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E3 is widely considered to be the ultimate expo in the video game industry<ref>{{cite web | title = What is E3? | url = http://www.askageek.com/2006/05/06/what-is-e3/ | accessdate = May 19, 2010}}</ref> and major video game critics routinely document the event and sometimes even provide a series of E3 awards. Video game companies generally spend more on their presentations for E3 than any other convention. Major video game critics often have a "best of E3" award session (similar to end-of-year award sessions), and only E3 consistently features such awards.
E3 is widely considered to be the ultimate expo in the video game industry<ref>{{cite web | title = What is E3? | url = http://www.askageek.com/2006/05/06/what-is-e3/ | accessdate = May 19, 2010}}</ref> and major video game critics routinely document the event and sometimes even provide a series of E3 awards. Video game companies generally spend more on their presentations for E3 than any other convention. Major video game critics often have a "best of E3" award session (similar to end-of-year award sessions), and only E3 consistently features such awards.


After reaching a record attendance of 70,000 people in 2005 and 60,000 in 2006, E3 was transformed into invitation-only in 2007 and 2008. A separate conference called the [[Entertainment for All]] Expo was created to accommodate the public demand for a major, annual video game event; however, it has not been able to replicate E3's success.
After reaching a record attendance of 70,000 people in 2005 and 60,000 in 2006, E3 was transformed into invitation-only in 2007 and 2008. A separate conference called the [[Entertainment for All]] Expo was held those years to accommodate the public demand for a major, annual video game event. However, it did not replicate E3's success and was abandoned, whereas the E3 2009 returned to an open access format.


The E3 has been held in late May or early June of each year at the [[Los Angeles Convention Center]] (LACC) in [[Los Angeles]]. In 2007, the convention was exceptionally held from July 11 to July 13 in [[Santa Monica, California]].
The E3 has been held in late May or early June of each year at the [[Los Angeles Convention Center]] (LACC) in [[Los Angeles]]. In 2007, the convention was exceptionally held from July 11 to July 13 in [[Santa Monica, California]].

Revision as of 18:49, 8 September 2010

Electronic Entertainment Expo
StatusActive
GenreMulti-genre
VenueVaries
Location(s)Varies
CountryUnited States
Inaugurated1995
Attendance40,000+ (industry registration only) 1995–2006, 2009–present
3,000–5,000 (invite only) 2007–2008
Organized byEntertainment Software Association
Filing statusNon-profit
Websitehttp://e3expo.com/

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, commonly known as E3, is an annual trade show for the computer and video games industry presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It is used by many video game developers to show off their upcoming games and game-related hardware.

E3 is widely considered to be the ultimate expo in the video game industry[1] and major video game critics routinely document the event and sometimes even provide a series of E3 awards. Video game companies generally spend more on their presentations for E3 than any other convention. Major video game critics often have a "best of E3" award session (similar to end-of-year award sessions), and only E3 consistently features such awards.

After reaching a record attendance of 70,000 people in 2005 and 60,000 in 2006, E3 was transformed into invitation-only in 2007 and 2008. A separate conference called the Entertainment for All Expo was held those years to accommodate the public demand for a major, annual video game event. However, it did not replicate E3's success and was abandoned, whereas the E3 2009 returned to an open access format.

The E3 has been held in late May or early June of each year at the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC) in Los Angeles. In 2007, the convention was exceptionally held from July 11 to July 13 in Santa Monica, California.

History

Main article: History of E3

Prior to E3, most game developers went to other trade shows to display new products, including the Consumer Electronics Show and the European Computer Trade Show.

The first E3 was conceived by IDG's Infotainment World and co-founded by the Interactive Digital Software Association (now the Entertainment Software Association). It coincided with the start of a new generation of consoles, with the release of the Sega Saturn, and the announcements of upcoming releases of the PlayStation, Virtual Boy and Neo-Geo CD. Specifications for the Nintendo Ultra 64 (later renamed Nintendo 64) were released, but there was no hardware shown.

IDSA originally asked CES for a private meeting space for game developers, but was told that they could not limit access to only invited registrants. Patrick Ferrell, CEO of IDG's Infotainment World, had sent his VP Marketing to the meeting, and hearing the result, the management team at Infotainment World immediately announced E3. Needing to insure the full backing of the industry, Ferrell then negotiated a partnership between IDG and the IDSA, who then co-produced the show for a number of years

The event ran from May 11 through May 13, 1995 in Los Angeles, California. Keynote speakers included Sega of America, Inc. president and CEO Thomas Kalinske; Sony Electronic Publishing Company president Olaf Olafsson; and Nintendo chairman Howard Lincoln. The first show was one of the largest trade show launches in history, with over 1.2 million feet of show space and over 80,000 attendees.

Layout

The 2007 show was housed in suites and meeting rooms in numerous hotels in the Santa Monica area, within walking distance of each other. The Barker Hangar was used for showcasing software.

