Editorials

E3 is my favourite sporting event!

June 9, 2014, Author: Josué Cardona

Yes, I know E3 is not a sporting event. However, like a sporting event, I want to watch it live, see pre and post coverage, review each “play” a hundred times and talk to my friends about it the next day. E3 has become my Super Bowl or [insert equivalent international sporting event here]

I’m glad to live in a world where I can get in-depth coverage and analysis of what is, honestly, nothing more than a series flashy press conferences. For the most part they are utterly horrible due to the dry delivery of PR nonsense by executives, awkward transitions between segments, and the endless footage reels, but I love them anyway!

I’ve never attended E3 but there is so much coverage now that I don’t feel that I’ve missed anything with the exception of actual hands-on time with new games and tech. Actually, this year you can play Super Smash Bros. in select stores even if you aren’t at E3 so even that is slowly changing. In recent years Sony has recreated its E3 booth within Playstation Home for people to walk around (Yes, Playstation Home still exists).

I love that leading up to E3 we start hearing rumors and “leaks” and we get tons of teasers, announcements, and surprises. The excitement starts a few weeks before, keeps building, and then culminates in the press conferences (and Nintendo’s streaming video) at the start of the expo.

Going back to the sports analogy, some of us actually root for specific teams. I’m rooting for every “team” to do well; I want to see each company wow its fans and garner excitement that will last for the next few months or even a year. The better the announcements, the more we all win!

Now, while I want everyone to do well, I do secretly enjoy when companies take jabs at each other, although that rarely happens. Sony’s conference last year spent a few minutes at the end directly contrasting their policies with Microsoft’s and I felt like I was watching a boxing match in which Sony was hitting Microsoft with blow after blow. Lower price! Used games! No to always-online! It was incredible.

Yes, that was a lot of fun but I encourage people to remember that unless you are a shareholder in a company, who “wins” or “loses” E3 doesn’t really affect you so try not to get too caught up in all of that… Though it is yet another sports comparison! This year, however, I’m rooting for the underdog, aka Nintendo.

I don’t know about you but on June 9th I’ll be glued to my TV watching E3 with a laptop and/or tablet on hand for access to additional coverage from anywhere I can get it. I’ll be watching pre-shows, live press conferences, post shows, interviews, and reading impressions all day. Then I’ll go online and see what everyone else is saying. I know I’m not the only this excited for E3, especially considering that Sony is showing its press conference live in US movie theaters and most are sold out.

If you haven’t noticed, I really love this time of year and can’t wait for E3 to officially begin. Do you care about E3 as much as I do? Where will you be on June 9th?