Yesterday, our sister site Next Generation broke anexclusive news story that the Entertainment Software Association was effectively canceling the mega-format of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, otherwise known as E3.
The cancellation was due to a number of major publishers pulling out of the deafening annual Los Angeles spectacle. Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony Computer Entertainment America and Electronic Arts all called it quits after the May 2006 event. The simultaneous mass exodus of the majors served to permanently defang the prohibitively expensive affair.
This morning the ESA was prompted to announce that the E3 show would go on, but with a much smaller footprint, called "the new E3Expo".
We don't know what that means, but it likely spells a sharp downturn for purveyors of ear plugs, short shorts and flesh-colored eye candy.
Be sure to go toNext Gen for further feature coverage of the reasons surrounding E3's collapse.
July 31, 2006
