The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has announced that the new E3 Media and Business Summit will be held July 11-13, 2007, in Santa Monica, Calif. The scaled-back event will be invitation only, focused more on press events showcasing the latest in video-game software and technology.
Gone are the days of huge displays with scantily clad booth babes competing for attention with game demos on jumbo screens while gunfire and explosions blast from giant speakers and Army soldiers repel from helicopters outside. The new E3 will primarily consist of intimate meetings in premier hotel suites and meeting rooms with media, retailers, developer partners and other invited guests. In addition, the nearby Barker Hangar will be converted into a software showcase where attendees will be able to casually try out upcoming titles.
“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 dialogue 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 ESA president Douglas Lowenstein.
The expo will also feature a daily luncheon conference session with top executives and analysts, and a Serious Games showcase. ESA is exploring the idea of including an independent games showcase and keeping the highly “Into The Pixel” video game art competition and exhibition. For more information about the ESA, please visit www.theESA.com.
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