The news can be found here and here.
Taken from the first article:
"Sources said that rather than fill the 540,000 square feet of the cavernous LACC, the show will take place at a location that would support exhibitors in meeting room space only, with companies showing their wares to a select group of attendees numbering in the hundreds rather than thousands"
I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I can see wcutting down on ballooning costs, since the big companies funding the event can pay for their own advertising anyhow and this way they won't have to scream over the other media blitzes happening in the same building. It also frees up resources now that there’s not a demo that they must put out by the E3 date which puts a strain on the developer’s budget and time. There’ll be a meeting-room only version which seems more focused, saner and will allow for more in-depth coverage.
On the other hand they already have those kind of press conferences all the time, all year round, and they're hardly filled with spectacle. I’ll miss the circus atmosphere, the ridiculous torrents of information gleefully reported by lucky-enough-to-go journalists and the new footage at websites to drool over. And smaller game studios, who probably benefited the most, will have to spend more money on advertising now that they won’t be covered over the 3-day extravaganza.
Also, admittedly, there goes my dreams of making it out to E3 somehow, someway, one year. Sniff. |
