Rumor: E3 2009 open to the public, happening in June

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 20th 2008 at 9:05PM }

There is speculation popping up from several different places this evening that E3 2009 will be held in June at the Los Angeles Convention Center and be open to the public. G4 ran a piece this evening on X-Play (embedded after the break) that the event will be held June 2-4. N'Gai Croal of Newsweek received similar information from a source, but also adds that the event will be open to the public on June 5-6 and the event will be capped at 40,000 attendees. Both G4 and Croal claim an official E3 2009 announcement will be made tomorrow. Just to be very clear, at this point all this information is merely rumor and speculation from sources. The ESA has not made an official statement.

We contacted the ESA a few hours ago when we were only aware of the G4 piece running this evening and were informed: "There will be a 2009 E3 and we will announce the details at the appropriate time." At the time the ESA said it had no idea what information G4 was planning to reveal and hadn't commented on the piece.

We've contacted the ESA for any official statement and will update as soon as we receive it.

Update: Croal has amended his piece to say that the E3 weekend dates, set aside for the public, "may have been incorrect."

Source - E3 2009 To Take Place During First Week of June, Be Open To the Public, Attendance Capped At 40,000 [Newsweek]
Source - E3 Returning To Past Size And Spectacle In 2009 [G4]

Tags: e3, e3-2009, esa, g4, newsweek

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mr Khan @ Oct 20th 2008 9:11PM

Well that would be the way to encourage flagging interest in the event, and to put the spark back in it

ballistic3188 @ Oct 20th 2008 9:14PM

that would be awesome. now just get me a ticket. make that 10 need to sell some on ebay

carg0 @ Oct 20th 2008 9:24PM

g4 still broadcasting? i owe my friend five bucks...

halo 3 sucks. @ Oct 20th 2008 9:29PM

g4 still broadcasting? i couldnt give less of a flying fuck.

Mr Khan @ Oct 20th 2008 9:34PM

Their game coverage does suck, but they filled a boring sunday afternoon with Tron and Spaceballs, so i'm grateful

finnith @ Oct 20th 2008 9:38PM

I find it odd that you (h3sux) and carg0 responded in the same way within 5 minutes of each other.

Markez @ Oct 20th 2008 9:38PM

I actually enjoy xplay quite a bit, as well as the occasional goofy ninja warrior show and the like. I tivo xplay, sooooo I might have a different opinion of it if I had to sit through the whole thing.

I would consider driving up the coast for something like this, however have no idea whether it'd actually be worth attending? Maybe it'd be a boring waste of time.

Markez @ Oct 20th 2008 9:42PM

@ Finnith - Well, maybe he was just more confident in the 2nd one liner he came up with?

@ Khan - "He's an asshole too sir. Gunner's mate First Class Philip Asshole!"

NukeAssault @ Oct 20th 2008 10:53PM

Obviously its the same person. =D

Haggard @ Oct 21st 2008 9:02AM

It sometimes takes a while for comments to pop up.

But yeah, very similar comments.

Gurls Play Games 2 @ Oct 20th 2008 9:37PM

Who cares.

VicViper09 @ Oct 20th 2008 11:36PM

I do, (pause) I do.

TrojanGuy @ Oct 20th 2008 9:39PM

If true, that'd be bitchin'.

Young_Nastyman @ Oct 20th 2008 9:57PM

Washington State who? HAHA!!! TROJANS!!!

Doug @ Oct 20th 2008 10:16PM

Wow, this is big news in my opinion. Public= happy me and maybe a chance of actually going. Now I need a ticket... ballistic3188 how much you selling for :D Joystiq member discount :)

MBO @ Oct 20th 2008 10:31PM

booth babes... *drool*

markhill66 @ Oct 20th 2008 10:35PM

I'd love to go.

Saria the Cat @ Oct 20th 2008 10:51PM

I really enjoyed TGS so I'd make it a point to come to this if it were open to the public as well. Plus, I missed the last Joystiq reader meet-up... :(

tmacairjordan87 @ Oct 20th 2008 10:58PM

Alright guess I have to be the one who brings everyone back down to earth here. It's nice that you're all excited, except you seem to have forgotten what E3 has become. Would any of you sit through an E3 as bad as this year's was? It was painful enough watching it from home and if nintendo had not provided me with enough laughs and material for a year then it would have been even worse.

