PAX3
September 2nd, 2008So as far as I can tell, E3 and PAX produced roughly near the same amount of publicity and information from developers - and E3 might have an advantage there. Yet E3 was widely viewed as a huge disappointment, whereas PAX seems to have been well-received. Is that just because expectations of E3 centered around what the event used to be? Or is it a populist streak in the gaming media?
Posted in E3, Geoff |
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:56 am
PAX is on the up-and-up. It’s been expanding and drawing more and more people and developers. As such, people are predisposed to see it more favorably than E3.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:43 am
It’s both. Gamers are pissed that the decadence of E3 is gone so they are predisposed to being negative about whatever is in its place. Also, PAX is very “gamer” focused and that makes gamers feel warm and fuzzy, more likely to overlook any flaws. Also, it’s growing so that puts it in a positive light.
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I attended PAX and left with a bit of conflicted feelings. On the one hand, I played several unreleased games. On the other hand, it took absolutely forever to play any of the more in-demand games and I still didn’t even get to play some of the games that I really wanted to (Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, Mirror’s Edge, and some others). I also felt a bit of a distance with some people who were there, but at the same time there’s just so much stuff to do there that if you don’t plan for it, you may not do some of what may be the more “fun” things to do there (like tournaments, or just getting into some multiplayer games). Of course, there’s also sometimes the feeling that, why would I play these games that I can play at home rather than the ones that are not even out yet?
I’ll have more detailed impressions of it later likely after I get home (I’m still in NW taking some time off). I will say that overall, I probably didn’t get so much more info out of it than I would’ve at home just watching videos and such, and that’s perhaps the risk of not taking full advantage of what PAX has to offer.
As for why it’s liked more than E3? That’s easy… PAX is a consumer-oriented show, while E3 is not. In other words, your average gamer can go to PAX, but not to E3.