New E3 Details Announced

The Electronic Software Association is releasing new details on its pared down E3 event, which is now known as the E3 Media and Business Summit. This smaller, more focused E3 will be held July 11-13, 2007, in Santa Monica, Calif., and will combine the "best elements of the former trade show into a business event celebrating the video game industry's present and future," ESA reports.

The centerpiece of the invitation-only, three-day event will be the opportunity for both ESA members and non-members to stage major press events, and to have intimate meetings in premier hotel suites and meeting rooms with media, retailers, developer partners, and other audiences. In addition, the nearby Barker Hangar will be converted into a software showcase where attendees will be able to casually test drive the featured video games planned for the coming holiday season and beyond.

"By combining suite-based meetings with the software showcase in a controlled and business-like environment, we believe we will successfully fulfill our primary objective of giving high-level media the best of all worlds -- the chance to engage in highly personal, one-on-one dialog with leading game company executives, as well as the chance to demo games on their own time and to check out offerings from both the best known and emerging game publishers and developers," says Douglas Lowenstein, President of the ESA. "It will also provide an excellent opportunity for meetings with retailers, developers and other audiences."

The Consumer Electronics Association is considering a open, public video gaming event like E3 of old, but has yet to release the details of its plan.

For more information, visit www.theesa.com.