• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

E3 press conference time roundup - Use event or Spike TV times?

C

Clipper

Member
Some of you may have seen my E3 conference time image:
e3times2012.png

Edit: Note that the image above has changed as updates have been suggested throughout the thread. Current choice is to have Spike times as it seems these will be the XBLA time too.

Maintaining this isn't to hard, but I have just changed the Microsoft time due to a slightly weird reason that I would appreciate greater GAF feedback upon. This is currently important for the E3 events for Microsoft and EA (and probably the other conferences too) and some confusion about when they begin.

I'll preface this discussion by saying all times I list are in US Pacific Time, which is currently Pacific Daylight Time (i.e., PDT or PT). You'll often see people refer to it as PST, but they are wrong (for this time of year) and you should almost always assume they meant to say PDT or PT.

We have information showing that Microsoft's conference will begin at 10:00 AM. However, recent announcements are stating the Spike TV coverage will start at 9:30 AM. Similarly, most reports are saying that the EA conference starts at 1:00 PM, but the Spike coverage starts at 12:30 PM (Edit: 12:30 was actually last year's time... my bad).

I currently have the times in the chart set at the Spike times to ensure that nobody complains about the times being late, but is this what GAF wants? Should I use the actual event times instead, as I'm pretty sure nothing is scheduled for those 30 minutes except to see people filing into the hall and the pre-show trivia. I might be wrong, though.

This is all further confused as it seems all the articles I'm finding with the EA time announcement are linking back to the Game Informer article I linked above for the 1PM time. Yet that same article lists the Spike TV time for Microsoft! It also incorrectly states the times are in Pacific Standard. Is this GI information even correct? EA only seem to have the Spike time mentioned on their own site, so I'm really confused which to use.

So yeah, if you have an interest, please answer the following question: Would you prefer the chart to show the Spike TV startup times or the times at which the conferences are actually scheduled to start?

Also, if there are any other comments about the chart, please feel free to ask here. If there are any changes to times that people notice in new announcements, such as new Spike announcements, please let me know here, too.
 
B

bigtroyjon

Member
Last year on the MS pre show Geoff had an interview with Phil Spencer talking about XBLA stuff, so it's probably not going to just be a bunch of nothing.

Who knows, with the talk of the conference being all about services, maybe the pre show will be the only time we see any games!
 
T

transience

Member
If memory serves, GTTV does a little pre-show event with some games getting revealed / new trailers being shown. I remember some XBLA games being shown off this way a year or two ago.

The actual press conference will start at 12:30 EST. It's probably best to list the press conference time for when the press conference starts, but it's up to you.
 
E

emb

Member
I think the approach you've taken so far is correct. Use the earlier one. Just leave a foot note so people don't get mad about having to wait. Assuming some just glance over the chart, it's way better to mess up and be early than late.
 
C

Clipper

Member
two4two said:
If memory serves, GTTV does a little pre-show event with some games getting revealed / new trailers being shown. I remember some XBLA games being shown off this way a year or two ago.

The actual press conference will start at 12:30 EST. It's probably best to list the press conference time for when the press conference starts, but it's up to you.
Click to expand...
It's EDT or ET, not EST. And where do you get that information? The later time actually seemed to have the majority vote by far before this Spike TV announcement.

emb said:
I think the approach you've taken so far is correct. Use the earlier one. Just leave a foot note so people don't get mad about having to wait. Assuming some just glance over the chart, it's way better to mess up and be early than late.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think I used a footnote last year, but it was very difficult to word it so as not to confuse people. Will probably add one again once we figure out which other events are also covered by Spike earlier than their announced starting times.
 
A

ArjanN

Member
Might as well add 30 minutes to the Sony conference starting time as they always start late anyway. :p
 
A

AzaK

Member
I'd suggest just state the actual conference start times. Some of us might not care about Spike, or in fact able to get it. Some might watch other preevent stuff etc etc. Basically, let everyone work out how early they want to start.


BTW: Thanks for this Clipper, it's great.
 
Y

yencid

Member
How long are the 3 major ones going to be again?


But yeah i think adding the Spike times is a good idea, since they do reveal things or do gameplay for popular games.
 
T

transience

Member
C

Clipper

Member
OK, given the trend of discussion, I think I may change times to the later times with a note about Spike TV coverage starting earlier in a footnote. I'll let the discussion play out a little more before making that decision, though.

If anybody has confirmation of the EA time that does not link to the GI article as a source, I'd really like to see it as I'm not totally sure whether this is an early time or not.

two4two said:
Sorry, I never stop to think about EDT vs. EST. Get what information? If you're talking about when the press conference starts, it's been announced that way for a while: http://majornelson.com/2012/05/03/spike-tv-to-present-xbox-entertainment-evolved-from-e3-2012/
Click to expand...

That was announced 3 days ago and is an announcement of the Spike coverage. The announced time we heard for the conference itself for the last month or so is half an hour later. It is that announcement you linked which causes the major issue here.
 
