What if The Simpsons attended E3?

By Rick Marshall November 15, 2011

We’ve seen The Simpsons incorporate popular music festivals and comic conventions, so it’s about time Springfield’s famous family made a trip to consumer electronics enthusiasts’ mecca, the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo.

In last weekend’s new episode, “The Food Wife,” the family’s adventure as food bloggers takes them to the series’ uniquely skewed version of the popular convention, E4 — a.k.a. “Expensive Electronic Entertainment Expo.”

Over at GameSetWatch, there’s a brief synopsis of some of the most recognizable references in the episode. Along with checking out the new offerings from Protovision, Chalmskin Interactive, Electronic Crafts, and Funtendo, Homer and the rest of the family also meandered by displays for such Simpsons-styled games as Grand Theft Scratchy: Itchy City Stories, World of Krustcraft, and Medal of Duty.

Bart and Lisa also spend some time with the demos for Guts of War II: Entrails of Intestinox and Marching Band, the latter of which includes the all-important challenge of studying for a chemistry test during a long bus trip.

You can check out some screencaps over at GameSetWatch, and the full episode should be available after the eight-day online delay.

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For over 20 years, the ESA held an event called E3 each June, where companies from around the video game industry would come together and show off their upcoming games. It got canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the ESA took 2022 off after a rough digital-only show in 2021. The expo was set to return in 2023, but was canceled in March after Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, and other game companies pulled out of the event. E3's future was put into question after that, and now it looks like it might not be coming back for the foreseeable future.

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What we lose
Events are a great way for indies to get unexpected and much-needed attention from players and the press; look at the chance encounter that got one of our team’s freelancers hooked on Homeseek at PAX East. Now, indies will have to hope to gain attention at those more indie-focused events like PAX or be cherry-picked to be featured in a more prominent company’s showcasing. There’s also the networking and pitch factor to it.

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https://twitter.com/E3/status/1641546610218811393
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