e-for-all
Latest
IDG: E for All is not coming back in 2009
Although we've seen it reported that E for All is dead and buried, the quote being used appears to be a rehash of the same cryptic response Big Download reported two days ago. So, we contacted event organizer IDG for a definitive answer and were told, "Unfortunately, E for All will not be occurring in 2009, as our focus now turns to E3." There, now that's clear.IDG is also the organizer for E3 2009, which appears to be a return to the festivities as we once knew them -- booth babes included. E for All was a competent effort, but the show saw a dramatic drop in attendance following its inaugural year. Adding insult to injury has been Seattle-based consumer show PAX's expansion and growth. Hopefully E3 has learned its lesson, eliminating the need for another E for All ever again.
E for All attendance drops in second year
Despite IDG World Expo's press release touting a "second successful year," attendance at this year's E for All Expo was down. Official attendance numbers were reported to be 15,000, that's down from last year's inaugural event, which saw 18,000 attendees.The E for All attendance numbers aren't exactly the most robust for an event being held in a megalopolis like Los Angeles, especially when compared to PAX 2008's 58,500 attendees who trekked up through the great wilderness to find the sleepy town of Seattle. Meanwhile, BlizzCon is capped at 15,000 attendees and those tickets, at $100 apiece, sold out almost as soon as they went on sale. IDG has not announced an E for All Expo for 2009 at this point[Via Big Download]
Joystiq at E for All, the highlights and lowlights
We wandered the booths of E for All in Los Angeles over the weekend, taking in what the show had to offer. It all inexplicably began with a rousing tune played by a troupe of bagpipers. What? We weren't sure what the tie-in there was either, unless there's a Bagpipe Hero in the works. You heard it hear first.Inside, we made our way through the maze of games and past the hordes of schwag-seekers to the interior, where we watched people vie for prizes and sampled some of the local fare. Check out some of our highlights after the break, including the audio of the bagpipery, our encounter with both Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell, and also Wolf from American Gladiators and what we thought about the show in general. Plus, you can also revel in the glory of our E for All gallery.As an extra treat, check out the audio from the bagpipes that began it all below. Now if you just mail us your $35 money order, you can feel like you were there.
Joystiq goes to E for All
E for All remains the ghostly and distant third cousin of the previous mammoth version of E3 that's open to the public, and it takes place inside the carcass of that fearsome beast, the Los Angeles Convention Center. While we misjudged the time and arrived two hours early, that gives us plenty of time to peruse the schedule and pick our poison. So far the highlights include: A treadmill race across Azeroth Meet and greet with Billy Mitchell Samples of Gamer Grub, snacks developed for gamers Hands-on with Ubisoft's Far Cry 2, Tom Clancy's End War, Shaun White Snowboarding, and Activision's Guitar Hero World Tour Putting our butt in a Boom Chair And the... Los Angeles Unified School District? "Participating students will obtain a deeper understanding of video games and how they can be incorporated into their future careers from speakers – including Fatal1ty – who will describe their experience with video games and ways to break into the industry." Run kids, run.
Nexon's Combat Arms launches today, tournament to follow at E for All Expo
Today marks the commercial launch of Nexon's newest title, Combat Arms, a free-to-play hybrid first person shooter/MMO. If the words 'free-to-play' make you cringe, have a look at the trailers on their main page, which show gameplay and customization options. You might just change your mind. While Combat Arms is heavier on the first person shooter end of the spectrum, the title has many of the elements we've come to like about MMOs -- rank rewards, in-game currency and massively multiplayer social aspects are all tied into the game. (Combat Arms has a cash economy called the "Black Market" but it's not necessary to purchase anything to play the game.) Be sure to check out Joystiq's hands-on with Combat Arms for a closer look at the title and a brief interview with Nexon about the game's features. Timed with the commercial launch of the title is Nexon's Combat Arms Tournament with Pandora's Mighty Soldiers (PMS Clan), to be held on October 4th at the E for All Expo. Pandora's Mighty Soldiers are said to be the world's largest multi-platform online female gaming group, with divisions for PC and each console on the market. If competitors can handle PMS, the tournament prizes will include Nexon game cards, t-shirts, DVDs, and an assortment of Razer gear. PMS will definitely make you work for it though.
Nintendo says 'No E for us'
Last year, Nintendo was a major exhibitor at the fledgling E for All Expo. If you were headed to this year's show (which takes place October 3-5) for a look at, say, Wii Music or Animal Crossing or a surprise announcement of Fatal Frame IV or something, don't bother, because Nintendo won't be there. GoNintendo received a message from Nintendo PR stating that E for All "did not fit into our plans for the year." Our guess is that they only planned to attend events that other companies (and people) would also attend. Can E for All survive a Nintendo-free show? Could they have survived if Nintendo had agreed to attend?
