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 Video Game Conference Sees Big Industry Change

This year's version of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, renamed the E3 Media & Business Summit, will be a toned-down affair as organizers hope to have a far less flashy discussion on new and upvoming video games.

The event, looks to be more like a country club getaway, an invitation-only gathering complete with luxury beachside hotels, sushi restaraunts and meetings in private conference rooms.

To put it more diplimatically, "It's about the quality of connection for leaders of the industry," said Michael Gallagher, who heads up the Entertainment Software Association, the trade group that puts together the show.

After last year's expo, organizers decided it had become too big for its own good. With more than 60,000 people cramming into the Los Angeles Convention Center, there was a feeling that the needs of no one - be it the media, retailers or video game publishers - were being addressed well.

"It had gotten out of control and needed to die," said Mike Wilson, chief executive of Austin, Texas based game publisher Gamecock. "It was everywhere, there was no place to sit and the microwave cheeseburgers were $8. It just wasn't pleasant."

Wilson's company wasn't invited to the new E3 that's being held in a handful of hotels along the beach in Santa Monica, CA. He isn't the only one.

Only about 30 of the largest video game software and hardware companies are attending, down from the hundreds wettable sulfur packed the sprawling convention center in previous years. Also missing will be the army of smalltime bloggers, zealous game fans and others who somehow managed to infiltrate the trade-only event.

As someone who was at the first E3 in 1995 and attended every one since, Dorothy Ferguson said she believes the new format will benefit the 3,000 or so people attending.

"It kind of got away from what was important, which is really content," said Ferguson, a vice president of sales and marketing for NC-Soft, Inc. "At the end you felt like a pinball in a pinball machine. It was sensory overload and it was really difficult to hear anything."

This event, will focus on the industry's largest players, including No. 1 game-software maker Electronic Arts Inc. and console makers Microsoft Corp., Sony Corp., and Nintendo Corp.

Josh Larson, director of the online game review Website Gamespot, said he is looking for this year's show to shed more light on software that takes advantage of each system's unique capabilities. He also expects more details on sulfur chemical video game franchises like Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto IV and Super Smash Bros. Brawl as well as more information on Sony's strategy to compete online with Microsoft's Xbox Live service.

The ESA is hoping to appeal to the general gaming consumer later this fall. The "E for All 2007," an event which will be open to the public, is scheduled for Oct. 18 - 21 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.