Too many game shows spoils the… something
August 21st, 2008 Posted in GamesGermany’s turn. It’s been around a while, but never got the coverage untl recently. There are other shows around the world as well, but until the last few years, it was only E3 and the Tokyo Game Show that really had gamer blood pumping.
Then E3 got popular. Game sites started liveblogging (which some writers are really bad at doing — there’s an art to it, and only some can do it well); streaming or hosted conferences became a way to generate more visitors, and so the coverage started to come thick and fast. Gamers are generally pretty hungry for news as it is, so conferences are a great way to get some extra traffic, or at least prolong the individual visits. So the writers begun to branch out, seek more news. The Leipzig conference is getting as much coverage as E3 as a result… and it’s only a month later. What more news can there be?
To be honest… Very little. I see the need for regional conferences — every region has a different target audience, and so they have different things to show and report; they all have to present what they need to show to their local developers, supporters, and sponsors. It’s necessary.
And let’s face it — I’m there looking for the news every day. I want to find out what Sony had to say. I want to know what different games are on show here that weren’t at E3 — and so on and so forth. But damn it if I’m not actually finding it really repetitive and boring. Maybe it’s just my opinion and I should just shut the hell up, but much the same news is coming out of Germany, and Sony’s latest conference was a waste of time — it really goes to show that Nintendo and Microsoft were much smarter for choosing not to have another presser.
So what did come out of Sony anyway? What was the big SingStar news that was not only rumoured, but was hinted at by a Sony exec at E3? A PS3 update will allow SingStar owners to rip their PS2 songs to their harddrive. A pretty good thing if you have an Aussie PS3, which I don’t. Therefore, I can’t play PS2 software, because they are region locked, even though the PS3 games aren’t. Totally lame. But such is the way of the world. Sometimes you get kicked in the nuts. And sometimes you get kicked in the nuts, then someone comes and has sex in front of you while you writhe in ball-pain. Stupid world.
Anyway, there are some interesting little bits of news here and there, and I do agree that this info does need to be passed on to those who want to know, but I don’t think we should be providing the same level of coverage to all game shows — it takes away their power. Just focusing on two shows, held 6 months apart, was the way to go, I reckon. At least there was bound to be some news. Then again, the world’s a-changing, and it’s possibly likely that — in my ageing and cantankerous way — I’m just getting tired of it myself, because hey! Things just aren’t the same as they used to be… Sigh…
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