E3 2021 is right around the corner, and after a one year hiatus the gaming community is understandably abuzz that the biggest video game expo is back, even if in a digital-only form. The schedule has been announced, the (frankly awful) virtual lobby and avatar customizer has launched and been criticized, many of the reveals have leaked - oh yeah, it's E3 time.
Continuing a trend established in the past few years, several major publishers aren't attending actual E3, but are just also holding their own press conferences at the same time, usually literally next door. Let's be real - they're doing E3 without wanting to pay for E3.
We'd applaud their sense of individualism if they weren't immense corporations, and since their attempts to split from the hive mind merely make everyday conversation more difficult we choose to ignore it. We're going to keep saying "E3" instead of "E3, and EA Play, and Ubisoft Direct, and any other gaming press conference coincidentally being held during E3.
E3, ostensibly, is about the games. Every year, some statements to this effect will be stated several times, usually when the presenter has babbled on for minutes without actually showing any games. Viewers will moan about only wanting the games, and the game reveals are naturally the biggest attraction.
But is E3 about the games, really? Game reveals happen at other game shows, or just out of the blue all year, every year. No, E3 is a spectacle - we watch and love it because of a sense of grandeur, and involvement, and to buy into that hype. We also watch it because it routinely produces the best memes and gives us a chance to laugh at celebs who look like deer caught in headlights.
