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ESA Officially Announces "Evolution" of E3 Expo (aka: cancelled! *wink*)

mcdonnell

Member
Entertainment Software Association Announces Evolution of E3Expo for 2007
Monday July 31, 1:46 pm ET

WASHINGTON, D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 31, 2006--To better address the needs of today's global computer and video game industry, the 2007 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3Expo) is evolving into a more intimate event focused on targeted, personalized meetings and activities, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced today.

"The world of interactive entertainment has changed since E3Expo was created 12 years ago. At that time we were focused on establishing the industry and securing orders for the holiday season," said Douglas Lowenstein, President of the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers and the owner of E3Expo. "Over the years, it has become clear that we need a more intimate program, including higher quality, more personal dialogue with the worldwide media, developers, retailers and other key industry audiences."

The new E3Expo will take shape over the next several months. As currently envisioned, it will still take place in Los Angeles, described by ESA as a "great and supportive partner helping to build E3." It will focus on press events and small meetings with media, retail, development, and other key sectors. While there will be opportunities for game demonstrations, E3Expo 2007 will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years.

"E3Expo remains an important event for the industry and we want to keep that sense of excitement and interest, ensuring that the human and financial resources crucial to its success can be deployed productively to create an exciting new format to meet the needs of the industry. The new event ensures that there will be an effective and more efficient way for companies to get information to media, consumers, and others," said Lowenstein.

Additionally, the evolution of the video game industry into a vibrant and expanding global market has led to the creation of major events in different regions, such as the Games Convention in Leipzig, the Tokyo Game Show, and company-specific events held by Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, and others around the world. As a result, Lowenstein said, "It is no longer necessary or efficient to have a single industry 'mega-show.' By refocusing on a highly-targeted event, we think we can do a better job serving our members and the industry as a whole, and our members are energized about creating this new E3."

Additional details about the new E3Expo event will be forthcoming in the next few months.

The ESA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. ESA members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the $7 billion in entertainment software sales in the U.S. in 2005, and billions more in export sales of entertainment software. For more information about the ESA, please visit www.theESA.com.


Contact:

Entertainment Software Association (ESA)
Stacey Wade, 202-223-2400
swade@theesa.com

Source: Entertainment Software Association (ESA)
 
Kobun Heat said:
in other words: cancelled!

For industry types and Kobuns: SO AWESOME/spanuuund/etc.

For mouth-breathers and groundlings like us (and sub-groundlings who couldn't even ****ing get into E3 like me): noooooo
 

mollipen

Member
the year 20XX said:
For industry types and Kobuns: SO AWESOME/spanuuund/etc.

I'm an "industry type," and I loved E3. Yeah, it was hot, noisy, crowded, and so on, but that added to the atmosphere. I'm sure one will be able to get more work done under the new E3, but I'll miss what we had.

(That said, though, the first three hours where most people weren't allowed into the show yet were bliss.)
 
Who's to say that you guys won't still get all your E3 excitement over the interwebs? There will probably still be press conferences and shit -- it just won't be dressed in the billion-dollar glitz of a "trade show".
 

Amir0x

Banned
Kobun Heat said:
Who's to say that you guys won't still get all your E3 excitement over the interwebs? There will probably still be press conferences and shit -- it just won't be dressed in the billion-dollar glitz of a "trade show".

all it means for me is... tiny summary thread! Hurray :D
 
Kobun Heat said:
Who's to say that you guys won't still get all your E3 excitement over the interwebs? There will probably still be press conferences and shit -- it just won't be dressed in the billion-dollar glitz of a "trade show".

It's not that... it's just that there's even less chance now that I'll ever get to go. I know E3 is old hat for a lot of you guys, but going was kind of a huge goal for me.

I still love E3 week on the internet, though.
 

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
I'm going to try buying the E3 name, now that ESA has already spit and curb stomped it, it's value will probably be about $100 by the same time next year


E3 is the only one real time of year that a majority of fans of the medium watch / keep track of.

What ESA did to E3... is like changing the academy awards into a private show where instead of oscars they give gold stickers.

E3 is a guage, and it is something that makes developers keep their shit together instead of slacking off. Hasn't anyone been paying attention to how much higher quality games were being made as opposed to 10 years ago? E3 was a huge reason for that rise in quality.

Now it's just a meeting, nothing special. I'm surprised there's not a lot more people furious about this, to be honest.
 

jj984jj

He's a pretty swell guy in my books anyway.
I'm gald it's being scaled back, there is never enough time to cover everything.
 

fallout

Member
DopeyFish said:
E3 is a guage, and it is something that makes developers keep their shit together instead of slacking off. Hasn't anyone been paying attention to how much higher quality games were being made as opposed to 10 years ago? E3 was a huge reason for that rise in quality.
Yes, because swag, booth babes and flashy shit are an excellent gauge for quality.
 

Archer

Member
mcdonnell said:
Entertainment Software Association Announces Evolution of E3Expo for 2007
Monday July 31, 1:46 pm ET

WASHINGTON, D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 31, 2006--To better address the needs of today's global computer and video game industry, the 2007 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3Expo) is evolving into a more intimate event focused on targeted, personalized meetings and activities, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced today.

