Achtung, ESA!: The 10 Things That E3 Can Learn From the Leipzig Games Convention

8/25/2008 7:43 PM | 1 Comments | Page 1 of 3

After seeing how Europeans throw a videogame convention last week at Games Convention 2008, aka Leipzig, it occurred to me -- not once, not twice, but approximately several thousand times per minute -- that the increasingly dazed and confused E3 could learn a thing or two from the Europeans.

Indeed, after experiencing Leipzig, this year's E3 now seems, in retrospect, very small and pathetic by comparison. In case the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) wasn't there to take notes, we did. Here are 10 things that E3 can learn from Leipzig.

1. Get E3 out of L.A. Move E3 to a semi-remote, Leipzig-like location.
Forget L.A. And forget Las Vegas, another city that I've heard mentioned as a potential site for future E3s. As anyone who attended the Game Developers Conference back in the old San Jose days knows, the more remote the city, the better. Why? Because the convention shouldn't be about the city that's hosting it. Leipzig is a sleepy German burg that doesn't have slot machines or Broadway shows or 24-hour restaurants. And that's a good thing.


2. Sell tickets to the public.
For years publishers have groused about the expense of E3. Apparently, setting up booths that feature plasma TVs the size of thruway billboards is prohibitively costly. One simple solution: Cut costs by opening the show to the public and selling tickets. A large percentage of E3 attendees were non-industry people who found backdoor ways to secure badges for themselves. Why not make it easier for them by charging an admission fee?


3. Keep the press conferences short and informal.
Remember the flop-sweat on Jack Tretton's brow at the Sony press conference this year? Jack made several allusions to all the pressure that was on him and Sony. As a result, the press conference became a stilted, forced affair that was long on lighting effects and short on news. Our advice: Take a page out of the Leipzig playbook, and keep the press conferences short and informal. Don't ship everyone off to some remote location in East Hollywood; hold them right on the show floor, à la Leipzig. Let's make them looser, more energetic affairs. Jack's health depends on it.