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Foundations of Gaming\u2019s Biggest Show<\/h2>\n

The first E3 took place in 1995. Some might argue the Game Developers Conference (GDC), first held in a California living room back in 1988, can claim a longer history, but GDC didn\u2019t coalesce into the shape we recognize today until 1996, the same year as the first Tokyo Game Show. Other current popular game-centric events, like PAX and Gamescom, didn\u2019t hit the scene until the early 2000s. And according to Kinda Funny<\/em> co-founder and one-time E3 host Greg Miller, that long legacy is what makes the show gaming\u2019s biggest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes E3 such an event is its history,\u201d Miller tells Game Informer<\/em>. \u201cE3\u2019s reputation precedes itself. And it grew by leaps and bounds because the more people would talk about it or report on it, the more people would read that. And then the more people would be inspired [to say], \u2018Oh, I want to go to that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s hard to argue with him. E3 has been around for 27 years, meaning an entire generation of gamers have never lived in a world where the show didn\u2019t exist. Many up-and-coming game journalists entered the profession hoping to cover the expo. It was the industry\u2019s white whale. And numerous veteran writers still recall the excitement of its rise, realizing their niche hobby was jumping into the wider consciousness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember getting that first E3 badge and being like, \u2018Oh my gosh, I\u2019ve made it,\u2019\u201d Miller recalls. That was 15 years ago when he was still writing for IGN<\/em>. But despite the many conventions Miller would later attend, he explains the ESA\u2019s show had an element of magic. \u201cE3 was always this event where the excitement was crackling,\u201d he says. And he\u2019s not the only recognizable personality with long-time veneration for the convention.<\/p>\n

\u201c22 years ago, I walked into the first E3 as a wide-eyed 15-year-old kid who didn\u2019t quite know his place in the world. E3 Expo brought my hobby out of my computer and into mainstream culture,\u201d writes Geoff Keighley. The expo\u2019s future competitor used this line in 2017 to introduce the world to his new, interview-focused E3 offering, the E3 Coliseum. Its panels brought developers, publishers, industry insiders, and more together to dive deep into some of gaming\u2019s most anticipated projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest,\u201d Keighley continues, \u201cthe spectacle of E3 convinced me that I should devote my career to this incredible medium.\u201d The allure of the busy show floor and spotlighted stage wasn\u2019t limited to just video game media; it attracted people from every corner of the industry.<\/p>\n

Magic On and Off the Stage<\/p>\n

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Magic On and Off the Stage<\/h2>\n

Though now retired, former Nintendo of American president Reggie Fils-Aim\u00e9 is one of the industry\u2019s most recognizable faces and no stranger to the E3 stage. In a recent interview with Game Informer<\/em>\u2019s Brian Shea, he reminisced over his introduction to the show with the famous words, \u201cMy name is Reggie. I\u2019m about kicking ass, I\u2019m about taking names, and we\u2019re about making games.\u201d It was a moment that not only endeared him to the gaming audience at large but also underscored how unexpected, compelling, and influential the live shows could be. Fils-Aim\u00e9 became an almost overnight sensation, proving E3\u2019s stage was the place where a personality-laden speaker could make a powerful impression on gamers.<\/p>\n

Thanks to new technologies, the overflowingly popular shows were beginning more and more to aim directly at the target fanbase. This shift helped make gaming executives \u2013 like Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, who came out wielding the Master Sword the same year as Fils-Aim\u00e9\u2019s debut \u2013 and their products household names.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reputation of E3 goes hand in hand with the coming up \u2013 and I\u2019m old, of course \u2013 but the coming up of the internet. It starts from me reading EGM<\/em>,\u201d recalls Miller, referencing the Electronic Gaming Monthly<\/em> print magazine that served as many pre-internet gamers\u2019 source of news. \u201cBut then it becomes running out of class and going to IGN<\/em>, going to GameSpot<\/em> being like, \u2018What has gotten announced? What\u2019s happening?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

With so many new audience members eager to hear the updates spilling out from its stage, the summer showcase rose to even higher prominence. Miller describes E3 as becoming a \u201cgiant runaway huge event\u201d unlike any other trade show.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d see Nintendo and PlayStation and Xbox and Konami and everybody side-by-side out there to talk about what they\u2019re doing and really have this thing of, \u2018We\u2019ve all agreed, there\u2019s this unspoken contract that this is where we will go, and we will tell you where the next 12 months of gaming are going to take you,\u2019\u201d Miller says. \u201cThat\u2019s what made E3 \u2018E3.\u2019 It was this idea of the industry coming together to talk about where they\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s easy to see how that electrified atmosphere could affect viewers, who went away excited for the newly revealed titles, Fils-Aim\u00e9 explained to Game Informer<\/em> how the show\u2019s power began transforming things behind closed doors in the industry\u2019s biggest companies. According to Fils-Aim\u00e9, his famous debut lines \u2013 and the fans\u2019 viral reaction to them \u2013 changed the way Nintendo evaluated all future gaming presentations. After 2004, the home of Mario, Zelda, and more started to comb through fans\u2019 online responses to press conferences carefully. It would then incorporate that information into the corporation\u2019s marketing strategy. But while E3 was large enough to affect various facets of the industry, it was far from impervious to the winds of change.<\/p>\n

