Fewer companies showed to promote their wares to the public this year, but the show must go on.
Last year's E For All Expo in Los Angeles was more of an experiment than anything else. After the old E3 bit the bullet, many tagged the new event as its "replacement," promising public access to all the biggest games coming out in the near future. That was certainly true this year, with people getting to play games like Guitar Hero World Tour, the new Prince of Persia, Mirror's Edge, and a few other games of note (none of which were on Nintendo systems, by the way). However, E For All 2008 felt like it took a step back in terms of exhibitor presence.
Last year, Nintendo and four or five major publishers came to peddle their wares. This year, only Microsoft, Ubisoft, and Electronic Arts decided to show up. Ubi was especially eager to show off its big games, but the other guys were pretty much displaying what had already been released. In fact, Target, one of the show's biggest sponsors, had a good part of the show floor reserved for a retail store where you could buy games and accessories on the spot.
Ubisoft's absoultely massive enormous and gigantic E For All booth, pictured left. And as you can plainly see on the right, Electronic Arts can barely control the crowd within its expansive floor alottment.
Target also sponsored the Guitar Hero World Tour booth—Activision was not officially in attendance—which featured multiple kiosks (of the Xbox 360 version) and a large grandstand with a main stage for competitions. This was, as you'd expect, one of the more popular attractions of the show, although there was plenty of action for Rock Band 2, featured at the Fata1ity booth on the other side of convention center West Hall.
Another very popular stop on the floor was the World Cyber Games competition stage. The WCG is a worldwide competitive gaming league, and it wisely scheduled its U.S. Finals at E For All this year. There was always action on the main stage, with games including Project Gotham Racing 4, Virtua Fighter 5, Halo 3, and several others. Winners represented America in the upcoming world finals in Germany which led to some very intense match-ups and entertaining games.
The World Cyber Games competition stage (left) was the most entertaining venue at the show, but if you looked hard enough you could see some competitive games of a different form (right).
Nintendo did not come to E For All this year, so the selection of Nintendo games available to play was extremely limited. The Target booth housed virtually all of Nintendo's presence on the floor, with past hits like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, and Wii Fit. The Wii version of Shaun White Snowboarding was also there, complete with Wii Balance Board controls. Electronic Arts showed Boom Blox and Tiger Woods 08 All Play with their overly-spacious floor space. However, other than several Wii Fit stations which were also inside the Fata1ity booth (what the heck were they doing in there anyway?), you'd have a hard time seeing a game being promoted on a Nintendo platform.
Wii games were in short supply at E For All this year, and except for Shaun White Snowboarding (left), new Nintendo games were nowhere to be found. Then again, you can never play too much SSBB (right).
Although the big companies shied away from Los Angeles this year, there were still a lot of smaller companies promoting their products on the edges of the floor. A company called Gamer Grub was showing of their "performance snack" product line, including flavors such as Strategy Chocolate and Racing Wasabi. A lot of companies were showing off game accessories like force-feedback gaming chairs, racing wheels (which were displayed inside a Formula 1 car), and stuff for music game controllers like guitar storage cases and drum pad mufflers. Of course, many of them were willing to sell you these products right on the show floor, along with the usual T-shirts and trinkets. (The best shirts on sale: One that says "Player 1" and another that says "Player 2." Get them both and wear with a friend for the best results.)
The feeling I got from this year's E For All is that the second attempt was poorer than the first, but despite that it still felt like a concept that can work so long as IDG (the show organizer) can convince publishers to continue to show up. There was definitely not enough to do at the show to justify paying for a full three-day pass, but those I talked to who did were still mostly happy with attending. I was only there for a day and felt like I would have definitely enjoyed myself were I just an average gamer with my average friends. However, to me it feels like the show has already taken a step back in just its second year of existence. I'm sure they're going to give it another go next year, but I'm starting to wonder if what is shaping up to be a small-time show will survive in today's world of big-time public expos like PAX or San Diego Comic-Con.
