PixlBit

I wouldn't be too sad to lose E3. Since it wasn't open to the public unlike most other major shows, I never saw the point of all the expense of it, and that's even more true now that the Internet and social media allow companies to hold their own reveals. And for the most part, most of the attention was focused on the big dogs, such as the console makers as well as the three largest Western third parties, none of whose products I care much about. I mostly read about it after the fact, though I suppose I'd have loved to have seen the reaction at E3 '95 to Sony's simple "$299 USD" announcement of the PS1's launch price. I always thought Tokyo Game Show was more interesting, and even Gamescom in Europe got announcements that E3 didn't. PAX and TGS have pretty much supplanted E3, and both of those shows are open to the public. For press announcements, I'm fine with reveals being done through things like Nintendo Direct and equivalent showings from other companies. All that pomp and circumstance for an event open only to industry insiders is honestly kind of wasteful. 

While I do think E3 was winding down somewhat, the coronavirus scares are pretty serious (how justified the scares are remains to be seen as to how the pandemic spreads), and I definitely think they'd have been doing E3 if the concern wasn't there. Trump just closed off all travel to the US from Europe for a month, and right now, air fare is otherwise dirt cheap ($113 from Phoenix to New York, round trip, on a midday direct flight would have been unheard of two weeks ago). The Utah Jazz and the OKC Thunder are quarantined in the OKC arena due to Rudy Gobert of the Jazz testing positive. Certainly China is feeling the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and for better or worse, so much of the video game industry now is tied to China. Maybe the industries in Japan and the US will start to realign themselves away from China in the wake of the disruption caused by the coronavirus. Do y'all think that this will end up with the PS5 and the Xbox Series X being delayed to next year?

For me, the pomp and circumstance of old E3 was the industry saying "hey, look at us!", and back then it seemed to work. I don't really see mainstream media covering E3 like it used to, but also from what I can tell, trade shows are usually pretty over the top? Like, the first year I went to E3 (in 2002, which is where that Nintendo booth photo is from) the show had Bruce Campbell, Carmen Electra, Tony Hawk, and others that were attractions to various booths. Then I saw John Favreau talking to Ted Price of Insomniac fame (they had traded badges to be funny) and ran into Miyamoto later on. 

At E3 2003, Konami showed Silent Hill 4: The Room by putting PS2 kiosks into a dirty kitchen. Then, you turned a corner and you were in the jungle to play Metal Gear Solid 3. It was awesome, and that wasn't even their whole booth. I'd love to see some of that stuff come back, especially now that the show is open to the public.

As far as the consoles getting delayed, my knee-jerk reaction is to say "no". However, as I type this, I could see Sony pushing the PS5 back. I only say that because, like, what have they shown? It seems like Microsoft is already well underway on the Series X (although I do expect major supply issues), but right now the PS5 seems like it's only got a name and an expectation that it'll have some good games. 

I stopped listening after the 311 shitposting. Hipsters. 

I'll be honest: everything I know about 311 I learned last week on the Giant Bombcast. I couldn't tell you a single song they've done, and I didn't even know when they were a thing.

They're definitely not one of the biggest name brands of the 90s, but if you were stuck on alternative rock stations almost exclusively - as I was - they got plenty of play. 

Honestly, I understand the hate but I'm fine with them, which is how I feel about a lot of bands people shit on. I'll actually listen to the episode eventually; the real reason is I was falling asleep.

Oddly enough, I have never listened to Giant Bomb Cast.

I too would like to hear about the consoles. $599.99 sounds expensive to me ... but my phone is old as shit ... hmm ...

Anyway, my favorite E3s were the one with Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, and Mario Sunshine all at the same convention and all the different EGM covers and the PlayStation one where Horizon and a bunch of other stuff was announced. 

I'll listen to the other half of this podcast later. 

That was E3 2002, pictured above, and it was my first one! It was so awesome playing those three huge releases before anyone I knew, and I also came away from Nintendo's booth super excited for Eternal Darkness, which remains one of my favorite games from that generation.

I didn't realize ED was part of that E3. What an unfortunate yet fitting abbreviation that game has. ED really is sanity's requiem. 

Red Dead Redemption 2 definitely makes my PS4 sound like a jet plane. Horizon not so much. I'll find out what Death Stranding does whenever GameFly gives me my copy. 

As someone who's edited a lot of audio, the witchcraft of old was just noticing which wave forms look like coughs, stutters, clicks, etc. and just deleting those assuming there's enough space between them and what you actually want. But I guess that button is cool too. And yes, I realize my very technical difficulties experiences when I'm on this show make me look like someone who edits no audio, but I'm just used to recording locally so there. 

What was the moment of silence music? Anyway, thanks for the distraction while I work on part-time stuff. 

It's the song from Final Fantasy IV that plays anytime someone in your party dies or goes missing. Which happens a LOT in that game. I've used it on the show a few times for moments of silence.

Of course, in FFIV, most of the deaths ended up being reversed by deus ex machinae.