Well, this is the official announcement that the ESA issued today.
Quote:
The new E3Expo will focus on press events and small meetings with media, retail, development, and other key sectors. While there will be opportunities for game demonstrations, E3Expo 2007 will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years.
"E3Expo remains an important event for the industry and we want to keep that sense of excitement and interest, ensuring that the human and financial resources crucial to its success can be deployed productively to create an exciting new format to meet the needs of the industry. The new event ensures that there will be an effective and more efficient way for companies to get information to media, consumers, and others," said Lowenstein.
Additionally, the evolution of the video game industry into a vibrant and expanding global market has led to the creation of major events in different regions, such as the Games Convention in Leipzig, the Tokyo Game Show, and company-specific events held by Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, and others around the world. As a result, Lowenstein said, "It is no longer necessary or efficient to have a single industry 'mega-show.' By refocusing on a highly-targeted event, we think we can do a better job serving our members and the industry as a whole, and our members are energized about creating this new E3."
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I'm really looking forward to the changes they're going to make, and I do think that in the grand scheme of things that the move is a beneficial one. While I do agree that E3, being one of the largest entertainment expos in the world, was a great way for the industry as a whole to attain the recognition and media buzz necessary to bring video games into a more "general audience" perspective, it still contained a very flashy, very "core gamer" type of appearance in its grandeur, and in the long run I think we can get more out of E3 with this new method.