The video game industry's annual showcase is saying goodbye to scantily clad booth babes, extravagant multimillion dollar exhibits, blaring lights and pounding music. Celebrity appearances from the likes of Paris Hilton or Snoop Dogg are a thing of the past, too. This year's version of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, renamed the E3 Media Business Summit, will be a toned-down affair as organizers hope to have a far less flashy discussion on new and upcoming video games.
The event, which starts Wednesday, looks to be more like a country club getaway, an invitation-only gathering complete with luxury beach-side hotels, sushi restaurants and meetings in private conference rooms. To put it more diplomatically, "It's about the quality of connection for leaders of the industry," says Michael Gallagher, a former telecommunications policy adviser under the Bush administration who now heads the Entertainment Software Association, the trade group that puts together the show. After last year's expo, organizers decided it had become too big for its own good.
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