E3 Expo 06 - thinning the herd?

Joshua Stubbles

So, I spoke with my buddies at 5000ft. They told me that their request's for E3 badges were DENIED. Apparently, they aren't a large enough/popular enough studio to warrant it anymore. Funny, we've gone the PAST THREE YEARS. What the hell is wrong with these people? They only way they can gain FREE badges, is to go through a publisher.

What happens if you're a small studio without a publisher? You have to fork out the (higher priced) $500 tag, per-person, for ONLY floor access.

Anyone else hit this brick wall with the E3 people?

arshlevon

strange, do you guys have a booth or anything? i am guessing not. the company i work for (jgie) only has 30 people and we dont have a publisher, but we all got passes. i wonder how they are doing this. i was really glad to hear it was going to be harder for fanboys to get in, but now i hear they are shafting developers too, thats pretty lame.

adam

Yikes man, lame.

Neo_God

Yeah, actual game companies can't get in, but if you're a race car driver, or play sports for a living, then sure, no problem, come right in. But then again they can just buy there way into it.

Wells

I got my first brochure/invite package this year, but registration would cost far too much.

Joshua Stubbles

Arsh, no, we've never had a booth there. The first E3 I went to, our Daredevil game was being shown at the Encore booth. But we've always been able to go, since we're developers....so I don't see why they changed their minds.
I work for a differant company now anyways, so I'm not worried :P But it's messed up for the guys at 5000ft.

Weiser_Cain

That's dumb.

AstroZombie

Yea, I think they have cracked down on it because there have been so many EB Games retail clerks there the past four years. It originally started as a press event but I think it's lame when people who actually work on the games that are being showed can't get in.

SouL

It looks like they're starting to tighten down on who gets in and who doesn't. It's no secret that non-industry folks always find a way to sneak in.

It'll be hilarious if E3 only has half as many folks this year from the new strict policy. Hahaha
Actually that be great, no more getting mashed together with a bunch of other sweaty nerds. Yikes.

FunkaDelicDass

Yeah, like Astro said, I think they're trying to make e3 more of what it was originally supposed to be: a press event. I guess it makes sense that if a developer isn't showing anything, they don't get free passes. Sucks for developers, but I don't think the organizers really care.

Last year's show sucked because so many developers were showing their stuff behind closed doors. It used to be only the top three to five games that got that treatment. Now it seems everyone is trying to hype up their product by giving it the closed doors demo treatment instead of having it playable on the floor. You used to see developers walking around, playing the competition, and taking notes. I think there's going to be less and less of that in the future. Rehearsed demos are a safer way to advertize a game than giving the controller to a writer.

Toomas

So they make it like all the other shows wher you get free passes only if you rent a booth.
Sounds about right to me, not to mention the game dev grunt is about as useful there as the sweaty fanboy.

Joshua Stubbles

True, but being developers, don't you guys think you deserve to see what everyone else is working on, in-person? I mean, it's the developer that keeps the industry alive, not the press or the publisher.
If they lock out E3 like this, I think there should be an event for developers only. Someplace where we can check out everyone's stuff.

parasyte7

We got accepted, but i heard alot of companies got rejected.

Justin Meisse

in 1998 I had a free pass to E3 and I was just working on a mod! Unfortunately I couldn't afford the travel expenses.

poopinmymouth

I think it's funny that people who work in the games department of a BestBuy get in, but Developers aren't. I saw so many "CompUSA Sales Associate" badges last year I wanted to punch someone. That's the reason they are moving things behind closed doors. Who wants to waste time giving an open presentation to someone who works the floor at Globomart's game dept for a part time job? Make it behind closed doors and you can make a guest list of people who actually matter. The unfortunate part of that is that the game dev's get left out as well.

flaagan

looks like i wont be getting in... cant find my paperwork from working at EA, and my current QA job's paychecks / paperwork dont list the company's name as it's handled by an outside company.

PaK

I will be a presenter at E3. See you guys there.

-R