E3: R.I.P.- Farewell Geek Mecca, Booth Babes, and All Expense Paid Trip to LA

Today's sad news confirmed the rumors that rippled over the video game community during the weekend - E3 as we know it is no more.

The official bomb was dropped by the ESA (Entertainment Software Association) this morning, a decision that appears to have been made after much deliberation and feedback among many of the industry's biggest publishers and participants of the Expo. Bottom line- the cost of participants putting on a massive show, which in the past few years seems to be growing exponentially in efforts to out-do themselves and their competitors from the year prior, outweighed the benefits. Rather than a three day blowout at the LA Convention Center filled with booth babes, plasma screens, and 60,000 video geeks, the ESA plans to scale down the event to make it more intimate and less gluttonous.

Considering that going to E3 was reason #9 in calculating why I should stay at my current job vs. moving onto the new position, I'm partially happy with the announcement since I accepted the job and would most likely not be able to attend future E3 anyways. If I had decided to stay, I'd be one pissed off somebitch right now. Objectively though, the decision does make sense. Game publishers like EA spend millions of dollars each year for floor space, premiums, elaborate sets, actors, and travel expenses for employees to showcase their upcoming games...to their industry peers. It's like one big circle jerk of showing how cool you are to your friends, with hardly any big payoff to the people that matter most, the consumers- who will mostly be watching the coverage from the internet or from G4 on cable, not in person.

However, I did really look forward to the massive coverage of the event each year and the anticipated buzz of newest games, particularly in light of the new console wars among Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. It'll be interesting what scaled-down version the ESA ends up creating, and how it will change how video games will be covered throughout the year without the summer mega-event to get the main scoop.

For those already feeling the relapse of an E3-less summer in 2007, you can catch my 2006 coverage over in my Flickr gallery in the right column.