14 DAY TRIAL // Gaming, as has been the case with many other branches of the entertainment industry, has had a cult-like following for quite some time. This massive number of fans and gamers from all across the world have sometimes gathered to watch companies unveil their new titles or future ones, thus taking part in fully-pledged conferences.
Among them, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 as it was known, was a few years ago one of the biggest, most extravagant and over-the-top conferences in all North America.
It was the place where companies battled one another to have the biggest stand, boasting new announcements and pretty booth babes to lure in the large number of gamers. Sadly, in 2007 and 2008 the E3 saw a massive cut-back, wanting to make it a business-only conference, without taking into account the lavish expenses made in former years.
Of course, such a change didn't pay off, as a lot of companies didn't want to have anything to do with the meeting, but things are going to change this year, as the ESA (Entertainment Software Association), the organizer of E3, promises to take the show back to its pre-2007 glory, and has already announced quite a lot of names from the industry that will attend it.
Now, the senior director of communications at the ESA, Dan Hewitt, has revealed to GamesIndustry.biz that the “glamor and sizzle” of former years will return to E3 this summer, when it will take place. We won't get to see the same over-the-top expenses though, as the recession is indeed impacting a lot of other companies, but things will be very interesting, Hewitt promises.
“In response to the glamor and sizzle of 2005 and 2006, there are certainly going to be components of that show. But is it going to be the over-the-top excess that you've seen in years past? No – but that goes back to learning what is manageable and what is sustainable, and hearing from attendees what it is they want, and creating something that meets their needs. It goes back to taking what was the best of the 2006 event, and what was good about 2007 and 2008, and creating something that has constituent elements.”
It definitely seems that things will be completely different this year at E3, and all that's left for us to do is wait and see what new titles will all the companies bring to the conference.