Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Min-E3 takes off, lands in Santa Monica hangarhttp://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/13/min-e3-takes-off-lands-in-santa-monica-hangar/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/13/min-e3-takes-off-lands-in-santa-monica-hangar/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/13/min-e3-takes-off-lands-in-santa-monica-hangar/#commentsFiled under: ,

After a fair bit of searching and speculation, some of the details surrounding E3's fate have finally begun to emerge from the putrid smoke and piles of debris that remained after the world's biggest games expo spectacularly imploded several months ago. James Brightman at GameDaily BIZ writes that the ESA now has a firm date and location in mind for next year's Min-E3, more seriously titled E3 Media and Business Summit -- a change from the previous and vaguely fruity E3 Media Festival.

Right, when is it taking place?

The event will take place from July 11th until July 13th, 2007.

It's not still in Los Angeles, is it?

No, it's been moved to the considerably less vile Santa Monica. Attendee mortality rates should be significantly improved. That means they'll go down ... we think.

How does Min-E3 work, exactly?

In concept, it's a smaller, more personal E3 comprised of fewer people, less extravagant spaces and more one-on-one time between the press and the latest third-person scuba-karate game. The full list of exhibitors / hotel guests has yet to be revealed, but Nintendo has already committed to showing their permanently grinning faces.

What's this about a hangar?

Well, in addition to having hotel rooms set up to demonstrate new products to the media, the ESA has obtained permission to use the nearby Barker Hangar (visit their disturbingly sterile website and take a virtual tour) as an expo show floor of sorts. With the event now being invite-only, the smaller space provided by a hangar (which may be smaller than some E3 booths we've encountered) should no longer be a cataclysmic problem.

Am ... I invited?

Probably not. ESA president, Doug Lowenstein, describes the new E3 as a series of "suite-based meetings with the software showcase in a controlled and business-like environment," meant to "successfully fulfill our primary objective of giving high-level media the best of all worlds." That doesn't sound like it includes fansites or weekend Gamestop employees.

Well, with that attitude, you won't be invited either.

Please be aware of the fact that we can end your existence with nothing but a few keystrokes. You're just an invented voice meant to organize this post's information. So shut up, okay?

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]]>Doug LowensteinDougLowensteinE3Electronic Entertainment ExpoElectronicEntertainmentExpoESAMin-E3New E3NewE3Ludwig Kietzmann2006-10-13T18:30:00+00:00E3 cancelled for next year and beyond [update 4]http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/30/e3-canceled-for-next-year-and-beyond/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/30/e3-canceled-for-next-year-and-beyond/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/30/e3-canceled-for-next-year-and-beyond/#commentsFiled under: , ,

[Update 4: The ESA has issued a press release addressing the situation. Read more here.]

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."

Check out our commentary on the cancellation at the continued link below.

Joystiq's good, the bad and the ugly commentary on E3's cancellation.

First up, the good.
  • Our jobs get easier. During E3, the Joystiq team churned out 100 posts a day over the duration of the event, but there were probably still things that we missed. If there are multiple shows throughout the year, we'll be able to cover events in more detail and breadth.
  • You, the reader, get a much more even flow of information. As one of the team members that didn't attend the show, I had a hard job keeping up with the flow of content. Now that E3 is gone, I can look forward to consuming my gaming news in smaller, easier to digest chunks.
  • More access to the public? E3 was not accessible to the public, and was a strictly over-18 trade and press show. Hopefully future shows will split the show between press/trade exclusive days and open-access days so regular consumers can try out the latest games and hardware.
  • A cooler atmosphere. E3 is was a very stressful place to be, with every booth being designed to be as loud and as bright as possible in order to attract as much attention as possible. Now that E3 is gone, publishers and developers won't have to spend so much money hiring dancers and huge booths. In other words, the games will have a chance to shine through.
  • Worldwide game shows, not just L.A? Due to the expected fragmentation that the E3 cancellation is expected to bring, we can probably expect more regional shows designed to target individual demographics in different countries.
  • More focus on indies? Independent developers either couldn't attend E3 due to the high cost, or if they did, they were drowned out by the big publishers and their massive booths.
Next up, the bad.
  • Less excitement? Like a little kid waiting for Christmas, E3 excited gamers the world across. They knew that come early May, they'd be reading about the games they'd be playing for the next year. The separate, publisher exclusive shows expected after E3 will probably mean less of this Christmas kid excitement. Or, the same excitement, but in smaller doses throughout the year.
  • Our jobs get harder. Journalists and people covering the games industry will have to travel further and more often in order to cover the gaming industry. That could mean that smaller events get less coverage as the press prioritize their travel budgets.
  • No more "big three" faceoff. One of the most entertaining parts of E3 was watching Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo try to one up each other.
  • Lots more "big three" faceoffs. Imagine a world with Nintendo Space World, Sony SUPER EVENT, and MS X-event. Doesn't sound too appealing does it?
Finally, the ugly. Or: miscellaneous commentary on the cancellation.
  • Gamespot states that this is merely a downsizing and relocation. That effectively means the same thing as a cancellation. Next year's E3 will be a shadow of a memory of previous E3s. If the ESA doesn't manage to get the big guys back on board, another organizer will step in within the next 18 months with a show that will take E3's crown as the king of gaming trade shows.
  • Don't expect any major gaming trade shows to take place next year. If the Gamestars Live/ECTS fiasco in the UK in 2004 was anything to go by, we can expect very little in the way of trade shows next year. 2008 will feature a lot of smaller, developer orientated shows, and by 2009/10 we'll be booking our tickets to go to E3's replacement.
  • In the short term, GDC is going to get big, very big. As the next biggest American gaming show after E3, expect a lot of next year's big gaming news to come out of San Fransisco.
[Update #1: added the "good" commentary, tweaked spelling. Stay tuned for "the bad and the ugly" commentary.]
[Update #2: added the "bad" commentary. Stay tuned for miscellaneous "ugly" commentary.]
[Update #3: added the "ugly" commentary.]

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]]>E3Electronic Entertainment ExpoElectronicEntertainmentExpoL.A.Los AngelesLosAngelesNext-GenNext-GenerationConrad Quilty-Harper2006-07-30T14:30:00+00:00SOLD OUT: E3 exhibit spacehttp://www.joystiq.com/2006/03/06/sold-out-e3-exhibit-space/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/03/06/sold-out-e3-exhibit-space/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/03/06/sold-out-e3-exhibit-space/#commentsFiled under: ,

E3 floor planSlacker game developers and publishers looking to showcase their products at E3 this May are out of luck. Event organizers have announced that the 540,000 square feet of floor space is officially sold out. However, attendee hopefuls still have plenty of time to sign up-which reminds us...

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]]>Electronic Entertainment ExpoElectronicEntertainmentExpoLos Angeles Convention CenterLosAngelesConventionCentertrade showTradeShowJames Ransom-Wiley2006-03-06T13:30:00+00:00