E3 2007 Canceled??!!

[Xhander]

I came across this bit of news at another message board I frequent..

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/30/e3...ar-and-beyond/

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."

If this is true, then it's the end of an era. I bet the people at G4TV hate this. Their E3 coverage was one of their top rating-getters.

[LiquidManZero]

Kind of makes sense. The ridiculous amount of money that was being put into E3 kept increasing every year. They must've just hit the limit on it finally...

[MathUser]

That sucks. I remember when E3 took over for CES as a show for video games. CES still exists I believe but video game publishers don't put up booths there. I wish they would just downsize the E3 or something instead of getting rid of it. Cause I liked how successful games were getting to be and stuff and having a popular show made just about them.

[LiquidManZero]

What they ought to do is if they kill it off, replace it with a public show. Not letting people who aren't in the gaming industry in is probably a bad idea at this point.

[cc]

I think closing it off to the public will lower their costs. Part of the reason they spend so much on their booths is to generate attention and draw the crowds. If it was only open to people in the industry and press, then they wouldn't have to spend all that money on advertising, since the people in the industry would most likely hit all the booths.

Either that, or keep it public and charge more to get in.

[GeoTube]

Article has misinformation inside, E3 isn't getting canceled, its just getting downsized. No more big lights, fancy booths, etc. Just basics more or less.

[LiquidManZero]

Ahh, figures.

[MathUser]

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6154953/index.html

That is some Gamespot guys talking about it. I'd rather it were this way rather than being closed all together. I think there should be an event where all the games are together.

[Foolish Mortal]

Yeah it doesn't look like they are shutting down completely. But it's not going to be the huge show it used to be anymore.