Gaming Conventions & their Actual Relevance

[Val the Moofia Boss]

With Blizzcon happening on Thursday, I just donned on me how relevant they are in this new world. Previously, E3 used to be everything in gaming. Nowadays, E3 is falling out of the lime light; while E3 itself has become mainly a console/mainstream gaming showase, more and more companies are dismissing it in favor of specific gaming conventions (PAX for gaming, ComicCon for fantasy centric IPs) or their own meetings (Blizzcon, Fanfest).

Your thoughts?

[Vankrys]

i think E3 still is a major event for publisher to reveal their year work and what's to come. I somehow regret that only ubisoft and electronic arts have a conference, some editor prefer to be tied to console for their reveal.

I like to see game trailers, even is i don't buy the game in the end because reasons.

[Edge-]

Depends on the show, though at a certain level they're all just marketing/media events.

You have consumer focused shows like Blizzcon or PAX, where the primary focus is consumers who get to come in and play upcoming games and see the spectacle of developer/publisher booths while getting some swag.

Then you have more media focused events like E3, which is essentially a giant media/marketing event and little more.

Then you have industry focused events like GDC, which is more for B2B deals and the more business side of things.

Developers/publishers are definitely not "dismissing it", it's just no longer worth as much as it used to be due to all the additional conventions that exist. It's still the single biggest news dump for console platforms and major new AAA games (outside of maybe the VGA or VGX's or whatever you want to call it), but they're beginning to wise up that it's smarter to spread out major announcements a bit more rather than all try to compete in a small window.

[Tankendog]

MAGFest.

/thread

But really it seems these need to be classified as Expos and convention. Expo is like E3, where new games etc are shown off and marketed. Convention is a gathering of fans and enthusiasts of something.

[May90]

I never cared about all these shows. I play games, not watch others play games.

[Tech614]

E3- Relevant
TGS- Relevant if you like Japanese games
Pax- Not relevant at all unless as a circle jerk for youtubers/twitch streamers and their fans

Also no gaming publisher has "skipped" e3 to announce their game at Pax, not sure what you are smoking with that comment. The only publishers who skip e3 are the ones who don't need it and can draw attention to themselves whenever they want like blizzard and rockstar.