It had been a dream of mine to attend E3 ever since I found out the about expo back in the 90s as a young teenager. When I was in college I had (possibly misguided) aspirations of becoming a game developer. I figured that by doing so it would guarantee that I would be able to attend this glorious annual gaming event year after year after year. After graduating I tried searching and applying for jobs at several game dev studios, but I kept encountering issues with my lack of prior work experience and relevant education (I graduated with a degree in science) which I assume prevented me from being a competitive, or even relevant, candidate for positions at said studios. After some time, the dream of working at a game development studio slowly began to fade away and reality slowly began to set in. That said, in the last few days, I’ve decided that this year I’m gonna do it – I’m finally gonna attend E3.
Sure, sure… I too have heard all the opinions on internet forums, YouTube, and other sources over the past several years that have claimed that E3 is dying - that E3 sucks now because Sony doesn’t attend anymore and because Nintendo’s presence has been drastically reduced because of their ‘Nintendo Direct’ format strategy in lieu of producing a live press conference in recent years. Other people on the internet complain about how crazy-long the lines are at the event and how they feel that after attending they felt like they didn’t get anywhere near their money’s worth relative to what they paid for access to the event.
I’ll admit that I’m definitely nowhere near as hyped to attend as I was say 10 years ago, and 10 years ago I was not nearly as hyped to attend than I had been in the years following when I first found out about the expo. But, ultimately, I decided that at the end of the day, this was something that I could at the very least check off my bucket list of things that I wanted to do, or more accurately HAD wanted to do. I think that maybe some part of me attending E3 this year may be an homage to the gamer that I used to be years ago - when I was insanely hyped about video games all the time 24-7. (In addition, I’ve never visited L.A. and I’ve heard good - and some bad – things, so I figured getting to check L.A. would probably be pretty cool as well.)
All that said, I’m cautiously optimistic about attending this event for the first time this year. I think that the key to enjoying my time at E3 2020 revolves around setting the right expectations for myself. I’d like to think that I am going in with a realistic and level-headed view of what to expect. Do I think it’s gonna be this life-changing amazing event where I have the time of my life and all my dreams come true? Of course not. But the point I’m trying to make here is that people that have gone in recent years and felt like they had a horrible experience, I’ll bet that their own expectations for what their experience would be probably got the better of them. (At the same time, if you’re one of these people that has been attending E3 for decades, then I can see why you might feel jaded about what E3 has become. Undoubtedly E3 has become less special since opening to the public – with Sony leaving, Nintendo downsizing its presence, XBOX moving across the street, the commercialization of the expo, etc… but that’s really not what I’m wanting to focus on in this post.) So, even while I will try my best to keep my expectations in check, I am still at least a little excited to attend this year.
(If you read this far, thank you for reading my rant. Hopefully you didn’t think it was a complete waste of time.)
Will any of you guys be attending E3 this year? Regardless, what are your thoughts, hopes, and expectations for this year’s E3?
For those of you that will be there, I’ll be looking forward to seeing you guys come June.