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The Electronic Entertainment Expo or E₃, commonly known as E3, is an annual trade show for the computer and video games industry presented by the Entertainment Software Association. It is only open to game industry professionals, journalists, and guests of exhibitors, such as celebrities. As of 2007, E₃ will be invitation-only, meaning that instead of around 60,000 people at E₃ there will only be 5,000. The reason for this change is to allow for a more intimate atmosphere where business will be emphasized.

E₃ was previously held in the third week of May of each year at the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC) in Los Angeles. In 2007, the show will be held in Santa Monica, California from July 11 to July 13. The Expo was held in Atlanta for two years during the late 1990s, during which attendance plummeted. The ESA said that over 70,000 people attended the show in 2005.

Many video game developers show off their upcoming games and game-related hardware at the event, The independent "Game Critics Awards" have been given to "Best of E₃" games in various categories since 1998.

The Game Developers Conference is another yearly milestone for developers held in the spring each year in San Jose or San Francisco, California, and generally billed as an educational conference for game developers, while E₃ is primarily a showcase, aimed at the press and retailers.

On July 31, 2006, it was announced that the expo would be downsized and restructured and on October 13, 2006 the new format of the show was detailed. Essentially, the E₃ "Trade Show" was replaced with a much lower-key and inaccessible event or series of events known as the E3 Media and Business Summit. 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, E₃ 2007 will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years.^[1]

Contents 1 Schedule 2 History 3 Layout 3.1 Show floor 3.2 Concourse Hall and lobbies 3.3 South Hall 3.4 Kentia and Petree Halls 3.5 West Hall 4 Online scheduling system 5 Media coverage 6 E3 change fallout 7 Spiritual successor to E3 8 References 9 See also 10 External links

[edit] Schedule

The revamped show will consist of "suite-based meetings with the software showcase in a controlled and business-like environment" as well as a daily luncheon conference session with top executives and/or analysts and a Serious Games showcase according to Doug Lowenstein, President of the ESA.

Previously, E₃ happened on a week-long schedule that only slightly varied from year to year, making it easier for attendees. At the LACC, the ‘Conference Program’ normally ran from Tuesday to Thursday, while the main attraction, the expo, opened its doors on Wednesday.

Many of the big players (Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony) had their press conferences on the Monday and Tuesday of the week of E₃. Generally, large-scale events were held at rented-out hotels or the amphitheater within Los Angeles County and were usually invite-only – Sony, for example, had hosted pre-E₃ press events in the Sony Pictures Studio in Culver City. The large console makers were known to make large announcements during these events and unveil products on the show floor.

The conference program was meant for game publishers and developers to discuss the development of the industry. Conferences generally happened behind closed doors on the second floor of the LACC, away from the eyes of the public. Wednesday started the three days of the exposition (designated Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3).

This was when the attendees got to move around the floors. Friday was the shortest day, ending two hours earlier. In 2006, only those with early access (exhibitors and pre-approved media) were allowed on the showfloor before 11am on opening day of the expo.

[edit] History

Main article: [[History of E₃|History of E₃]]

Prior to E₃ , most game developers went to other trade shows to display new products, including the Consumer Electronics Show and the European Computer Trade Show.

The first E₃ was put on by the Interactive Digital Software Association (now the Entertainment Software Association). It coincided with the start of a new generation of consoles, with the release of the Sega Saturn, and the announcements of upcoming releases of the Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Virtual Boy and SNK's Neo*Geo CD. Specifications for the Nintendo Ultra 64 (later renamed the N64) were released, but there was no hardware shown.

The event ran from May 11 through May 13 of 1995 in Los Angeles, California. Keynote speakers included Sega of America, Inc. president and CEO Thomas Kalinske; Sony Electronic Publishing Company president Olaf Olafsson; and Nintendo chairman Howard Lincoln.

After the 2006 show, it was decided to downsize the event in order to focus more on the business aspect of the show and less on extravagant floor demonstrations.

[edit] Layout

The show will be housed by suites and meeting rooms in numerous hotels in the Santa Monica area which are reportedly within walking distance of each other. The Barker Hangar will be used for showcasing software.

[edit] Show floor

When held in Los Angeles, the show was exhibited over five halls: Kentia, Petree, South Hall, Concourse Hall, and the West Hall. Booth space was purchased ahead of time by publishers. Some publishers, in turn, spent millions of dollars creating elaborate displays and structures to accommodate the promotion of their bigger titles.

While E₃ was noted as being noisy and busy, sound levels are not what they once were; in recent years (2005, 2006), publishers like EA have kept their sound down compared to years directly before. At one point, sound levels would fluctuate as exhibitors raised the volume to compete with near by stands. Shouting was common at some stands. Meanwhile, in 2006, when attendance was down to 10,000, according to the organizers, it was a planned move as industry accreditation was stringently checked.

Booth babes were deployed specifically to promote various games. There was a wide spread misconception that ‘booth babes’ were to be banned from E₃ 2006 and future events – this was incorrect, however, guidelines were set in place regarding how they are dressed. The enforcement of the rules was at the discretion of the event organizers.

Different booths would also invite celebrities over for signings for their specific games. For 2004, Activision brought in Stan Lee and Tony Hawk to promote X-Men Legends and Tony Hawk's Underground 2 respectively while Vivendi Universal brought in Vin Diesel to promote his new game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, a prequel to the summer 2004 film. Celebrities were generally only available for a few hours, so line-waiting was a general practice at E₃.

[edit] Concourse Hall and lobbies

The external apparatus that connects the bigger halls is the Concourse Hall and subsequently, the West Hall and South Hall lobbies. The lobbies were used for registration, picking up badges and badge holders, and other general information. Bag stands and the daily magazine were available in the lobbies. The lobbies were also the signature glass structures of the LACC and were massive structures.

