In this world, there’s the mild and overall conventional convention called the Electronic Entertainment Expo Media and Business Summit. An invite-only affair where some games are announced, some aren’t and almost always some one or the other walks away disappointed. However, not even half a decade ago, there was E3 – a tempest of booze, booth babes and gaming unleashed – one apparently set to return in 2009 in its truest form.
After the debacle that was E3 2008, ShackNews reports that E3 2009 will go back to the basics and loosen restrictions on crowd to allow “tens of thousands” of attendees expected to enter over June 2nd to 4th at the LA Convention Center. As presenter X-Play presenter Blair Herter on their recent episode stated:
“The old E3 is making a comeback. A broader range of industry guests will be invited. While [the] event won’t technically be open to the pubic with ticket sales, this does mean that more people will have a shot at attending, and yes, I’m talking about you.”
Herter also stated that an announcement from event organizer, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) was due tomorrow and would provide more info on the event. Oddly enough, a conflicting article written by N’Gai Croal on NewsWeek states that attendance for E3 would be capped at 40,000. As an anonymous source in the report stated,
“It was a long journey to get there, politically… After vehemently opposing a bigger show three years ago – to now go back to the board, admit a mistake, and advocate for a bigger show. It reflects well on the organization and the board to recognize they made a mistake and, regardless of how it would look publicly, go ahead and fix it.”
Will there still be 2 days – July 5th and 6th – allotted separately to the public for play, for which tickets would be made available? Still no news on that front, as well as whether the booth babes of glorious E3 past will be making a comeback.
According to the same unknown source though, one of the stronger supporters for a bigger show was none other than one of the four pillars of event power itself, Electronic Arts. While EA remains suitably upbeat, the source states, “The [big] three positions are opposed, indifferent and mildly supportive – not going to say which is which – to adding a consumer show on the back of the media and business summit.” Your guess as to their identities (*cough*NintendoSonyMicrosoft*cough*) is as good as ours.
After the all-around beating that E3 2K8 took from noted pundits, you have to wonder if this is the route to its revival and into the good backs of gamers. Stay tuned for more updates as the ESA makes clear its intentions.
Image Courtesy: CNET.com.au
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