Besides the blatant sexism that's ripe throughout this woman's interaction with various staff members at E3: there's another underlying problem.
You shouldn't have to hold someone's hand through a game demo. And you certainly shouldn't need a PR person there to sell the game to your members of the press. The game should be as inviting and enticing to veterans who have been resting their fingers on WASD since they learned to walk as it is to someone who is just picking up a controller for the very first time.
Draw me in, let me lose myself in your entertainment, and don't make me think. A shining example of this is when first-person shooters stopped hiding the "inverse look" option in the deep recesses of a menu, and instead just asked you to "look up" when you first start a new game. Whatever direction you choose (up for up, or down for up (inverse)), the game then immediately flips the option for you behind the scenes. That's the level of UX and approachability that should be applied to every control and game mechanic in your title. A fact sheet shouldn't even be available. Make me fall in love in the first 5 minutes, like a well-crafted movie or book.
Games get away with so much because they can become addictive and time-consuming. And they'll still sell by the millions.
This doesn't take into account the realities of an E3 demo.
For one, the clever tricks that ease you in to the controls generally occur at the start of the game. It's not just the UI of the game that allow a first time player to be able to understand, it's the design of a level to teach you. This is often not the part of the game that an E3 demo wants to show.
The second point is that a lot of the more subtle stuff that hints to new players how to play may not even be in the game yet. These E3 demos are with an incomplete product, but the developers have slaved to create a section of the game that seems polished. However, they know their target audience for the demo are experienced gamers, not members of the general public, so it changes their development priorities accordingly.
1. buyers from retail who might "play" a game only at E3
2. Marketing people who are getting a sense for how your game is being received and might never play a game
3. Corporate tools who are checking how things are going and definitely never play games
4. journalists who may or may not play games or understand them.
The goal is not to let someone get lost in the entertainment but to get them to order a million copies in to retail, write a piece that gets everyone to buy the game, get marketing excited, keep your job or get a free trip to LA so you can drink your face off every night on the corporate dime. Plus it's E3, everything is cranked to a million decibels with a continuous strobe of nonsense.
My only bit of advice for the woman writing the article and others: Use Your Words. Tell the dude to go back to picking his wedgie and do your business.
You shouldn't have to hold someone's hand through a game demo. And you certainly shouldn't need a PR person there to sell the game to your members of the press. The game should be as inviting and enticing to veterans who have been resting their fingers on WASD since they learned to walk as it is to someone who is just picking up a controller for the very first time.
Draw me in, let me lose myself in your entertainment, and don't make me think. A shining example of this is when first-person shooters stopped hiding the "inverse look" option in the deep recesses of a menu, and instead just asked you to "look up" when you first start a new game. Whatever direction you choose (up for up, or down for up (inverse)), the game then immediately flips the option for you behind the scenes. That's the level of UX and approachability that should be applied to every control and game mechanic in your title. A fact sheet shouldn't even be available. Make me fall in love in the first 5 minutes, like a well-crafted movie or book.
Games get away with so much because they can become addictive and time-consuming. And they'll still sell by the millions.