E for All exhibitor list is quite small ... and here it is in chart form!
Our pals at Big Download hit the phones, tracked down PR people and figured out which companies, exactly, are going to this year's E for All Expo ... and the answers ain't pretty. In fact, the only two major exhibitors will be Microsoft and Electronic Arts! THQ and Konami – familiar faces from last year's expo – won't be in attendance this year while Nintendo and 2K Games – also at last year's Expo – have yet to make a decision (Update: 2K and Activision, previously undecided, let BD know that they won't be attending).To make sense of the whole messy situation, we did the same thing we always do when we're upset: grabbed the crayons and expressed our feelings artistically ... then we turned those feelings into a chart comparing exhibitors for both this year's and last year's E for All, side-by-side with this year's Penny Arcade Expo. Yes, we know the Penny Arcade kids have been pouring salt into E for All's wounds for awhile now and that this is just another pile of color-coded salt that we're placing at their disposal. But really, that's a lot of salt! Chart after the break or read the full article at Big Download.[Update: IDG sent us a comment: "We're disappointed that you didn't contact us yesterday before putting up your E for All post, and we hope you'll do so in the future. At this point, we'll just say that the show isn't over until Tiger hits his last hole in one, Microsoft has packed up its last Xbox, Target has sold its last Wii Fit, Fatal1ty has blown away his last opponent, and the World Cyber Games National champions are crowned. Further announcements are forthcoming, and we are confident that E for All 208 will be a great event for everyone in the game community."]
Peter Moore calls E3 'soulless,' calls for public event
His face may be broken, but EA's Peter Moore likes to speak his mind, and what's on his mind lately is last week's E3, a gathering that he thinks can be fixed by opening it up to the public. Whoa, maybe all of that ink has gone to his brain, or has he already forgotten the madhouse that the annual used to be, when everyone and their brother seemed to find a way to roam the show's halls? Plus, isn't that what E for All is for, anyway?Calling the event "soulless and lacking an epicenter," the former Microsoft exec suggests that organizers "invite the community" to the show, adding that given enough planning, letting gamers experience E3 first hand will help companies create better games and forge new ideas. Of course, it would likely be too crowded for any of the attending press to get any work done, but that's beside the point. Right, Pete?
EA attending E for All again, ticket prices revealed
The E for All Expo website has relaunched to reveal EA will attend the show for a second year. Ticket prices are a little easier to swallow than last year, with an early bird special to the three-day event costing $45 for ages 14+ and $25 for kids 6-13 with registration by July 15. After that, tickets for all three days of the show will be $60 for adults who pre-register and $75 for general admission. (Pricing graphic can be found after the break.)This year's show is already looking to be a bit different than last year, with Microsoft already committing to the event. We'll be sure to update if more major publishers acknowledge they'll attend the show being held Oct. 3-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Microsoft takes the pill, joins E for All expo
The not quite E3 and a lot more like video game fanboy happy-fun-time event known as the E for All expo is in its second year this year, and we can confirm that the E for All funnery will be eighteen times cooler. Cooler because Microsoft and their library of Microsoft Game Studio games will be attending E for All 2008. ZOMG! We know! It's a surprising move by Microsoft seeing that last year they refused to be associated with the E3 wannabe expo. But maybe E for All is its own beast, maybe there is value in it and maybe Microsoft is onto something. We'll just have to wait and see how this year's expo turns out. Anyhoo, if you want to experience Microsoft sponsored Xbox 360 awesomeness, hit up E for All this October 3-5, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Registration starts soon.
E for All scheduled for Oct. 3-5 at LA Convention Center
Joystiq has just confirmed that this year's E for All expo will be held October 3 to October 5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Previously IDG World Expo, the company behind E for All, said the event would be held Aug. 28-30, which would have put it in direct competition with the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle. Now, the company says it's excited to hold the event in October again following the "great success" and feedback from exhibitors last year.The event's scheduling seems to be a twofer for IDG as the expo company is holding its GreenXchange environmental event at the LACC from October 1 to October 3. More information will be forthcoming, but organizers say to expect a show similar to last year.