The Concourse Hall generally featured four booths and a few media outlets as well as the Into the Pixel game art exhibition started at E₃ 2004. The Concourse Hall was generally used as a link between both lobbies and featured a window display with a beautiful view of downtown Los Angeles.

[edit] South Hall

The largest hall of the LACC and the largest exhibition space by default. Microsoft and many of the largest Western developers from North America and Europe generally found their homes here.

[edit] Kentia and Petree Halls

The second smallest and smallest halls respectively. The Petree hall was the indefinite home to Atari and Midway's massive booths. The Kentia Hall was generally used by smaller developers who couldn't afford the hefty fees of having a booth 'topside'. As a result, the look of the Kentia hall at E₃ was similar to that of a bazaar.

[edit] West Hall

The West Hall was used by the biggest publishers from Asia. Nintendo and Sony's booths are normally located here. The West Hall was also normally temporally home to private press rooms, and sometimes TV studios, of large gaming media outlets such as IGN, 1UP.com, GameSpy, and GameSpot.

[edit] Online scheduling system

In addition to the physical event, E₃ supports or is otherwise associated with a number of online sites. One site introduced in 2006 was E365, an online community which attendees use to pre-network and schedule meetings with one another.

[edit] Media coverage

On behalf of the organizers, Future Publishing now publishes the free official daily magazine, named in 2006 as ‘The 2006 Official Show Daily’. Previously published by Ziff Davis under "SHOWDAILY", the magazine provides news, and maps of the show floor.

On site, the event is covered by accredited journalists from around the world. Credentials are verified before the event or on-site. Once nearly completely dominated by print games journalist, the mixture now includes general and specialist TV crews, newspaper journalists, website journalists, and ‘fansite’ journalists. Many were armed with consumer-level digital video and photograph cameras.

G4 aired live coverage of E₃ 2005 and 2006 (E₃ '05 Live, E₃ '06 Live) three hours a day for 4 days in one week each year.

IGN, 1UP.com, GameSpot, as well as many other sites provided video coverage, and copies of official game trailers.

An episode of The Showbiz Show featured Andrew Daly getting live coverage from E₃.

[edit] E₃ change fallout

On July 31, 2006, the ESA announced sweeping changes would take place prior to the 2007 E₃.^[2] No longer a massive gaming expo, the event is to be downsized at the behest of industry giants such as Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Activision, and THQ. Among the changes is a modification of the name from "E₃" to "E₃ Expo," which is redundant because E₃ stands for "Electronic Entertainment Expo."

Although E₃ was originally envisioned as an expo open only to game industry professionals, it has grown in recent years to include greater numbers of bloggers and attendees who were not industry professionals.^[3] Most of these bloggers will be completely excluded from the revised event, as the ESA has announced that the new E₃ will be invitation only.^[4]

This is seen as a severe blow to smaller gaming publishers and developers, as they relied on E₃'s mass-market buzz and may have to leave the event and advertise independently if the new format becomes too exclusive, although Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade argues this is beneficial.^[5]. Also harmed is the city of Los Angeles, which experienced a huge economic boom from the influx of gamers and industry employees during the event.^[6]

Although the future support of E₃ is unclear at this point, Nintendo has stated that they will still be present at future E₃ expos. Microsoft and Sony have not yet stated their stance on the issue.^[7]

[edit] Spiritual successor to E₃

On August 8, 2006, Gen Con, LLC announced that it would be expanding its gaming exhibits to include video games. The company also stated that it would increase venue space at its Indianapolis convention and relocate its Anaheim convention to the Los Angeles Convention Center. However on January 26, 2007, Gen Con, LLC announced that it would be canceling its Anaheim show, Gen Con So Cal. The company cited a lack of growth in attendance and an increase in competing shows.

On January 5, 2007, IDG World Expo announced that the ESA had endorsed a consumer oriented successor to E₃ and will be called Entertainment for All or E for All (which replaces the GamePro Expo name). The expo will take place from 18 October through October 20, 2007 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This would allow for participating companies to sell their holiday releases to the attendees. There will be an entrance fee of USD$50 to $110, but attendance will no longer be limited to video game developers, retailers, and media.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.theesa.com/archives/2006/07/for_immediate_r.php
2. ^ http://www.e3insider.com/portal/
3. ^ http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060730-7382.html
4. ^ http://blogs.rockymountainnews.com/denver/freePlay/2006/08/the_new_e3.html#more
5. ^ http://www.penny-arcade.com/2006/07/31
6. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/pages/news/story.php?sid=6154935
7. ^ http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=18681

[edit] See also

• America's VideoGame Expo — VGXPO videogame convention held in So. California and Philadelphia
• Tokyo Game Show — Game expo held in Tokyo, Japan
• SpaceWorld — Nintendo exclusive game expo
• Consumer Electronics Show
• Game Developers Conference
• Games Convention — held in Leipzig, Germany [1]
• Penny Arcade Expo
• Executive Summit

[edit] External links

• Official E₃ site
• E365 - E₃ Online Community
• Game Critics Awards - Best of E₃
• E₃Insider news
• N-Sider.com's History of E₃
• E₃ Summary 1995 - 2004
• Game Zero magazine's E₃ 1995 Coverage and Daily Summaries
• 2006 E₃ coverage: I4U News, Ten Ton Hammer, IGN, Gamespot, Yahoo! Video Games, G4, 1UP, Joystiq, E3Coverage.com, GCCafé
• "E3 Media and Business Summit Announced"