Show floor

File:Konami at e3 2005.jpg
Konami booth 2005

When held in Los Angeles, the show was exhibited over five halls: Kentia, Petree, South Hall, Concourse Hall, and the West Hall. Booth space was purchased ahead of time by publishers. Some publishers, in turn, spent millions of dollars creating elaborate displays and structures to accommodate the promotion of their bigger titles.

While E3 was noted as being noisy and busy, sound levels are not what they once were; in recent years (2005, 2006), publishers like EA have kept their sound down compared to years directly before. At one point, sound levels would fluctuate as exhibitors raised the volume to compete with near by stands. Shouting was common at some stands. Meanwhile, in 2006, when attendance was down to 10,000, according to the organizers, it was a planned move as industry accreditation was stringently checked.

Different booths would also invite celebrities over for signings for their specific games. For 2004, Activision brought in Stan Lee and Tony Hawk to promote X-Men Legends and Tony Hawk's Underground 2 respectively while Vivendi Universal Games brought in Vin Diesel to promote his new game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, a prequel to the summer 2004 film. Celebrities were generally only available for a few hours, so line-waiting was a general practice at E3.

Concourse Hall and lobbies

Rockstar's invite-only enclosure at E3 2005

The external apparatus that connects the bigger halls is the Concourse Hall and subsequently, the West Hall and South Hall lobbies. The lobbies were used for registration, picking up badges and badge holders, and other general information. Bag stands and the daily magazine were available in the lobbies. The lobbies were also the signature glass structures of the LACC and were massive structures.

The Concourse Hall generally featured four booths and a few media outlets as well as the Into the Pixel game art exhibition started at E3 2004. The Concourse Hall was generally used as a link between both lobbies and featured a window display with a beautiful view of downtown Los Angeles.

South Hall

The largest ship of the LACC and the largest exhibition space by default.[clarification needed] Microsoft and many[weasel words] of the largest Western developers from North America and Europe generally found their homes here.[citation needed]

Kentia and Petree Halls

The second smallest and smallest ship respectively. The RMN Petree was the indefinite home to Atari and Midway's massive booths. The RMN Kentia was generally used by smaller developers who could not afford the hefty fees of having a booth 'planetside'. As a result, the look of the RMN Kentia at E3 was similar to that of a bazaar.

West Hall

The RMN "West Hall" was used by the biggest publishers from Asia. Nintendo and Sony's booths are normally located here. The RMN "West Hall" was also normally temporarily home to private press rooms. The rooms were used by TV studios, or large gaming media outlets such as IGN, 1UP.com, GameSpy, and GameSpot.

Online scheduling system

In addition to the physical event, E3 supports or is otherwise associated with a number of online sites. One site introduced in 2006 was E365 [2], an online community which attendees use to pre-network and schedule meetings with one another.

Media coverage

Many websites and blogs have a history of providing extensive coverage of E3 with live webcasts, game previews, game media and blog entries covering popular press events. Some of the more popular sites include, but are not limited to IGN, GameSpot, ScrewAttack, Kotaku, 1UP.com, GamesRadar, Machinima, GameTrailers, VGChartz and Giant Bomb.

On site, the event is covered by professional journalists from around the world. Proof of credentials are verified before the event or on-site. Originally E3 was almost entirely dominated by print games journalists, the event eventually came to include general and specialist TV crews, newspaper journalists, website journalists, and "fansite" journalists. Many of these attendees came with consumer-level digital video and photograph cameras.

The E3 press room

On behalf of the organizers, Future Publishing now publishes the free official daily magazine, named in 2006 as The 2006 Official Show Daily. Previously published by Ziff Davis under "SHOWDAILY", the magazine provides news, and maps of the show floor.

Traditionally, many of the media outlets give out Best of E3 awards in various categories. Common categories include Best of Show, Best Trailer, Best Original Game, Best PS3 Game, Best Xbox 360 Game, Best Action Game, Best Hardware, etc. Of the awards, the most prestigious is the Best of Show of the Game Critics Awards.

G4 has aired live coverage of E3 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 covering three hours a day over 4 days in the week of the event.

An episode of The Showbiz Show featured Andrew Daly getting live coverage from E3.

Company breakaways

According to Game Informer, video game companies Activision and Vivendi Games have broken away from ESA.[3][4] In an interview with Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, when asked why the company left the ESA, he stated that they "have [their] own issues that are not the industry's issues" and that they need their own executive to deal with the government instead of the ESA.[5] However Activision continues to attend and showcase its games at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009 and Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 while the other half of the company Blizzard Entertainment no longer attends the show and, instead, hosts its own event called Blizzcon.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "What is E3?". Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  2. ^ "E365". Archived from the original on 2007-10-13.
  3. ^ EA: Activision, Vivendi ESA exit shows "lack of leadership" // News // GamesIndustry.biz
  4. ^ Breaking: Activision and Vivendi discontinue ESA membership - Joystiq
  5. ^ The Cut Scene - Video Game Blog by Variety: Why Activision left the ESA

References

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=E3&oldid=383690431"