Will E3 Ever Get Its Groove Back?

Of prostitutes, suicide, moviemakers, Maker's Mark, caged parrots and the worst E3 show ever.
7/23/2008 11:43 PM | 0 Comments | Page 4 of 5

E3 Day Four

The halls of the L.A. Convention Center were off-rhythm, too. The show's too tiny now for these gigantic corridors with their soaring ceilings. The games are shown in a small area that recalls the first of the Web convention back in the '90s. There's no glitz, and I'm not talking about booth babes. Remember when Nintendo shot little plush Pokémon out of a cannon and dozens of conventioneers scampered fast and furious to get a few? Remember the Mario fountains? Remember Sony's giant, futuristic booths designed by architects and interior designers? Remember the two-hour line to hear Will Wright talk about Spore?

Now, all the air's been sucked out of E3. It's a tiny, little gnat of a convention. And forget us journalists who like to bitch and moan. Everyone from the game developers to the publicists are complaining about it, every day, right until the last minute I tread upon those ghostly, soundless carpets. Take me back to South Broadway, take me back to the true grit, the ripe mangoes and the screaming parrots. Take me anywhere there's energy, but don't keep me cooped up here. As the parrot squawked, so do I: "Get me out of the cage!" I mean, people are walking slowly like zombies. The air is gone, folks. There is no oxygen to breathe.

All of this sucks because there's one stat that says the industry now has mo' bigger sales worldwide than movie, music and DVD sales combined. I'm not saying the show has to be a stinking, sweaty circus of unwashed fanboys and leering retailers like it used to be. But it has to be larger, smarter, entertaining. It has to make those involved in videogames proud to show off their wares. Some of the requisite largess is slowly returning, however. On the last night of E3, there was a huge EA/MTV/Harmonix party for Rock Band 2 headlined by The Who, grand old guys who gave the audience more heart and wit than was seen all week at E3.

I expected The Who to play for about 20 to 30 minutes, which is the norm for corporate gigs. But these guys played and played like they still had something to prove. The Townshend windmill was there (a lot) as was Daltrey's acrobatics with the microphone. Sure, some of the lengthy solos seemed old-ass 70s, but freedom to play long was part of the point back then. Not many seemed to mind, either. Even G4TV's Abbie Heppe, the X-Play editorial manager still in her 20s, could be seen wildly singing and rocking as the old guys jammed. Just when you thought they were finished, they came back on stage to play an inspired 20-minute encore (before which Scott Jones, Evan Narcisse and I had to sit and rest our sorry asses for a few seconds after standing for two hours straight).