NO MORE E3!

Not quite, guys.

Originally Posted by Ars Technica

Sources close to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) tell Ars Technica that the show can and will go on, but that big changes are planned. The "Electronic Entertainment Expo" (hence E3) started in 1995 as a small but interesting annual convention for gaming, following roughly six months after the once-popular annual COMDEX computer trade-show in Las Vegas. The show has grown immensely in popularity, and that appears to be the problem.

Sources say that two major factors have led to the decision to transition the show to a more "closed-door" event. Both, coincidentally, were major reasons for COMDEX shutting down: cost and access. If you've never been to E3, let me describe it like this: long lines, truckloads of people, video games everywhere, and really fancy "booths" (where booth sometimes means basketball court-sized display area). As with COMDEX, the major players are reportedly tired of how much it costs to put on the dog and pony show. Turns out it costs millions of dollars to put the sparkle into an E3 blingfest.

Now in theory, these shows are primarily geared towards connecting businesspeople. To that end, E3 was (again, in theory) only open to industry folks and journalists. In recent years, however, the number of people attending have skyrocketed, in part because E3 registration was a moderately open process. The show was getting huge, and just as with COMDEX, the show-within-a-show was born. What I mean by that is that it was no longer enough to go to the show. To talk to someone who actually knew what they were talking about, you'd need an appointment. To see something really special, really worth writing about, you'd need to meet behind closed doors. To find out anything of interest about something that wasn't on a placard, you needed to get in with the right people. With COMDEX the practice started to get ridiculous; major players officially skipped the show but set up camp in Vegas hotels and had their sideshows for a fraction of the cost.

One source I spoke with told me that media access is indeed a problem, but it probably does not factor in greatly to the decision to downsize the show. Nevertheless, there are plenty of complaints from insiders about how "blogging" in particular has made the shows more difficult, if only because floor people are instructed to speak only of what they are approved to speak of, lest another half-baked headline make the rounds.

Linkinating the countryside.

Now, this, I can agree with. It would be a disaster for the industry if E3 shattered into dozens of fragments of circle-jerk parties, mostly for people looking for contacts, jobs, or publishers. However, that is already happening to some extend with all the exclusive, closed-door parties and such going on.

Last year they already tightened the noose significantly compared to the previous year with respects to getting in easily. A lot of my friends were unable to prove their industry association, and they were people who got in without a hitch last year.

I'll wait for more news before finalising any opinion, but I approve anything that will make the lines less insane. =D

Jam it back in, in the dark.

It seems they changed the name to E3Expo now. I guess their redundancy check is switched off.

Joystiq link.

Electronic Entertainment Expo... Expo. Yeah.

There's nowhere I can't reach.