E3 Cancelled For Next Year And Beyond...

[FeelTheFORCE]

http://www.gametab.com/news/635240/

 

Next-Gen has the scoop: Doug Lowenstein, the president of the Entertainment Software Association is expected to announce within the next 48 hours that E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the definitive video games show, has been cancelled. Industry sources have told Next-Gen that the reasoning behind this move is primarily one of cost versus return. Publishers aren't getting the media attention that they expect from the large amounts of cash that they're putting down to exhibit at the show.

 

Apparently publishers believe that the multi-million dollar budgets allocated to E3 would be better used on smaller, specific shows where publishers get all the limelight. There's the possibility of a smaller show taking place in May next year, but as Next-Gen puts it, "it's clear that the days of an industry event attended by all the major publishers, spending big money, are gone."

[TheArchfiend]

I dont understand that article at all. I thought E3 was in a league of it's own for all attention and media coverage it gets. Whatever.

 

I guess the industry feels it can fair better by having smaller trade shows that are not joint ventures by many companies. Whatever.

 

Whatever.

 

Well, I used to look forward to E3 each year, I guess not anymore. But nothing is etched in stone yet.

[Hercules]

E3? Error on the first basemen?

 

Oh, nevermind.

[Homer]

E3 was awesome and all, but the big names always own E3.

 

Besides, theres a rumor floating about of E3 coming back, but in a much smaller form. It would be like Kentia Hall, really, only small and obscure developers and companies that don't make systems.

 

Oh well, this means Nintendo is going to do another SpaceWorld event soon!

[robbalvey]

Another story:

http://next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3538&Itemid=2

 

Certainly makes my life a lot easier in April and May!

 

--Robb

[Wes]

I never thought I'd see the day where I had to lock one of Robb's threads.

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27429

 

USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION!!

 

edit: I merged Robb's thread with the older one.

[YoshiFan]

I think they should follow the way Japan does it and have shows that are open to the public. I think with the Tokyo Game Expo, 1 day is for media only and the other 2 days are for fans and maybe media as well.

 

There definetly seems to be a demand for it. There was a local video game expo in my area last fall that wasn't a trade show but more like a expo. Red Octane was there demonstrating In The Groove and Guitar Hero with tournaments. There was also a GameCrazy stand promoting some deal they had going on (it was for classic games and they had tubs of the games you could buy right at the expo with the deal), vintage gaming setups and arcade machines etc. It was jammed packed and Guitar Hero had about a 25 minute wait (nothing compared to E3 lines but not bad for a small local type expo).

[Sean Menefee]

This was posted on the front page of yahoo news today:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060731/tc_nm/media_videogames_e3_dc

 

Video game industry to downsize E3 trade show

 

By Lisa Baertlein Mon Jul 31, 7:01 PM ET

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Entertainment Software Association said on Monday it will pare down and refocus its Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3Expo) trade show at the urging of game publishers who are moving to new video game consoles.

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The success of new games and devices can be made or broken at the annual E3Expo, which is the biggest and most influential conference for an industry that rivaled Hollywood box office revenue with U.S. sales of nearly $13 billion last year.

 

E3Expo will continue to be a showcase for new games and consoles, but will have a more intimate and targeted format, said ESA president Douglas Lowenstein.

 

"The world of interactive entertainment has changed since E3Expo was created 12 years ago," Lowenstein said. "It is no longer necessary or efficient to have a single industry 'mega-show."'

 

The show, which turns a profit, is an overwhelming extravaganza of light, sound and over-the-top marketing that includes hiring attractive models to work as "booth babes." Some 60,000 people turned out for the 2006 show in May.

 

ESA is not privy to the number of deals forged at the event.

 

The original intent of the E3Expo was to raise the profile of the industry and to foster relationships between game makers and retailers. As the industry has grown and matured, numerous niche trade shows have sprung up, catering to different aspects of the now-mainstream entertainment product.

 

E3Expo's new format, which Lowenstein said has the unanimous backing of ESA's board, will be less disruptive to studio development schedules, while offering publishing teams the chance to have more personal and effective meetings, according to one large game maker that asked not to be named.

 

Game demonstrations will still be part of the down-sized show, which will stay in Los Angeles but be moved to different venues around the city from its former home at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

[robbalvey]

^ Yeah, it's kind of like a nice way of saying.... "it's gone"

 

--Robb

[OzCatter]

Nintendo said it'd be there next year.

 

What I think is that they should give it a rest, as it became more of a spectacle then it was a electronics show. Retool it to it's original format(yes, without the booth babes, sorry guys) and give it another try in say 5 years