E3 scales down

THIS YEAR'S E3 is going to be a fairly quiet affair, if the exhibitor list released yesterday is anything to go by.

E3 2006 was a blow out for the show, with 400 companies exhibiting and over 60,000 people turning up to get their first play on the PS3 and the Wii. But this year, there will be just 32 exhibitors and around 3,000 attendees, according to the Entertainment Software Association.

The focus of the event is on small-scale business meetings (think hotel rooms, not stands full of booth babes) rather than on big public demonstrations. Whilst E3 was always supposed to be a trade-only event, it turned out that anybody savvy enough to register a blog could get a press pass, which rather defeated the purpose of the whole thing.

All the big names are in attendance at the new, bijou E3, including Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, Sega, Electronic Arts, Eidos, Atari, Square Enix, Take Two, etc etc etc.

It's on in July, and the amount of press coverage to come out of the event seems like it could be rather less than last year, with more 'behind closed doors' demonstrations. Stay tuned. µ