Bookmark to del.icio.us Only about 30 of the largest video game software and hardware companies are attending this year's E3 conference, down from the hundreds that packed E3 in previous years.
Also missing at this year's show will be the army of small-time bloggers, zealous game fans, and others who somehow managed to infiltrate the trade-only event. 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. With more than 60,000 people cramming into the Los Angeles Convention Center, there was a feeling that the needs of no one -- be it the media, retailers or video game publishers -- were being addressed particularly well. "It had gotten out of control and needed to die," said Mike Wilson, chief executive of Austin, Texas-based game publisher Gamecock.
"It was hot, techno was blasting everywhere, there was no place to sit and the microwave cheeseburgers were $8. Wilson's company wasn't invited to the new E3 that's being held in a handful of hotels along the beach in Santa Monica, Calif. He isn't the only one.
Only about 30 of the largest video game software and hardware companies are attending, down from the hundreds that packed the event in previous years. Also missing will be the army of small-time bloggers, zealous game fans and others who somehow managed to infiltrate the trade-only event. As someone who was at the first E3 in 1995 and attended every one since, Dorothy Ferguson said she believes the new format will benefit the 3,000 or so people attending.
"It kind of got away from what was important, which is really the content," said Ferguson, a vice president of sales and marketing for NCSoft Inc. "At the end you felt like a pinball in a pinball machine. It was sensory overload and it was really difficult to hear anything.
" This week's event, which runs through Friday, will focus on the industry's largest players, including No. and console makers Microsoft and Nintendo Corp. Bookmark to del.
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