E3: Is Anyone Out There With Testicular Fortitude?

By Steven Crews | June 1, 2009 | | Filed under: Editorials | Tags: E3, Rant

When I first got into the media business, I told myself that after I’d dug in and established a reputation I’d grow that pair of balls the industry was so sorely lacking, and stand up against the sort of coverage I was all too used to seeing as a player: The obsequious pandering interviews and “Aw, shucks, Mister Developer, thanks for making such an awesome game!” reviews that produced nothing of value to anyone, and served only as mouthpieces to advertise game X or product Y.

But, after two years of covering the MMO genre, I’ve come to a sad realization: No matter what you ask people, with few exceptions, everyone is living in such fear of the PR department taking them out to the woodshed if they deviate from the company line that it makes no difference how giant or brass your balls may be, or how “tough” a question you may want to ask, no one is going to give you a straight answer–they can’t.

Straight answers are dangerous, unpredictable. Someone might slip up and reveal something that hasn’t yet been announced, or make an off-the-cuff remark that damages the company name. MMOs are multi-million dollar projects, employing hundreds, spanning years of development time. We can’t have some malcontent from the design team going out there and making fools of us just to appease the ego of some random, no-name reporter!

Much safer to have Marketing define a message, rehearse it, and then regurgitate it to every member of the media they come across.

I guess what I’m getting at is this: I know it’s a shot in the dark, considering that E3 is by its very nature nothing but a massive PR junket, but is there anyone out there who’s interested in sitting down this week to have a real, honest to god discussion? Where I ask questions I don’t already know the answers to, and you aren’t reading off a script?

If so, please drop me a line at steve@mmogamer.com.