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E3 Conference to Scale Back for 2007

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

July 31, 2006, 2:44 PM

UPDATED The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), promoter of the gaming industry's top trade show E3, announced a significant downsizing of the popular convention on Monday. Among the changes will be far stricter admission policies, and a change of venue.

The show has grown to 60,000 attendees and is one of the largest annual tech conventions. However, the cost for companies to attend and promote their wares at E3 have apparently become too high for some, and several high-profile companies have been rumored to be pulling out of the show.

While the show has taken place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the new E3 will provide meeting space only, and companies would demo their products to a select group of 5,000 attendees. The event, likely to be renamed to the "E3 Media Festival" is expected to leave the Los Angeles Convention Center for two hotels with suites and conference rooms.

This system is designed to benefit the media, as a stricter policy would be implemented for who is permitted to attend the show.

A loss of E3 would not only affect the gaming industry, but Los Angeles as well. The show brings in tens of millions of dollars in tourist revenue through hotel rooms and attendance at the city's biggest attractions. Smaller companies that depend on E3 to promote themselves could also be shut out if the ESA decides to limit what companies are allowed to attend in the future.

"This isn't, 'Gee we don't want to spend the money.' It's we want to spend the money efficiently," Doug Lowenstein, president of the ESA, told the Wall Street Journal. "The return is not what it used to be at E3."

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By mmatheny

posted Aug 1, 2006 - 5:05 PM

Same thing that happened to COMDEX - and man did I enjoy that convention! sniff, sniff!!

Score: 0

By tiburoncito_2000

posted Aug 2, 2006 - 11:24 AM

I used to plan my vacation for this event. It was so cool walking around people that have a passion for what they love. I did not feel outcast, I had a sense of belonging. The best part of the show was to see which company had the biggest baldest booth. For me it was like the gaming companies were giving me something back in return for spending thousands or hours playing their game and hundreds of $ on their games and consoles. Farewell to a legacy.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Aug 2, 2006 - 11:54 AM

see which company had the biggest baldest booth.

Wouldn't that always be the company with the worst products? All that hair-pulling, ya knwo...

Score: 0

By altern8energy

posted Aug 1, 2006 - 8:14 AM

they all seem to know something is going down and that would be that the US economy is about to get wiped out.. war in the middle east is going to be coming to roost in America and those in upper positions of management and economics know this...just a matter of time...

Score: 0

By Desides

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 9:47 PM

Good riddance.

Say farewell to long news droughts in the late winter and early spring. Say farewell to bloggers getting into the show and reporting "news" based on what they hear from people who don't really know what they're talking about (looking at you, Joystiq and Kotaku.) Say farewell to the gaming media being so caught up in one or two things that they overlook the other 80% of the show.

Hopefully we can now get some decent reporting happening again, rather than a bunch of stories about the wait lines for a certain product.

Score: 0

By naman91

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 7:11 PM

I agree with Secret Agent Man. Today, plans change by the minute and it's wiser to use the inet instead of 60000 people gaping at a few companies blabbering about their product

Score: 0

By Secret Agent Man

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 5:21 PM

I think it was getting too expensive for everybody. Since information is much more instantaneous now (what with the Internet and all), there really isn't a reason to hold an expo showing off what you're going to do for the year anymore. It was costing the people showing off their new material a ton just for some floor space. The cost to get in has risen to an insane amount too (GameStop worker got in at half price: $300).

Score: 0

By alphatrigon

edited Jul 31, 2006 - 5:18 PM

it was becoming a porn fest for some lonely people...time to get back to a forward thinking tech expo...then perhaps the gaming industry can stop trying to be cool and just be fun

Booth babes debacle and mature rated games. Enough of that, I can get my own dates and don't think it makes me a man to car jack or pop a cap off in someone's azz.

I think the "high profile" companies that are pulling out are the one's who sold their games on the aforementioned ingredients. I want quality though.

Yay Nintendo! Now support HD in Wii

Score: 0

By SoftBlueGlow

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 4:48 PM

http://www.VeryLiberating.com

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 7:32 PM

Oh! Oh! SPAM us some more! Please??

Score: 0

By Paradise-FH-

edited Jul 31, 2006 - 4:39 PM

...

sidenote: who the **** banned emoticons from being displayed?

: (

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 7:31 PM

I've actually *never* seen them work here...unless you're talking about the basic text-based ones. Those still work just fine. ;)

Score: 0

By zridling

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 4:24 PM

The problem is the cost of E3 space for vendors. They're getting hammered. Too bad the ESA told them to go suck an egg.

Score: 0

By eclipsingdivinity

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 3:30 PM

This has to be the s***tiest announcement all year. I treat E3 like a Holiday and those pencil pushing corporate sleezeballs want to save some money while at the same time kill the only spring time fun I EVER GET! ESA can lick a monkey.