C

Clipper

Member
I decided to go ahead with changing the time back to the originally announced time, with a new note about Spike's coverage. At this point, I am going to trust EA's site for the time of the EA conference as I doubt Jim Reilly's time from the Game Informer article is correct. I'll add an asterisk to its column too if further proof of this time is revealed (like when the invitations start showing up).

Zee-Row said:
E3 won't be on G4 this year?
Click to expand...
They already announced the following, via press release, so it all should be on there too:

G4 said:
E3 Expo (June 4-7) – G4, the Official Broadcaster of E3 through 2013, guarantees that viewers won’t miss one moment of the highly anticipated annual trade show. As the only network that has demonstrated its on-air commitment to the event year after year, G4 will once again break new ground at E3, offering unprecedented live coverage of all the breaking news and major press conferences, plus more hands-on game demos than ever before, providing fans unrivaled access to this seminal gaming event. Plus, G4tv.com will bring gamers the most complete coverage of E3 available across its web site, mobile apps and VOD platforms. Only G4 brings both casual and hardcore gamers all the information that is important to them when the network’s live coverage of E3 2012 begins Monday, June 4 at 3pm ET and continues through Thursday, June 7.
Click to expand...

Then again, the time they announce the coverage starts is after Microsoft's conference is complete, so perhaps not!
 
C

Clipper

Member
I've changed my mind on the times and updated to change those shown in the chart somewhat (refresh the OP to see the new image if the one you are seeing is still the May 7 update).

In particular, EA was a mistake on my part as you'll see the press release I linked was for the 2011 event, not the 2012 one. It seems the only confirmation we have for that now is the Game Informer article, so I'll just go with it. Hopefully EA will put up a press release soon so we have some official word on the matter.

In addition, as it appears the XBLA streaming will be following the Spike schedule and every site is now using that time, I have reverted to using the Spike TV time for Microsoft. It's probably safest ht way to avoid disappointment, even if some sites streams won't be beginning until half an hour later. I'll revise again if somebody can show the invitations say otherwise, but I can't find anybody still saying it starts at 10am in any article published after the Spike announcement by Major Nelson.

And if anyone has any further comments, please let me know.
 
T

Tomat

Wanna hear a good joke? Waste your time helping me! LOL!
Nintendo conference isn't until the last day? Is that normal?

Also why is it that Ubi and EA hold conferences but other companies don't? Or do they and they're just not covered live?
 
W

Why would you do that?

Member
Wait, Sony's conference is not on the same day as Nintendo's? :(

Ugh... This messes with my plans. I was planning on going to my friend's to watch Nintendo's conference, but I don't want to go over there just to see one conference... Hmm.

Tomat said:
Nintendo conference isn't until the last day? Is that normal?

Also why is it that Ubi and EA hold conferences but other companies don't? Or do they and they're just not covered live?
Click to expand...

Actually, Nintendo's conference is on the 1st day, before the doors open. It's how they usually roll, while Microsoft goes the night before.

It's not normal for Sony to have their press conference on the day before. Usually, they do theirs after Nintendo's.
 
C

Clipper

Member
Tomat said:
Nintendo conference isn't until the last day? Is that normal?

Also why is it that Ubi and EA hold conferences but other companies don't? Or do they and they're just not covered live?
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's normal, as the others alluded to, although Sony also typically joined them, as was also mentioned.

As for the other companies, it takes a LOT of money to organise one of these events. And if you aren't careful, you might end up getting something like this (GAF E3 veterans will know which company and year this is a link to without clicking, I'm sure). It's much easier to prerecord some stuff and release it throughout E3.

Why would you do that? said:
Wait, Sony's conference is not on the same day as Nintendo's? :(
...
It's not normal for Sony to have their press conference on the day before. Usually, they do theirs after Nintendo's.
Click to expand...
Yeah, they announced their time first this year to show off the change and there was some discussion then about them changing things up for once.
 
G

Glass Rebel

Member
I think I could watch almost everything except Sony's (3 AM for CEST, lol) but I probably won't bother with most.

Edit: Who's making the E3 thread? And when?
 
G

Glass Rebel

Member
It's pretty stupid of Sony to have their conference when their most important market is sleeping. Then again pubs don't care about us.
 
M

Magnus

Member
The troll in me wonders how Ubisoft came to be included with the other 4 conferences. They're that big a pub, eh?
 
T

Tratorn

Member
Is it possible to watch the conferences on ps360 in EU? Or is that service us-only?

And do we know the length of Sonys/MSs conference?
I only know that Nintendos pc will be ~1 hour.
 
C

Clipper

Member
Tratorn said:
Is it possible to watch the conferences on ps360 in EU? Or is that service us-only?

And do we know the length of Sonys/MSs conference?
I only know that Nintendos pc will be ~1 hour.
Click to expand...
It's going to be on XBox Live for the first time ever this year. I know Sony puts their conference up for download later, but I don't think they stream on the PS3 itself. Instead, they have streaming via the PS Blog.

