true… most game developers are heavy games players and it does make a big difference to the buzz… especially this year with everyone scrambling to see XBox360, Playstation3, and Revolution stuff!!!
May 19th, 2005 at 8:52 pm
All I can think to say is, you lucky bastard.
May 21st, 2005 at 9:45 am
So I have to ask: do you play video games? If so, which? I’m starting to think that had Bungie not developed Halo 2 I would be much further along in my career right now…
May 23rd, 2005 at 2:59 pm
After ICO, I threw out all my ideas that weren’t “dual-use” – film and games.
We are in the Latham Loop days of this artform. Very exciting time to have an imagination…
Great web site John!