May 21,
2009
Badge of Honor
By
Louis Bedigian
E3
’09 gives honor to the E3 name.
In
2005, there was something really magical about getting my first E3 badge. Few
seem to relate to this – most journalists just regard it as a piece of plastic
(which it is). But for me, it was a guaranteed entry into the Electronic
Entertainment Expo. At the time, E3 felt like the last arcade in America, a
place where video games surrounded every inch of the LA Convention Center.
I wore
this badge like a badge of honor. As the following E3 approached, I thought
about the day when I’d look back on the many E3s I had attended and the many
badges I had acquired.
Then,
not too long after the 2006 show came to a close, E3 was no more. You know the
story, so I won’t reiterate. But suffice to say, when the 2007 show arrived (a
time I like to refer to as “The E3 Impersonation Years”), that badge had lost
all its meaning.
My
heart told me that all we needed was time. I felt that, if our industry saw what
things were really like without E3, they would cave and go back to the old
format they claimed to despise. (Those claims were later disputed when
publishers voiced their true opinions last year.)
What
amazed me is how quickly they realized the importance of a real E3. Here we are,
2009, and I feel like it’s my first show all over again. But I’m not looking
forward to it for the games as much as the show itself. Over the last two years,
we had games. We had the mind-blowing moments of new gameplay content. But the
show was lost.
There
were times when E3 ‘07 didn’t feel that different from being in a friend’s
basement: the drab walls, dim lighting and overabundance of junk food (mostly
store-bought cookies) made it feel like an average day of gaming at home. The
demos may have been for games six months away from release, but the experience
was uncannily familiar. This year, E3 regains its true meaning as the Electronic
Entertainment Expo.
I do
not necessarily disagree with Michael Lafferty’s
recent comments, but it must be said that I don’t envy the readers at home.
They get the news, previews, images, etc., and it’s awesome. But for many years
I was one of them. I have this distinct memory in 2003 where I was at home
mowing the lawn and just completely miserable because, at that very moment, I
was missing out on all the games I had been dying to play.
Two
years later, I didn’t spend that day mowing the lawn – I was encompassed in
crowds, running to and from meetings while trying to write several dozen
articles as fast as my fingers allowed. Sure, there were some annoyances. An
overcrowded media room (a staple of the old E3) is one thing I could live
without. But during those difficult moments, I never once thought about what it
would be like to be at home mowing the lawn. Because I knew that if I had been
there, I would have wished I was in LA.
So I
will return to the battlefield, armed and ready for an arsenal of games,
ridiculous hours of writing, and crowds so thick you’d swear the show was open
to the public. When it’s over, when I’m struggling to leave a show whose future
is anything but set in stone, I will feel proud to have attended another E3 that
gave honor to its name.
***
Last Weeks
E3 Zoned-In:
Readers are the real winners during the upcoming E3