Mr Khan @ Oct 20th 2008 11:50PM

Well we wouldn't be sitting through their little spiels anyway, we would have access to the demo booths on the floor and suchlike which, for me, would've meant face-time with Wario Land and a shot at figuring out what the point of Wii Music was (before that was explained)

Obviously a public showing would have more interesting stuff for public hands-on time

Titanium_Orchid @ Oct 21st 2008 12:32AM

I wanna elbow Jeff Gerstman (sp?) out of a line for Killzone 2

Duke @ Oct 21st 2008 11:00AM

MS and Sony didn't do that bad, and if I recall, there are plenty of things to do at these shows besides those 3 conferences. I think it would be nice to have the show public again. If you don't like it then don't go. Those who want to go should be able to though.

vgxtremist @ Oct 20th 2008 11:49PM

Ooh, finally the vacation I've been dreaming about for a while now.

AA @ Oct 21st 2008 12:55AM

Interesting news -I emailed some suggestions to the ESA about this for E3 in 2006.

WRE @ Oct 21st 2008 1:04AM

Oh yeah? Well I emailed them about this in 2005.

Geist @ Oct 21st 2008 1:22AM

I sent the email that started E3.

Vcize @ Oct 21st 2008 10:26AM

I invented email.

&rew @ Oct 21st 2008 12:47AM

Yeah, let a horde of nerds, otakus, and cosplayers into E3, that'll make it soooo much better.

Popfrogs @ Oct 21st 2008 10:39AM

Well at least there will be signs of life if all those folks show up. This past E3 barely had a pulse. Microsoft didn't even bring shock paddles.

Geist @ Oct 21st 2008 1:23AM

While I'm a little speculative since it seems PAX has taken the reigns now, I'm still interested in going, probably will.

Anthony @ Oct 21st 2008 2:30AM

I had a friend that said he had been invited to E3 to a bunch of things that had come together. I was skeptical, but he isn't one to make up stories, and now I'm positive he was telling the truth - 3 weeks ago....

Zsavior @ Oct 21st 2008 3:36AM

Wait wait wait. I think we all agreed that the new E3 was better I mean it was about what E3 is supposed to be the Press! A professional trade summit of gaming....what does this have to do with the public. I mean those sweaty nerds and Otaku..I.I..I can't keep this up with a straight face.

Well E3 you were strutting around as if you were cock of the walk...Now you are COCk of Nothing!

Evan @ Oct 21st 2008 8:52AM

Haven't they figured it out: E3 is not needed.
- Game companies have Tokyo and Leipzig.
- American fans can go to PAX (which got more attendees than E3's proposed 40k cap).

Sansphillipthe3rd @ Oct 21st 2008 9:12AM

I wouldn't be caught dead at PAX. PAX is pure shit compared to E3. Plus E3 is in LA, and I live here so...yeah.

Sansphillipthe3rd @ Oct 21st 2008 9:14AM

plus I have been to e3 4 years in a row and I'm glad it's finally back. I do however hope there is an age limit on top of the 40k limit. The 40k limit is weird because E3 used to house over 64k people.

azuravian @ Oct 21st 2008 9:48AM

How are you able to compare two things if you've only ever experienced one of them. You yourself said you wouldn't be caught dead at PAX, so you can't have experienced it to know how it compares to E3.

Al Gore @ Oct 21st 2008 12:07PM

Well I invented the internet!

j.howlett @ Oct 21st 2008 1:10PM

i still think it should go back to May, but more distance from comicon is good. it was frustrating hearing what boiled down to this is are game more details in a couple of weeks. i think games have a place at comicon but i look at that coverage for comics and movies.

CJLopez @ Oct 21st 2008 4:33PM

Starting to save right this momment!!!!!!!!!!!

pete @ Oct 25th 2008 1:46AM

Richard Taylor of ESA confirmed that E3 2009 will be happeing in June 2009 but will NOT be open to the public.

In fact this time there will be specific criteria for the non repeat members of the previous closed e3 for the extra press and production companies to be included for first time attendence at the 2009 event.