In 2009, Will Wright left EA to form a think tank called Stupid Fun Club. The group’s focus is creating new ideas in entertainment from the ground up, with games, television, and even toys all on the table. Unfortunately, the group’s lack of focus is becoming a problem as one of Wright’s employees has been prevented from attending E3 2011.
“So apparently the E3 folks decided my new company (The Stupid Fun Club) isn't in the electronic entertainment industry and is refusing to let my art director (Ben Taylor) attend. I guess that’s what we get for having a fun (and stupid) name,” Wright wrote in two messages on his Twitter.
E3's organizers have been trying to get a firm hold on their registration process this year in order to ensure that only industry professionals attend. They also recently instituted a metric requiring sites to have 8000 unique monthly pageviews in order to qualify for a Press badge. It’s unfortunate that Taylor has been caught up in keeping unauthorized people out, and hopefully the situation can be resolved prior to the show.
3 Comments
March 31, 2011
Gee...what do you think is the likelihood that Will Wright won't be able to get his Art Director into E3? Honestly, I think it's a little bit petulant and out-of-character for him to tweet something like this, which is clearly intended to embarrass E3, when he could certainly have resolved the issue with a phone call. I applaud E3 for trying to keep unqualified people out of the show and prevent it from being clogged with people who don't belong there and I hope that this little mixup doesn't deter their overall effort.
March 31, 2011
This happens to me every year, because I do not work for a major publisher or developer. I agree that it's an industry event, but would really appreciate it if there was a list somewhere that recognized those of us who have been in the business.
March 31, 2011
...and of course, I still get in - it's just a hassle