Microsoft's conference is announced to be 90 minutes. I'm not sure there's an announced duration for Sony, but they usually do 1.5 - 2 hours.

Glass Rebel said:
It's pretty stupid of Sony to have their conference when their most important market is sleeping. Then again pubs don't care about us.
Click to expand...
The live audience for E3 is miniscule, especially in Europe. The majority of the audience will be watching playback of he conference or simply the snippets f the stuff they're interested in. The time is likely set up to best suit the Press, the actual people attending the conference.

Magnus said:
The troll in me wonders how Ubisoft came to be included with the other 4 conferences. They're that big a pub, eh?
Click to expand...
If any other pubs were doing a live conference, they'd be there too. Plus, where would we be without a Mr. Caffeine to laugh (and cry) at?
 
T

Tratorn

Member
Clipper said:
It's going to be on XBox Live for the first time ever this year. I know Sony puts their conference up for download later, but I don't think they stream on the PS3 itself. Instead, they have streaming via the PS Blog.
Click to expand...

Well, according to their E3-Site they'll steam it live on ps3:

Can't make it? Watch the Press Conference events live at us.playstation.com/e3 or stream it live on your PlayStation 3.
Click to expand...

http://www.sceainvites.com/press.php

But maybe its just in "home" again?
 
G

Glass Rebel

Member
Clipper said:
The live audience for E3 is miniscule, especially in Europe. The majority of the audience will be watching playback of he conference or simply the snippets f the stuff they're interested in. The time is likely set up to best suit the Press, the actual people attending the conference.
Click to expand...

Most certainly but it doesn't look like it would conflict with any other conference. I wouldn't have watched anyway, just seems weird.
 
M

Miles X

Member
Why are people surprised at the days the conferences fall on? It's been MS first on Monday pre E3, and Sony then Nintendo Tuesday (1st day of E3) for as many years as I can remember.

Anyway, I've not been anticipating E3 this year as I expect little to nothing from Microsoft, so it's crept up fast! I can't help getting a bit excited now though
 
F

Floex

Member
Unless I'm overhyped from the EA, Microsoft, Ubi conferences I really don't think I can be asked to stay up for the Sony conference. The last couple have been a borefest, they really need to make it hour than what they have at the moment (1hr 30 I think it is)
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Hey, Bank holiday in the UK so can actually follow these live (well,maybe not Sony) as I won't be at work
 
M

mclem

Member
CorrisD said:
Hot damn, forgot we had a two day Bank Holiday on June 4th/5th, makes watching them all so much easier.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Thanks, Brenda! I was going to take the days off, so instead I just extended it out to the whole week. I didn't take my usual week at Easter, so I've got a bit of catching up to do.


Every time I look at the chart, I feel there needs to be *some* sort of visual barrier between Sony and Nintendo to indicate that a night elapses in between. If I glance at the BST times without looking closely, it looks like Nintendo's is three hours after Sony's, rather than fifteen.
 
Tizoc

Tizoc

Member
Sorry to ask this but I'm not following a lot of E3 rumors and news, but...what sites will stream the event? (I'd prefer any non-TwitchTV streams please)
 
S

StalkerUKCG

Banned
Tizoc said:
Sorry to ask this but I'm not following a lot of E3 rumors and news, but...what sites will stream the event? (I'd prefer any non-TwitchTV streams please)
Click to expand...

IGN and Gametrailers go from shit tier to God tier during E3 they turn from laughable ass hats into a company you want to directly mind interface with so they can give you all the content faster.

Its pretty remarkable.
 
P

pramath

Banned
I think using Spike TV timings is good enough. Most of us will be tuned in half an hour earlier anyway, and we won't mind having to watch some additional coverage to hype us up.
 
S

StalkerUKCG

Banned
pramath said:
I think using Spike TV timings is good enough. Most of us will be tuned in half an hour earlier anyway, and we won't mind having to watch some additional coverage to hype us up.
Click to expand...

Yeah Half hour early is no real concern and he preshow stuff is usually pretty good. Nice warm up for the event itself and for all watching to get settled.

Sweets (candy)
Drinks
Friends
Hype

I love me some E3
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

The industry is really missing that magic that used to come with E3 week and live press conferences.
2
75
2K
cireza replied
GDC 2024 | Conf Schedules for Unreal & other Game Tech
2
869
CamHostage replied
[UPDATE] 3DS and Wii U software online services to end on April 8 | Pokemon Bank and Poke Transporter to remain online
News
0
591
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
WitchSpring R coming to PS5 and Xbox One, ‘Hard Mode’ and ‘New Game Plus’ update for PC launches in February
News
4
1K
Guilty_AI replied
Update 7 reduces the installation footprint of Forza Motorsport by around 15-20%, decreasing its file size by 25GB on Xbox Series X|S and 29GB on PC
News 2
62
4K
Fredrik replied
Top Bottom