E3 2007 On Its Way

The 12 Annual Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) is coming, courtesy of The Entertainment Software Association (ESA). I went to E3 last year, is was basically pandemonium, while also really awesome. As you may have heard, the E3 expo has been revamped this year. First, the show is takiing place a full month later than usual. This is due to the fact that many developers start development on new games at the end or start of the calendar year. The extra month of development time means more complete and representative demos of games. This years E3 is precisely one week away. The show begins on Wednesday, July 11 and ends Friday, July 13th. Alot more has changed about E3 than just the date. The show is now in Santa Monica, as opposed to Los Angeles. The convention center still remains, albeit as a side note. E3 will take place in two forms: hotel suites, and the Barkar Hangar. The Barkar Hangar is more like the traditional E3, which the E3 main website describes as:

a software showcase where attendees will be able to casually test drive featured video games outside of the companies’ suites.

The company suites they mention is the new hotness, so to speak. You see, with all the insanity that E3 eventually boiled down to, publishers and advertisers didn't feel like they were getting their money's-worth in media coverage, considering the huge expense on demo development, booth rental, and game presentations. Now E3 is much more civilized, and in my opinion, for the better. Publishers now rent out hotel suites and meeting rooms where they set up their systems and demos and high-def televisions. Then, they invite all the real gaming media to come and see what they're fiscal year is all about. This way, the coverage on games will way better then ever before, as main-stream, professional media will have access and time to actually learn about and test the games we all can't wait to play.
E3 last year was more like a joke, honestly. Basically, you had your real media, magazines like GameInformer and websites like IGN and Gamespot. Then you had the other 99% of visitors, teenagers who borrow attendees cards and sneak in, or other teenagers who work for fanboy websites and end up giving the games they play no actual coverage. I'll admit, I was one of the latter teenagers last year, and it was totally worth it. But at the same time, E3 was extremely stressful, especially the waiting-in-lines-for-a-million-hours part. So now, its all good. The news pros who are serious about game coverage will be able to go to E3, with much less stress, and do they're jobs bringing back the news we're all waiting to hear.

Last, E3 has another split event that will take place in October. This is called the E for All Expo, and exactly as the title implies, it will be for anyone who wants to go. Attendees can buy tickets without having to prove they work for any media company, they can just go to have fun playing game demos and what not. That means you. This will be much more like the E3 of yore. It takes place in the LA convention center (like last year's E3) and will have booths by game publishers that people can walk around to and play. The E for All Expo takes place October 18th through 21st. You can look into buying tickets at the main site.

E3 Coverage
G4 TV
-What do you know, G4 actually does something right. Live coverage of the three main press conferences from Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony.
GameSpot
-This is GameSpot's highlight of the year, really. They pull out all the stops to give us the best event coverage on the net.
IGN
-IGN also does a great job of covering E3. They have a single comprehensive page for quick, easy access to any game info.
GameInformer
-Sure, GameInformers a magazine, and also the best. But they also have a pretty great website with a focus on interviews with developers, publishers and other members of the gaming business. They're bound to have plenty of exclusive interviews with developers come E3.
1up
-1up is also an offshoot of several gaming magazines. But that doesn'st stop it from being a top notch gaming site, albeit a bit opinionated. They also have frequent exclusives.

Other Things
Barkar Hangar Layout
Further Description of new E3
IGN Big Games List
E3 Official Site
E3 Insider Site

Press Conference Times
Microsoft
-Tuesday, July 10. 8:30 PM PST. 11:30 PM EST
Nintendo
-Wednesday, July 11. 9:00 AM PST. 12:00 Noon EST.
Sony
-Wednesday, July 11. 11:30 AM PST. 2:30 PM EST.