The King is Dead, Long Live the King<\/p>\n

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The King is Dead, Long Live the King<\/h2>\n

Inevitably, any conversation about E3 will feature the participants questioning each other about the first time they attended. I couldn\u2019t resist asking Miller, but it led down an unexpected path. Without delay, he replies that the first E3 he attended was in 2007, following this up with something slightly startling.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s notable, of course, because it was the year E3 died.\u201d<\/p>\n

For such a lively, energetic show, the phrase \u2018E3 is dead\u2019 has been a constant refrain. No matter what had happened during the event \u2013 awesome reveals, intriguing news, et cetera \u2013 someone would declare its certain demise. However, Miller has a pretty good reason for his assertion.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first E3 was the Santa Monica E3, where Gamecock<\/em> had a funeral procession through the streets of Santa Monica for it. And we bounced around to a million different little locations trying to get to it before they were like, \u2018You know? This is actually worse. We will bring back E3 the traditional way the next year.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2008, the organizers brought the, at that point, 13-year-old showcase back to its familiar home in the Los Angeles Convention Center, but it was far from a traditional experience. The past year\u2019s move had been the symptom of the expo\u2019s ongoing identity struggles, not its cause. Hoping to brand itself as a place for the industry\u2019s insiders, the ESA strictly limited E3\u2019s 2008 guest list. Only about 5,000 people walked through the deserted-feeling convention halls, which could easily accommodate ten times that number. The wildly restricted turnout still holds the record for the show\u2019s lowest attendance.<\/p>\n

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But E3 wasn\u2019t dead, and over the next decade, it became just as popular as ever. Years like 2016, where Sony revealed its God of War reboot, announced Marvel\u2019s Spider-Man, debuted Horizon Zero Dawn gameplay, and more, earned their way into gaming showcase history. E3 began selling an almost record-breaking number of badges every year and, once again experimenting with what it wanted to be, even opened its doors to the public.<\/p>\n

Everything changed in 2020. For the first time in its over two-decade life span, E3 was canceled. The abrupt action left an obvious vacuum, which game makers and promoters attempted to fill with their own digital showcases. Trying to adjust to the needs of the time, E3 came back in 2021 as an online-only event, boasting hosts from around the industry, including Greg Miller, Jacki Jing, and Alex \u201cGoldenboy\u201d Mendez. However, the show was again canceled in 2022. Talking with The Washington Post<\/em>, ESA president and CEO Stan Pierre-Louis recently announced that E3 is set to make a comeback next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited about coming back in 2023 with both a digital and an in-person event,\u201d Pierre-Louis said. \u201cAs much as we love these digital events, and as much as they reach people and we want that global reach, we also know that there\u2019s a really strong desire for people to convene \u2014 to be able to connect in person and see each other and talk about what makes games great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the CEO\u2019s confidence in E3 and the importance of an in-person convention, it is uncertain if it will be safe to hold a large-scale conference next year. Other shows, like GDC and PAX, have put on physical events, but ensuing COVID cases dogged both. However, it seems like the ESA is going full speed ahead with its plans as it announced a partnership with ReedPop, the company behind New York Comic Con, Star Wars Celebration, and PAX. This unprecedented team-up hints that E3 will continue to move away from its industry-focused image, becoming an event for the public like other gaming conventions when it returns in June 2023. And once again, E3 seems poised to wrestle with its identity, leaving its future unclear.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t know what E3 is anymore,\u201d says Miller when asked if the show is still the grand event it once was. \u201cI think E3 doesn\u2019t know what E3 is anymore. And I think that comes from a multi-front war. You have Geoff Keighley moving in on their turf and doing a great job with Summer Game Fest. You have COVID changing the way the world and the industry work in general. And then you have this show that already was struggling with, \u2018Are we for consumers? Are we for the press? Are we for the industry?\u2019 Where does all that net out? I feel like we haven\u2019t seen E3 have the chance to really negotiate that water and figure out what they want to be and what they\u2019re going to become.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I speak to him, it seems like the Kinda Funny<\/em> co-founder would accept a new era of summer showcases. However, gaming\u2019s long-time \u2018biggest show\u2019 isn\u2019t ready to relinquish its crown, and Miller is still cheering it on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be heartbroken if E3 went away,\u201d he says. \u201cI think for all its warts and problems, E3 is something special, both for the people who attend and the audience back home watching. I love E3, and I want it to succeed. But I want E3 to succeed doing the right thing. I don\u2019t want it to just exist to exist. I want it to exist because it\u2019s benefiting the industry, the fans, the publishers, the developers, you name it. It needs to work for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greg Miller On E3 And His Career<\/p>\n