In the same way that you can't help but want to punch a footballer who complains about "fatigue" when they have to play more than one game a week - bless their poor millionaire tootsies - the annual moan from the games industry about the trip to E3 seems like a pampered whinge. After all, how much of a hardship can it be to spend a week in LA playing games and going to parties? But - honest guv - E3 is a stupidly busy week and that's just reporting on it as a journalist. The real hard work is elsewhere - every developer you meet has a horror story about the rush to get code finished for the show.
So the weekend rumours that the event has been cancelled, or at least downsized, due to publisher disagreements over cost/benefit are important not only to industry types. While E3 has faults at least everything is under one (very large) roof. The little guys share floor space with the big guns and get a rare chance to make some noise in front of thousands of media. If the rumours are confirmed - we should hear later today - then we can expect numerous publisher specific events which, while undoubtedly a more relaxed environment to check out the latest titles, will be lacking the variety and possibly the really big announcements that characterise E3. Of course, the chances are that the big publishers are bluffing and that something will be sorted for next year. Despite the queues, noise and sweaty attendees I think I'd miss E3 if it gets cancelle...on second thoughts, maybe not. E3 RIP?
