E3 was either a gamer's mecca or a yearly cringe-fest depending on who you asked. Yeah, maybe it was a mecca ages ago.

E3 2003 has not aged well

It was always about who threw the most money with the biggest circus and lies rather than having something really substantial to show for.

Personally, I enjoyed E3 and saw a certain value in the CEOs and Execs standing on stage and succeeding or failing by their program and pitch. I'll forever remember the Xbox One launch... and the anger! We were not pleased... and the crowd showed it!

Just seems like corporations -- and especially CEOs -- don't want to be exposed to the public (even a public that pays to go to E3)... and they are moving to their own small curated programs (that they can stuff solely with their own "rabid" fans)... and ultimately they won't even do that... just string a few commercials together and broadcast them via the internet. Sony's already there sadly.

So while some hated E3, I saw it as important.

Like I've mentioned, I imagine most gamedevs have PTSD about it. Live demos falling apart, last minute patches, audiences reacting with laughter, press writeups that destroy a game before it lands...

Being the antisocial, stay-at-home hobbit that I am I probably wouldn't go to E3 even if someone was to pay all my expenses and pay me a 1000$ on top of it. But at least I can see how it could be fun for some people to be there. Whether it's the trip itself more than the destination, or participating in an event with like minded nerds or a group of friends, it's something. What can possibly be fun for anyone in watching those tremendously boring livestreams I can't even begin to fathom.

Anyway, I do have a wee bit of nostalgia for reading reports from E3 way back in the days of actual gaming magazines, but that's more nostalgia for those magazines and gaming news coming once a month, than E3 itself.

It was fun to watch your favorite personalities show up and shoot the shit with others in the game industry. Alas, stuff like Giant Bomb withered away, although the pandemic basically normalized stay-at-home podcasting anyway, so that's the end of an era.

I actually think most of them have never had anything to do with it - even those that were in higher positions with larger companies.

I never personally attended but the fact that we don't have E3 anymore angers me. They literally used COVID as an excuse to shutter it. Too many people used COVID to do away with fun live events because they wanted an excuse to be lazy. Another great example of this is RuneFest for RuneScape fans: EVERYONE who ever went, they all said the same thing, that RuneFest is a blast and a great way for fans to not only meet each other, but also to meet the developers and enjoy the hype of an early presentation of upcoming content. But nope, because of the pAnDeMiC, even three years later, we still haven't had a single RuneFest.

In general, it's a massive joke. Do I think E3 was perfect? Not even by a long shot, but now we have all of these AAA publishers and developers hopping on the "Direct" bandwagon that Nintendo began, choosing a scripted and pre-taped presentation of highly edited gameplay, rather than having that live developer-to-audience interaction or the live demos that you could often get at E3. Nevermind the fact that it just further reduces the socialization aspect in this industry. We already have a problem with that where people choose short-form communication on centralized services like Discord or Reddit rather than using in-game chat for online games, or forums for other types of games (which is why I still do appreciate the GOG forums overall).

Anyways, rant done. Before COVID, in spite of all of the issues, I actually had a lot of hope for the future of the industry. After COVID gave these publishers an excuse to be lazy, anti-social and even more phony, I've lost most of my hope and hype for the industry. Of course, that's not the only reason; part of it has to do with things like Microsoft monopolizing by buying up a billion studios and publishers. However, the death of gaming conventions in favor of "Direct"s really angers me in a way I can't quite explain.

Right, why stop the fun there:
Crowbcat - E3 2016 supercut

Reading these pages it's clear that E3 was an American show, primarily. Had it been a lot closer, say, north Europe / Scandinavia, I might have cared more and even gone to one...

I bought my first Voodoo card on one of these shows, but I haven't been at any since - with the exception of the Immaginá in Monte Carlo about 25 years ago. I missed a Gamescon one in Köln by a week. If I had still been in the area, I would have gone there.

These days with internet and streaming and whatelse they have become more and more unimportant.

These days once in a while I visit a retro trading market. It has it's own flair seeing the stuff before you and not just click on labels on a screen when ordering them. And it's the same with these shows.

I can't imagine someone buying something useful at E3, so that's a surprisingly useful anecdote.

But it was one of these big events where new stuff got presented and - back in the days - also sold.