Opinion: Why did E3 ignore mobile games?

As regular Pocket Gamer readers will be aware, this week was E3 week in Santa Monica. It's certainly not been the glitzy convention of previous years, but nevertheless, it's seen big announcements from all the key console manufacturers and publishers.

The slimline PSP, the Halo 3 Xbox 360, Wii Mario Kart – it's been a feast of news. And think of all those high-profile mobile games stories, too, like... erm... well... Oh, I know, you can access the PS3's Home virtual world through your mobile. And that's it.

Mobile has been a neglible presence at this year's E3, to the extent that the industry had to organise its own Mobile Games Insider conference down the road, with no official backing.

I-play CEO David Gosen has already drawn attention to this, telling Mobile Entertainment that "mobile gaming is worth $3.3 billion a year already and is forecast to be at $10 billion by 2011. It is too wide a market and too important a market for E3 to just ignore."

So what's going on? One explanation is that the mobile games industry doesn't have the same need to make a public splash as console firms do, so are less likely to stump up to participate in E3. We remember talking to mobile publishers at last year's E3 who'd spent considerable sums on glitzy stands, but were already thinking that the money could be more effectively spent elsewhere.

Another reason may be that mobile games don't suit big tradeshows – if you can demo your new game on a handset to the (relative) handful of journalists who cover mobile gaming, why would you spend loads of money to take part in E3?

Maybe it's not a case of E3 ignoring mobile games, but instead, it's mobile games publishers ignoring E3, because it's simply not relevant or useful. And besides, how many mobile games can compete for column inches with the big PS3, Wii, Xbox 360 or even PSP news?

But if people like David Gosen are complaining, clearly that can't be the whole reason. We can't help feeling that for all the console publishers who've set up mobile divisions (EA, Eidos, Vivendi and so on), there IS still a stigma attached to mobile games.

In other words, most people in the console industry still think mobile games are rubbish. Basic. Not proper games. Not worth bothering with. We've certainly encountered that attitude, so it wouldn't be surprising if it extended to the organisers of industry shows.

And that's a shame. Even in its altered state, E3 is the most high-profile games industry show, although it could be run close this year by the Games Convention event in Leipzig (which does have more of a mobile element, as does the Develop in Brighton conference next month).

Maybe next year, E3 won't just open its doors to the mobile industry – it'll actually need mobile firms to help it retain its status as the world's greatest games fest.