14 DAY TRIAL // The E3 Media and Business Summit (also known as Electronic Entertainment Expo) used to be the biggest and most sought after gaming event of the year but, according to Ubisoft executive director Alain Corre, it is no longer valid: now, the E3 is too small and inappropriate to be labeled as an important event. The interesting thing is that he's not the only company official criticizing it - John Riccitiello and Laurent Detoc also stated that this year's event "was terrible".
In an interview for website Gamesindustry, Corre said that the biggest problem of the event is its date. According to him, since the event is held in mid-July, most of the important game announcements are made before the E3 because the developers wish for the hype surrounding a product to rise to maximum levels just in time for the holiday season - that's the reason why the Electronic Entertainment Expo becomes a duller, unspectacular show. And I doubt many of the people who paid attention to the event would disagree with his opinion.
"For E3, it's very important to be there, and to present the games, because even though it's much, much smaller than it used to be, still the American media are here, all our competitors, so you need be there, to be ready and to share product," Alain Corre revealed. "There are no retailers at all, from anywhere on the planet - not even the US retailers are there, and there are very few media outlets from outside of the US. Even the mainstream media from the US aren't there," he added.
However, Ubisoft's exec wanted to make one thing clear: even though there are quite a few problems, the event is and should remain the biggest of the year - but some changes should be made: moving it back to May and making it bigger would be perfect. However, according to Corre, "It shouldn't be at the same level [as 2006] because it was getting too big, it was a funfair, and the cost was too heavy for everybody". Indeed, they were. But the show was something many people will never forget. And, even more, we keep hearing that the games industry is growing bigger and bigger by the year. Can't they offer us a funfair at least once a year?