Score: 0

By Secret Agent Man

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 5:23 PM

Well, if your company found out that a ton of money was going to waste, what would do about it? E3 was becoming a bigger and bigger waste of money for a lot of companies. Couple that with the fact that E3 is not as important as it was in previous years and you have a bona fide reason to drop out.

Score: 0

By eclipsingdivinity

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 11:41 PM

Secret Agent Man:

I'm not looking at it from a corporate perspective but a consumer perspective. I have friends who've always wanted to attend E3 because it's one hell of a geek-fest. Flashy lights, babes, Nintendo trying to sell Pokemon for the 1000th time. It's fun! I think ESA while maintaining the structure of E3 will suck the fun right out of it. That's a :-( from this gamer.

And speaking of loss of money, while companies are forking over for booths, lights, whatever...other companies are benefitting from this, mainly the media. E3 wont be as exciting for some if it's downsized considerably, and in turn Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony wont have large announcements...and all those hits on Gamespot's/IGN's (granted confusing) E3 coverage site will be considerably less, generating less revenue for media companies who thrive on the festivities of E3. But whatever, I guess it's all speculation for now. I'll file this under a 'might happen' scenario.

Score: 0

By Secret Agent Man

posted Aug 1, 2006 - 8:44 AM

I agree with your first paragraph. I've always wanted to experience E3 live myself. It'd be a wonderful experience.

However, it's not the comapies' responsibility to fork over cash just for the benefit of others. And no more large announcements? Are you kidding yourself? What, are the executives saying to themselves "Well, we can't use E3, so no more big annoucnements for anyone?" E3 certainly was the biggest place to make an announcement, but it surely was not the only place to do so.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 4:21 PM

Wow.

Did you have the word GEEK tattoed on your forehead? Is your skin so white due to lack of sun that you now resemble the Pillsbury Doughboy?

Seriously, dude. You need to get out more if the *only* fun you can have come Spring is a tech conference.

Someone buy this poor guy a ticket to Daytona, eh?

Score: 0

By GCoder

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 4:40 PM

Lay off the guy TOOL... ...making fun of someone for being a GEEK and your name is TOOL? LOL

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 7:29 PM

Oh come on... If he takes it personally, he really *does* need to get out more.

Oh, and yeah, I fix computers (or used to), hence being referred to as a Computer Tool.

I figured I needed to explain that one to ya since you seem to have fixated on it.

Frankly, I'm flattered you spend so much time following me around from topic to topic simply to make inane comments about my alias.

Score: 0

By eclipsingdivinity

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 11:32 PM

HEY there porkchop, I'm a big video gamer and spring time tends to be boooorrring because there's no fun games to play. So while i'm out sucking at tennis, and working at a s***ty sports store I want to have something to look forward to. I want Nintendo's Reggie to kick a** and take names, I want Sony's head honcho Phil Harrison to lie to me about some new 'emotion powerboard insane tree' engine that will make graphics 39393939 times better. And of course I just want Microsoft to bore the hell out of me like they always do at E3.

So yes, i'll take it seriously. I've always loved E3 and I love video games, it's a part of who I am.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Aug 1, 2006 - 9:06 AM

Sweet.

No-one's ever called me porkchop before.

Awesome reply. Try racquetball. It's a bit easier (for me, anyway) than tennis. ;)

Score: 0

By Paradise-FH-

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 4:37 PM

i think you might be in the minority with those comments.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

edited Jul 31, 2006 - 7:30 PM

I might...

If I am, I really do feel sorry for ya'll. ;)

it's a tech conference. it may be a blast every couple of years, but there are *far* more entertaining things to do in this country.

Score: 0

By fibreiv

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 3:03 PM

Let me be the first to say, That sucks. I was hoping someday to go check it out. O well.

Score: 0

By AaronDobbins

posted Aug 1, 2006 - 2:24 PM

It is overstimulation to the max. So many lights and sounds your head wants to explode. Definitely a geek fest, definitely. As I always say, I get paid good money to be a geek so I'm over it. My wife appreciates it too!

Score: 0

By moventura

edited Jul 31, 2006 - 7:30 PM

That really sucks. This year's e3 almost caused me to blow with all the Wii news.

Score: 0

By Secret Agent Man

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 8:39 PM

What, do you think they'll not be able to announce anything without the precious E3 event to do it at? If anything, this'll give the companies more legroom in terms of when they can announce stuff without appearing to delay anything, etc.

Score: 0

By Skizelli

posted Aug 1, 2006 - 7:18 AM

Perhaps you miss the point of everyone's disappointment. It's an event any true gamer would've liked to experience at least once in his/her lifetime. It truly is a loss. Better for the industry, maybe. But it's too early to speculate anything now. And I seriously doubt that a smaller E3 will have any affect on game delays, both positive or negative.

Score: 0

By FubarJeb

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 7:21 PM

Ditto...

Score: 0

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