New E3 will be in July

by Joystiq Staff { Jul 31st 2006 at 7:20PM }

GameSpot is reporting that ESA president Douglas Lowenstein has confirmed that E3 2007 will now take place in July.

After the announcement of its downsizing, GameSpot contributes an anonymous analyst saying that the new E3 will "give publishers more time to polish their holiday releases. Publishers apparently weren't pleased at rushing their schedules to have late-year releases ready for the show each May."

Now the summer drought problem is solved thanks to the kinder, gentler E3.

Tags: E3, E3 2007, E32007, New E3, NewE3

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

rubaiyat @ Jul 31st 2006 7:28PM

Though that might intersect with the Comic-Con on the Geek Calendar.

Hopefully it won't be too close together.

epobirs @ Jul 31st 2006 7:32PM

Plus there will be the fun of watching visitors collapse in the streets from heat stroke.

Lets put it in Woodland Hills. It got up to 119 F this year in July!

Ian @ Jul 31st 2006 7:32PM

Meh, now E3 is closer to TGS then GDC. I wish it would be more like June to kick off the summer. Plus thats my birthday month.

Evan @ Jul 31st 2006 7:32PM

Oh noes, this will certainly cut into G4's "this is the only thing worth watching us for annually" coverage. Maybe they'll cut their live coverage down to a mere 7 hours per day.

Cyborg771 @ Jul 31st 2006 7:40PM

Guys this is good news, now those of us with school or jobs will have less problems attending since it takes place in the summer.

Judd @ Jul 31st 2006 7:41PM

I know technically the show is only supposed to be for people in the industry, but now tons of people who couldn't go because of school can now go because it's in the summer. I go to college and because I work at a gaming store I could've gone to this year's E3. Lo' and behold I had exams that week. I'm sure there are a lot of other examples of people that couldn't go to E3 in the past in May, but could now do it in July.

omgwut @ Jul 31st 2006 7:42PM

I also think that a June date would've been a better pick, to kick the summer off.

I'm glad that the ESA is going ahead with a needed revamp of the expo, though. It was just getting out of hand, and was starting to become more of a cash-stuffed fight for studios and companies to keep their heads above the water during the show.

Evan @ Jul 31st 2006 7:49PM

This could be the push that the industry needs. As it is, E3 looks like this rowdy free for all. Having a format more like CES or more respectable and noteworthy trade events, then in the eye of the world gaming is moving on up. Sure, people are going to oppose it most likely but it's good for you. It's like Buckley's.

Paul @ Jul 31st 2006 7:50PM

So, instead of having the convention in the middle of the off-season, We'll have it while all of the developers are busy testing the hell out of their builds to make them ready for the consumer.

Pros:
- Retailers, buyers, and press will see the games in significantly more polished shape.

Cons:
- Smaller members of the industry will be too busy to come.
- All of the folks who are coming just to play the latest games will be less likely to have a scheduling conflict.

Hopefully people in retail will be by invitation only. And not everyone with a website address will be able to get "press" access.

james f. @ Jul 31st 2006 8:02PM

If they just brought it back to vegas, before e3 there was a rather awesome video game sideshow at CES in january, they wouldn't have to worry about 250k+ socal eb employees showing up.

dsub @ Jul 31st 2006 8:04PM

Cool...this will actually give me something to look forward to during the summer, being that there are literally NO good games that come out around this time...

One would think that someone would catch on to the fact that from the months of April/May until August there are little ZERO top-notch titles that hit the market. While I understand XMAS is the time when everyone's spending...a good, well known game would certainly sell well during the summer...when the amount of competition is literally non-existent.

GSI @ Jul 31st 2006 8:05PM

"because I work at a gaming store I could've gone to this year's E3."

Not necessarily...they cracked down quite a bit of the "part time" people who work at game stores or retailers (such as Best Buy, etc.) that sell games. They only really allowed head managers, district managers, etc. and those that made purchasing decisions for the stores.

Hell I had friends that are studying to earn degrees to work in the game industry get denied.

Personally I think it worked and it was kind of nice not having to push through a bunch of pimply faced kids who have no real purpose being there.

...and if it interferes with Comic-Con...pfft who cares.

enbob89 @ Jul 31st 2006 8:06PM

I liked it when E3 was in May because it was the treat after my AP tests.

bill pullman @ Jul 31st 2006 8:07PM

now if they can just cut out the booth-sluts and the "swag" (ugh!), maybe E3 could begin to be taken seriously, and actually become useful to the industry.

Pirate @ Jul 31st 2006 8:54PM

Screw E3, Bring something new and something that the public can go to and not just the press and special people.

Eric @ Jul 31st 2006 9:04PM

July blows. Then again, its now smack dab in the middle of my summer.

Jeff @ Jul 31st 2006 9:13PM

"I know technically the show is only supposed to be for people in the industry, but now tons of people who couldn't go because of school can now go because it's in the summer."

Go to what??

Some of you are *still* not getting it. THERE IS NO MORE E3. At least not the way you're thinking about it. There is no more "show floor". All of the guests will be invited by the publishers and the ESA. There is not going to be an 80,000-strong crowd again. You'll be lucky if 5,000 people get in, and there's not going to be anything to see that isn't behind closed doors.

I've been to tons of trade shows in various industries, both for work and not, including all of the big game shows. I know exactly what E3 is going to be like in the future because I've been to music industry conventions exactly like what the ESA is describing. It'll be held in a hotel, and the largest hall rented will be for the keynotes and that'll seat probably 2,000 people. Everything else will be in smaller banquet halls or private rooms. A lot of press events in the game industry are already handled this way; this is just going to be an attempt to consolidate some of it.

You need to get this idea out of your head that a) you could ever actually get in to the new E3 (that was half the point in ditching the old format), and b) that there is anything left you'd even want to attend to begin with.

Disposable Hero @ Jul 31st 2006 9:36PM

Jesus Christ, now I dont have to wait 12 months for the next E3, I have to wait 14 months.

Tom @ Jul 31st 2006 9:40PM

@Paul

You said, "All of the folks who are coming just to play the latest games will be less likely to have a scheduling conflict"

How is that a Con? Please explain.

menu @ Aug 1st 2006 12:13AM

aww...i liked it in May...it helped me not pay attention in school...plus its my birthday month...

Judd @ Aug 1st 2006 4:18AM

GSI:
I had a part-timer who worked in my store that got to go to the past like 7 E3's, so I'm pretty sure I would've been able to go if I was available.

Jeff:
You're right, there's no way I would be able to go next year, if they are only allowing 5,000 or so people in.

But doesn't this prove Pirates point even more? That we need something where the public can go to. I live in New Jersey and I went to the Javits Center in New York City this past September because they promised we'd see the latest in video games. It was mostly all electronics, IPOD crap, and the only time we saw anything involving next-gen besides the trailers for XBOX 360 launch titles, was when a guy went on stage and demonstrated how to play Joust on XBLA. But really I can't think of anything else bigger than that available to the public outside of North America. If they have a little convention for the public for one day in major cities(New York, Miami, Chicago, L.A.), where they basicly show the same things in each city, then it wouldn't have to be that all the people that need to go to E3 has to go to all these shows. It could be spread out. Maybe they'll even be some gasp...casual gamers.

TestType @ Aug 1st 2006 5:12AM

July is a much better time, I'm tired of worrying about messing up my final exams in May every year because I can't tear myself away from the E3 coverage.

And because 99% of the time none of the games at E3 come out over the summer anyway, so if companies to hold their announcements and media until this new E3 comes along in July that means we won't have as long a wait for these titles to come out.