Warhammer dev: "It's time to iterate"
MMO Gamer has a great interview up with Josh Drescher, Senior Game Designer on Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, or WAR, as I like to call it. The two got to chat at E for All (the same place where our own Barb D. got to play the game), and Drescher gives a pretty good inside look at what it's like to be the team in charge of making the game that everyone but EA suspects might try to "kick WoW's arse."First up: the delay. Drescher doesn't go as far as Marc Jacobs in saying the delay was planned all along, but he does say that it was time to cool their jets and focus on what they had already, rather than bringing new stuff into the game. Drescher also touches on the "Realm vs. Realm" aspect of the PvP, and says he's excited to have a game where war is ongoing and front lines matter.Unfortunately, there are a few MMO conventions that even WAR can't get away from-- the starter quests are still FedEx and rat killing, and you can't actually go run and PvP right away. As Drescher so wittily puts it, "There's a Scrabble game in 1/3 of all American homes and yet new copies of it still ship with instructions." He also says that they are aiming for a fairly traditional PvP balance-- "not quite the paper-rock-scissors thing... [but] we're not going to give someone who can do a ton of damage heavy armor also." There is still some innovation, however-- high level players in lowbie areas will apparently get turned into chickens. Sounds good to me! Definitely check out the interview if you're at all interested in how WAR is turning out so far.
Warhammer Online hands-on
The beta may be closed now, but we were lucky enough to get our mitts on Warhammer Online at EA's booth at E for All recently. We were only able to access lowbie characters and starting area content, so unfortunately weren't able to experience some of the juicier RvR content that awaits characters later in the game -- but a few hours' worth of exploring several zones and spending some time with a handful of Warhammer's 24 careers left us pretty excited to see what else is in store when this launches. Initial impression: the game looks gorgeous. The environments are lush, detailed, compelling, immersive. The art style is unique -- not as "cartoonish" as WoW but not photo-realistic either... unique. The combat animations are dynamic and diverse for characters and NPCs alike. The several zones we saw were populated with a diverse assortment of nasties to beat on, interesting landmarks and scenery, and a general feeling that there's a lot of action going on around you -- there's a huge war on, and Warhammer manages to convey a sense of generalized anxiety and excitement that makes it difficult to forget that you're in this world with one primary duty: to smash faces.%Gallery-9466%
Warhammer Online hands-on time at E for All
WanderingGoblin.com has posted their extensive impressions of some time spent with Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning whilst at the recent E for All event. Seeing as no one else gets to play Warhammer at the moment, the hands-on may provide a much needed hit for anyone experiencing withdrawal symptoms.The article discusses various aspects of the game. There is a breakdown of some of the standout classes, of which the Warrior Priest sounds quite interesting. It is also noted that the two factions in the game, Destruction and Order (referred to as Chaos and Order in the article), do not simply contain identical classes with different names. This has weighty player-versus-player balance implications, and you can be sure that the game's forums will consist mostly of threads beginning with "___ class is OP!", followed by "It's fine, lrn2play", but it is a bold move nevertheless.Speaking of PvP, it seems that EA Mythic prefers to call it Realm vs Realm or RvR, which hearkens back to Mythic's much earlier MMO Dark Age of Camelot. The article includes a reminder that players will gain leveling experience and loot by killing other players, a concept which should tickle the fancy of anyone fond of PvP. The full article is linked below and contains much more about WanderingGoblin's time with with Warhammer at E for All.
E for All galleries
We had a chance to hit up the inaugural year for E for All in Los Angeles, and while turnout wasn't so hot, there were a few goodies we were able to get our hands on. We collated the MMO-related shots for a Massively-flavored E for All gallery: %Gallery-9572% We also offer a screenshot gallery from the time we got to spend with Warhammer Online: %Gallery-9466% And some initial screenshots from the upcoming title from Avatar Reality, Blue Mars: %Gallery-9463% For the full mega-gallery featuring your required dosage of cosplay and Rock Band almost-stars, check out the complete Joystiq E for All gallery: Gallery: E for All 2007
Your weekend just got better: Metal Gear Solid 4 footage
Your weekend just got better. Live from E for All, here's English language footage of the Metal Gear Solid 4 demo. You won't have a chance to play the game again before its release, so enjoy. The rest of the videos (three more!) are after the break.
