Memories of E3 and moments of video game history | The DeanBeat
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It was overdue and predictable. I’m not talking about Donald Trump’s indictment. I’m talking about the cancellation of E3 2023. That poor attempt at levity belies the fact that I’m crushed that we won’t have a show this year that in the past was a glorious celebration of all things gaming.
This made me nostalgic for my best memories of E3. I attended about 24 of them in my life. Last night, I grabbed dusty copies of my books, Opening the Xbox (2002), about Microsoft’s entry into the game console business, and The Xbox 360 Uncloaked, about its sequel machine in 2005. I started flipping through the pages and the memories came shooting back to me like images flipping in my mind.
I remember going to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 1994, the last year when the video game companies participated in the big tech show. The game companies were in a big tent in the parking lot, and they didn’t like that one bit. Sega’s Tom Kalinske griped that patrons had to walk past the porn vendors to get to the games area.
That year, the game companies formed the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA, which later became the Entertainment Software Association in 2003). A fiery lobbyist named Doug Lowenstein had to regularly defend the game industry from anti-violent-game crusader Jack Thompson.
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The game industry sprouted in the ghetto of the kids market, and it struggled to escape that. It got no respect. E3 was born in protest to a
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