E For All 2008: E For Effort Part 2?
Having attended E For All last year, I must say, I went in with pretty mediocre expectations. After spending a little less than a day and a half worth of time at the convention center, I can honestly say I had exhausted the available material. There simply was nothing there, half the hall was empty and Nintendo essentially took a third of the used space. At least the press room was nice.
Now it is a new year, and E4A 2008 is on it's way, and the thought on everyone's mind is: Will this year be any better? Eh, probably not. It turns out that after EA and Microsoft announced that they were going to be there, the rest of the gaming industry just couldn't be bothered.
...less than six weeks before the second edition of the event is supposed to begin, the official E For All web site has listed Microsoft and Electronic Arts as the only major game publishers who will be exhibiting at the show this year. Big Download has learned via their official PR representatives that THQ and Konami, both of whom attended E For All in 2007, have no current plans to attend the 2008 event....a large number of other major gaming publishers also have no current plans to attend. That list includes Sony, Midway, Atari, Sega, Warner Bros. Interactive, NCsoft, LucasArts, Sony Online, Square Enix, Codemasters, Gamecock, Southpeak, Disney Interactive and Capcom. When contacted, PR reps for Nintendo, 2K Games and Activision did not yet know whether or not their respective companies would be attending...
It's hard not to just write them off, but they still have some time to pull things together. They really just don't have the developer support to compete with the big boys, sad considering the work they put into the show last year. There simply just wasn't enough content. My advice, if you live in the LA area, just get a one day pass and play some games. Everyone else, just go to PAX.
Most major game publishers bypassing 2008 E For All Expo [Big Download]
[via Game Politics]
Asterick
Posted to Video Games on 26 August 2008
Other stuff like this: e for all, e for effort, la convention center, poor showing