Metareview: E for All Impressions
You've heard our initial thoughts on E for All, but as day two starts we thought we'd gather up some early impressions of the show from other outlets and slap them together in a classic metareview. We'll probably end up doing another one of these at the end of the show if enough outlets do wrap-up impressions. Just to be clear, these are initial impressions and do not convey what can or will happen with the E for All show over the weekend (when there's gotta be more people going). Check out the shot of the LA Convention Center lobby from E3 2006 after the break for a comparison to the E for All one above. Macworld: "Some industry veterans who arrived on Thursday were a bit disappointed by what they saw. E3 veterans are accustomed to seeing every square inch of the mammoth convention center overflowing with game content. That's not the case with the new E for All show, as it only occupies the center's still-cavernous South Hall. But still, visitors were upbeat about getting their hands on the latest games and gaming technology, and vendors were anxiously anticipating a steadily increasing stream of foot traffic throughout the next few days." NextGen: "On a preliminary basis, the show does seem to suffer from the fact that Sony and Microsoft aren't present-maybe next year. Not having several of the big third-party publishers present as exhibitors also brings down the energy level a bit, perhaps more so than we expected now that we're actually on the show floor." Game|Life: "E for All is a ghost town, right now. I was talking with the Nintendo guys about how nice it is to be able to actually swing your arms and not hit other people. But that's because the show floor is small and attendance is smaller. There are maybe a few thousand people in South Hall, spread wide out across the thin showing of booths. ... To be fair, the show's currently only open to pre-registered attendees. And it's a Thursday. Hopefully things will improve for this show closer to the weekend, or once they let in people off the street at 3 PM. But right now, wow. It's pretty sparse." Kotaku: "Around 3 PM, when those who hadn't pre-registered for the event were permitted to enter, crowds grew by about a third, but there was virtually no waiting to get on most games. ... Granted, it's Thursday, and many of the gamers who might be interested in hitting up E For All may not be able to make it down until the weekend, but first impressions of public interest in the event isn't fantastic. We could very well be looking at the first, and the last, E For All Expo. No one will mistake this event for the 'new E3.'" %Gallery-8799%
E For All: the view from the floor
Since we were running from appointment to appointment, we didn't have much time to shoot video, although be sure and check out our 200+ image (and growing) E For All gallery for your edutainment. What video we did manage to shoot and cram into iMovie and then upload hastily to Viddler is here, also for your edutainment. As you can see, Rock Band and Guitar Hero III were popular stops, and Namco's Pac-Man heads were a hot commodity. There's a bit of Super Smash Bros. Brawl tossed in, although a Nintendo-bot came over and told us that we couldn't film the gameplay footage since, "The game isn't out yet." Strange, but we sort of thought that was the idea behind showing it off at E For All. Anyhow, she let us keep what we filmed, and then went off after another amateur cameraman.We'll be bringing you more from the floor today and through the weekend, including more impressions of MGS4, some interviews, and more hands-on than you can shake a Wiimote at. If there's something you've heard about at the show that you want captured on video or with some photos, let us know ... just please don't make us document the selection in the food court. We beg of you.
Joystiq at E For All 2007
So, we came, we saw, and we'll be back for more throughout Friday and the weekend, but the big question you all wanna know is ... will there be an E For All 2008? Signs point to "not very likely." Judging by some of the empty rows of gaming stations we saw, and the fact that it doesn't fill the South Hall at the Los Angeles Convention Center, it's hard to imagine this show being a giant success.In fact, since it's held in the exact same place that E3 used to be, it's impossible not to compare it to the other shows. In fact it sort of feels like E3 reborn, except that they forgot to send out invites and let people know about it. There were a few busy areas, like the Konami booth which had a line of people all day long waiting to play the MGS4 demo (which was sweet, more on that later), and the Nintendo booth had bleachers set up where people patiently waited to get their hand on Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which was also sweet. If by sweet you mean button-mashy, which we do.Also popular was Link's Crossbow Training, which we'll be playing tomorrow, and of course, Guitar Hero 3. We also witnessed several people pulling Peter Moore's at the Rock Band trailer, which was an extremely cool setup ... but sort of sparsely attended. Probably due to the fact that no one really wants to hear perfect strangers butchering The Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go."While there's not a ton of material out there that hasn't already hit the shelves, we did have fun playing around at the EA booth (we still love you, The Orange Box), and Civiization: Revolution is a lot of fun, which we'll be telling you more about soon. For now, the obligatory Guitar Hero III stations, the elaborate Rock Band stages, the ubiquitous cosplay shots and an overdose of Fatal1ty await you in the gallery.%Gallery-8799%
Reminder: E for All opens its doors today
Don't feel empty and unfulfilled any longer. The E for All Expo, organized by IDG World Expo (MacWorld Expo) and completely unrelated to an illegal substance that makes people worship glowsticks, kicks off today. VIP access began at 11:00 am PT while general admission guests can peruse the show floor starting at 3:00 pm PT (that's 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm ET, respectively).Those in the Los Angeles area can attend the E for All Expo at the LA Convention Center, former home to the E3 Expo. On-site registration costs $50 to $90, but you do get to try out Smash Bros. Brawl and Metal Gear Solid 4. Joystiq has sent operatives to infiltrate the show floor, we'll report our findings.%Gallery-8799%
