This year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo wrapped on June 18 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, having drawn 52,200 video game pros, analysts, media, and fans from 109 countries to the frenetic show floor over three official days.
The event, hosted by the Entertainment Software Association and popularly known as E3, broke social media records across all channels: The throng of attendees responded to the event in a whopping 6.3 million posts on Twitter alone, one million posts to YouTube, and more than 7.5 million likes on E3-related Instagram posts this month.
In addition to the parties and press conferences, the show floor exhibits are E3’s big draw. In all, there were 1,600 products from 300 exhibitors on display in eye-catching booths and promotions this year.
As far as gaming news goes, the biggest story out of E3 was likely the ascent of virtual reality, as it is across other sectors. But trends also manifested in the exhibits themselves, where props, vehicles, photo ops, and the ever-controversial booth babes echoed throughout the convention halls.
Guests also visited the Only in the Toy Box Experience. Using a new augmented-reality technology, the digital media company's activation invited fans to step into a virtual environment and interact with Disney Infinity characters. In a demo section, Disney constructed a three-dimensional version of its signature castle and used projection mapping to display game images across the façade.
At this year’s E3, Disney Interactive showcased Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition, the latest in the hybrid toy-game series. Attendees passed into the booth through a custom-built illuminated entryway known as the Disney Infinity Figure Arch, which displayed all of the figures that have ever been released.
The exhibit also featured a curtain installation comprising more than 6,000 power discs—chips used to enhance game play.Â
In an exhibit area known as Disney Infinity: An Art Story, the team curated concept artwork and production samples from across the Disney Infinity franchise.Â
Activision’s booth touted four of the brand’s big titles: Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Skylanders SuperChargers, Destiny: The Taken King, and Guitar Hero Live. "Being able to get quality playing time with each title is an experience in itself, but we wanted to make sure that each experience was specific to the world and brand of each game title,” said Ryan Fitzpatrick of producer NCompass International. In the Guitar Hero Live area, attendees started their journey into the booth as fans watching performers onstage, then continued through the line toward becoming performers themselves: Attendees moved through a mock-up of the side entrance of a club, where they checked in and were led backstage where they waited to perform a gig.
As attendees got ready to go on stage, staff pretending to be stagehands and groupies pumped them up. Then, booth visitors entered the game-play arena with a display of lights, smoke, and applause. They were guided to center stage—prominently at a visible and heavily trafficked area of the booth—where a live audience cheered them on. A green-screen stage dive was also part of the experience.
For Skylanders SuperChargers, NCompass recreated the game's environment, with built-in game-play kiosks throughout. One of the newest features in the game is the ability to make use of vehicles, so the team created a larger-than-life replica of one such vehicle, HotStreak, in the center of the experience. Guests, including celebrities, could hop in for a photo op. And to showcase Skylanders’ partnership with Nintendo to feature classic characters in the new game, Donkey Kong digitally photo bombed attendees' photos.
Nintendo's exhibit featured live game play, interviews, and announcements in a theater-like environment. It was all part of the brand's live stream from the show floor.
In its exhibit, Nintendo had a mock-up of the fictional Arwing spaceship, where attendees could climb in and check out the Star Fox Zero game for Wii U.
Attendees and celebrities posed with costumed Mario and Luigi characters in the Nintendo booth.
Right at the entrance to the convention center, a giant interactive statue for the Bandai Namco game Dark Souls III saw significant crowd interaction. Surrounded by the trade show's controversial "booth babes," attendees posing in a photo op could pull an embedded sword and make a black inky substance spout into the air.
To promote its new gaming audio offerings, Turtle Beach brought a pair of tricked-out vehicles from partner Gaems, which shared the booth space, to its exhibit on the show floor, creating an eye-catching platform for guests to listen through the brand's headphones.
A life-size Hulk character made of Legos caused an attendee traffic jam at the exhibit for Lego Marvel Avengers as passersby stopped to grab snaps.
To promote Lego Dimensions, a miniature scene of the Hill Valley Courthouse featured in the game rendered in Legos filled a transparent orb at the booth.
In a logical but kitschy setup promoting the Farming Simulator game, a couple of farmer models posed with a tractor on the show floor.
Underscoring the farm theme, the booth also featured a costumed cow, which waved at attendees and posed for photos.
Guests queued up at a mock casino entrance promoting the game Payday 2.
At the exhibit for the game Life Is Feudal, booth staff clad in suits of armor posed for photos with passersby in stocks.