"The world of interactive entertainment has changed since E3Expo was created 12 years ago. At that time we were focused on establishing the industry and securing orders for the holiday season," said Douglas Lowenstein, President of the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers and the owner of E3Expo. "Over the years, it has become clear that we need a more intimate program, including higher quality, more personal dialogue with the worldwide media, developers, retailers and other key industry audiences."

The new E3Expo will take shape over the next several months. As currently envisioned, it will still take place in Los Angeles, described by ESA as a "great and supportive partner helping to build E3." It will focus on press events and small meetings with media, retail, development, and other key sectors. While there will be opportunities for game demonstrations, E3Expo 2007 will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years.

"E3Expo remains an important event for the industry and we want to keep that sense of excitement and interest, ensuring that the human and financial resources crucial to its success can be deployed productively to create an exciting new format to meet the needs of the industry. The new event ensures that there will be an effective and more efficient way for companies to get information to media, consumers, and others," said Lowenstein.

Additionally, the evolution of the video game industry into a vibrant and expanding global market has led to the creation of major events in different regions, such as the Games Convention in Leipzig, the Tokyo Game Show, and company-specific events held by Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, and others around the world. As a result, Lowenstein said, "It is no longer necessary or efficient to have a single industry 'mega-show.' By refocusing on a highly-targeted event, we think we can do a better job serving our members and the industry as a whole, and our members are energized about creating this new E3."

Additional details about the new E3Expo event will be forthcoming in the next few months.

The ESA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. ESA members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the $7 billion in entertainment software sales in the U.S. in 2005, and billions more in export sales of entertainment software. For more information about the ESA, please visit www.theESA.com.


Contact:

Entertainment Software Association (ESA)
Stacey Wade, 202-223-2400
swade@theesa.com

Source: Entertainment Software Association (ESA)

Hm.
 

Variable

Member
I for one am very excited about the whole thing. If anything, this means we will see higher quality video’s where you can hear the sound and people are not walking in front of the camera. On the downside, developers may choose to withhold more videos of their games until specific times during the show, or even later, after the show.
 

Elios83

Member
I don't think a lot will change.
Sony,MS and Nintendo will continue to have their press conferences even if it's not called 'E3 conference' anymore and the big publishers will organize their own events if they think the time is right to show their titles.
There were already signals of this situation at E3 2006.Sony organized everything from their Culver City studios,press conference and playable demos for the press (although there still was a huge booth on the E3 showfloor), Capcom had a no show, EA was concerned that their shitty games didn't capture the attention because there were too many good games nearby.
Something was going wrong :D :)
 
so basically, there is nothing 'big' to look forward to every year?

weak.

well, at least GAF won't slow to a crawl next may...

i should have went when i had the chance, but i always said "maybe next year" instead...

oh well...
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
So you could look at it like, "Oh, E3 is cancelled" or you could be smart and realize,

"OMG KENTIA HALL HAS FINALLY WON!"
 

Azelover

Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
G4life98 said:
good luck getting mainsream press with this "intimate" event :lol

Yeah, and not that many people are gonna be able to attend it either. Compared to how it was with previous E3s I wonder how many journalists will actually get to go, as a result of this probably a lot less big things are gonna be surfacing there aswell.
 

Zenith

Banned
While there will be opportunities for game demonstrations, E3Expo 2007 will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years.

no booths, less playable demos, E3 sucks.

Save us, TGS, you're our only hope.
 

TheWolf

Banned
i know people bitch about the madness of e3 and blah blah blah, but it's sad to see it go.

i'll miss the excitement and spectacle of it all.
 

Suerte

Member
Sounds good, I'd rather have more smaller/specific events spaced around the year than the annual blowing of the load in May.
 

mcdonnell

Member
When you think about it, this year both Sony and MIcrosoft held events after their press conferences. Microsoft did a hands-on event at the Roosevelt Hotel and Sony let journalists play PS3 games right after its press conference.

So maybe we will still see the "big 3" press conferences in 2007 with their own "hands on" events after. (No need for a big trade-show booth).
 

Razoric

Banned
sounds like they are dropping the trade show shit and cutting out the mass of kiddies trying out unfinished games.... sounds good to me.

have press conferences, have private showings and put demos on XBL and I'll be happy :D
 

element

Member
Suerte said:
Sounds good, I'd rather have more smaller/specific events spaced around the year than the annual blowing of the load in May.
but who gets invited to these events? 10 maybe 20 people? I have been to these events, and they are just you scratch my back, i'll scratch yours while you wine and dine me in some posh hotel. Major press doesn't report on these events because no one cares about one single game, and even the larger ones like EA's recent event didn't get anything from the AP.

I'm happy that smaller sites, who mostly work extremely hard for their stories, had a place to work their magic. And now we don't have that access, because companies are going to restrict as much as possible. no filming at the event, here is your 3 screenshots, you can only write about this character, and only this mission.
 

G4life98

Member
alot of the insider journos may love this, but it gives a crappy impression of an industry that cant get its shit together for just one big show a year.

they should just rejoin the CES show...now that would be great.
 
okay sorry i'm sad about not getting to go to the thing i wanted to go to

guess i should refrain from havin' those pesky opinions

I already knew my opinion didn't matter... I just thought it would be okay for me to express it on GAF.

I hate today.
 
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