San Diego Comic-Con 2008 vs E308 - who gets it right?

So this year's E3 videogame show was a fizzer, as was last year's. These things happen. Leipzig Games Convention and Tokyo Games Show rocked steady last year, and are likely to again this year. Without a handy crystal ball it's hard to divine the intent of the Entertainment Software Association (the US industry group who run E3), but it's fair to say the condemnation has been reasonably universal, both within its membership body and outside.

This is half the problem. The "new E3" was said to have been a sop to members sick and tired of splashing out big dollars on an annual extravaganza which was for some a glorified videogame arcade/bikini parade. But at this E3 some of the strongest criticism I heard directed at the show wasn't by media missing their three day playfest, but rather by publishers. They're still having to spend up big, they're still pulling developer teams away from their projects to attend, only now the glory days of getting glossy front page exposure to your games and loads of commercial TV coverage throughout the week seem a distant memory. Instead they got the magazine guys, scowling bloggers and wannabe web tv 'stars' (at least the ones Activision didn't lure away with offers of looks at the new Call of Duty or Guitar Hero) asking them the same questions. Hardly as glamorous.

Whatever the reasons or who is to blame, attending E3 one week and San Diego Comic-Con the next is an eye opening exercise in contrasts. Comic-Con has been around for decades, E3 little over one. CC has built a deceptively monstrously public following by throwing it's doors open to everyone, E3 has moved to restrict access as much as possible, with no public admission. And crucially, CC seems to have succeeded in getting widespread support from outside its native industry as well as from within.

Talking a stroll around the vast show floor at CC rams home many of these points. The first thing you notice as a CC virgin is the sheer number of people in costume. The overweight Wonder-Woman, the anorexic guy in the batman cape and cowl, even the hot chick dressed in some kind of gothic bikini outfit aren't hirelings - they're all holding public passes. For every hired professional on the ground looking buff and heroic, there's an impossibly diverse assortment of stormtroopers, anime characters, wookies, medieval knights, jedi, Jokers (in the Ledger mould, naturally), and sith lords. The Star Wars influence is impossible to miss - the sheer number of people kitted out here with lightsabres and robes explains why the franchise continues to be a license to print money.

It's easy for an outsider like me to point fun from afar at the idea of playing dress-up - but when you're there surrounded by people with a genuine passion for the subject matter it has a way of changing your perspective. Take the live action role playing gig. A couple of different groups were running live demos periodically. Out in the hot (and I mean hot) sun-baked forecourt behind the Convention Center, these guys (I think they were all guys, anyway) would don armour and lay into each other with metal weapons. The level of skill varied - some were brute force masters, others wannabe finesse players but there was no mistaking the passion. Quite a few times the judge (dressed in some sort of kingly finery) would need to leap into the fray as two combatants got a little too heated, roaring "HOLD". The crowd loved it. It makes sitting with a handful of your mates around a table or TV playing videogames look a little more sedentary.

Speaking of videogames, this was the main reason I was there. I'd had it on good authority that CC is increasingly being hit by game publishers, and with good reason. There's no shortage of potential gamers here. Tucked down one end of the floor was a very healthy little section, with abundant representation from the likes of Xbox (Halo Wars), Activision (Ghostbusters), NCSoft (City of Heroes), Sony Online Entertainment, EA and more. There were almost as many Deadspace and Little Big Planet bags being toted by attendees as there were for the unofficial star of the show.

Ah yes, the star of the show. More informed people may have thought the cast of Heroes were a highlight. Or Dexter himself appearing, or even Cliff "don't call me CliffyB" Blezinski talking Gears of War 2. But no. Watchmen (the movie and legendary comic) stole the show. You couldn't miss the branding everywhere, the massive tote bags Warner Brothers were handing out, or the savvy fans were strolling around dressed as the comic's anti-hero, Rorschach. Not only has the Watchmen trailer been pumping at screenings of the Dark Knight, but Zack Snyder (director) was on hand to sign autographs, demo footage and generally bring traffic within 30 metres of the booth to a utter standstill. Even if you weren't a fan of the comic before (and why wouldn't you be?) it was impossible to miss it here. Especially seeing as one of the packs handed out included MAD Magazine's tribute to the comic.

There was no shortage of film studio presence or even completely non-comic related TV material - The Office (US version ) had a massive stand, and the aforementioned Heroes and Dexter also featured prominently. Role playing game makers also had a subtle-yet-noticeable presence. This was possibly the best lesson for videogame publishers - some of whom told me they generally link their attendance to a show like CC to whether they have a relevant title being released: many outfits were here not because of their product schedule, but rather because they figured the audience there was their target market. It's a worthy distinction to make, people vs product. When you have the luxury of running a show that gets the paying public up close and personal to you - something Leipzig really has had success with for videogames intentionally - it seems to be a pretty rewarding experience all-round.

Amongst the throng, the freebies, and the people you just had to look twice at to figure who/what they were there was the element currently missing from E3 here: enthusiasm. E3 gets people buzzed, no doubt, but it's just not the same as when the public gets involved. Everything about CC is oriented towards making it a celebration of culture. Everyone's invited - and it seems everyone turns up. Beyond the "stars" of the show, there's no real segregation - no preferential treatment - just a genuine, fun event that hypes punters up and gives industry first hand feedback. It's more community-oriented than E3, ironically - hence the rise of the "niche event" and the likes of the PAX show.

Could the US games industry in particular pick something up from the way Comic-Con operates? It's hard to argue against the kind of spectacle you see in San Diego. Are the two cultures closer linked than many videogame publishers give them credit for? And does this really impact Australia at all - we've got comic shows, games shows, even automotive shows that blend in games - what "merged" offering would you like to see?