id bids ESA adieu

Wow. There has to be some reason why everyone is exutung the ESA. What if Nintendo exits? That would be 1. disastrous and 2. HILARIOUS!

They are doing it most likely because it costs money to put up a show at E3, and most likely it isn't cheap. Companies like Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and EA can afford it because they are swimming in cash, plus the downsizing last year probably pissed a lot of companies off. Paying dues for something like E3 is expensive, but it guarantees floor space, but they still have to pay all the staff, equipment etc and it becomes costly.

Well,Yeah,any company's main goal is profit.Only a Fool would run a business otherwise.

LucasArts sold out. They about money not good games.

If the real cause for the many ESA departures is the rising membership fee AS A RESULT of E3's downscaling, then downsizing E3 was arguably the worst mistake the ESA has ever made. I thought the whole point of the new E3 was for both the event's showers and organizers to save money while still giving the press the info they needed on new games. So, what happened?

ESA is fighting for our right to game. Fighting off video game restrictions across the country. Everytime a state passes a gaming restriction law the ESA swoop in to save our rights. The reason for membership fees spike is the spike in laws being passed to restrict the sale of video games. If the game companies don't back ESA then soon those laws will not be fought and our games will be censored. These gaming companies are only thinking about the money when they should be thinking about the future of the industry. I think this is a sign of developers giving up on gamers. As far as not paying your membership and still going to E3 I hope ESA tells those developers no membership no show.

This all began with the downsizing / marginalizing of E3. They should have capitalized on the growing crowd, reduced the outlandishly high booth fees , and expanded the show instead of cutting back. They made themselves less relevant by cutting back, and exposed themeselves as stiiffnecked malcontents, so fixed on demanding the prices they wanted that they would rather shut down the show than to make adjustments to keep it going.

Two things I think some people are not thinking about should be pointed out. First, the ESA is the primary lobbying body for the games industry. Ask Rockstar how important that is for the industry. Unfortunately, in today's political climate lobbying politicians requires substantial funding and professional lobbyists who know how to navigate the political corridors in D.C. (I don't know if they use campaign contributions to help sway key Congressional members like so many other special interest groups). By losing the large companies they have, the ESA will be in serious financial trouble. Either a new lobbying group will hopefully arise out of the ashes or the ESA will have to move quickly to regain their relevance with publishers, developers, and gamers. But remember, it is the publishers and developers who pay the fees for the rest of the ESA 's activities which do not only include E3 but more importantly political lobbying. I do feel that many gamers would gladly help contribute by paying a reasonable entrance fee on say the last two days of the show. I am thinking along the lines of what the old COM-DEX shows used to be for the entire computer industry in the "good ol' days". But that is also a good example of a large event losing its relevance in the industry they represented. Now the CES takes care of things in that regard mostly. Secondly, the shows in Tokyo and Leipzig are just that, shows in foreign countries. Not much use to most American gamers to be honest as most cannot afford to travel to these events. We need a comprehensive event in the USA. I will leave the argument of what format, how many shows, and should they cover several geographic regions for others to discuss, but we need a world class event like the older E3 's right here in the good ol' US of A. There are just too many companies who produce AAA world-wide games here not to showcase their offerings and works in progress to the press, their industry, and their target consumers, gamers right here. Remember why the ESA downsized E3: it was because too many companies complained that they could not afford the booths, they were not reaching the press and publishers in a meaningful way because of too many gamers occupying time and space, and small companies felt left out of the party because of the prohibitive fees for booths and hotel accomodations for private showings. The ESA has to pay their bills, and when you start talking millions of dollars in membership dues with, as someone pointed out in an earlier post, almost a 400 percent increase in just one year they are in serious trouble. Hopefully the increase was just to cover the 5.4 million in cancellation fees, but as most of us know, once you end up paying higher fees it is rare indeed to see them drop back to previous levels. In closing, it is easy to lash out at the ESA, but like all groups they are made up of error-prone human beings. Have they lost their relevance? Time will tell. Can they recover their premier position in representing the entire industry (again, including us gamers)? Hopefully. Change is constant in this industry, and change is not always bad. Some one or some group will figure out hopefully a solution to either returning E3 to something relevant to the industry as a whole, or a new group and new trade show will arise to continue representing the entire industry. (Sorry about the post length!)

It wasn't that the downsizing was a bad idea - it was that you don't waste nearly $5 million dollars for nothing. The change in E3 could have been handled better - instead they threw everyone's money away. I'd be ticked off too.

I don't think the ESA knows what they're doing. Downsizing E3 is like Mercedes suddenly deciding to no longer make luxury cars, even if they've had plenty of success in the business. The ESA has to understand that there was only one mega gaming event of the year, and that was E3. I'd agree to some degree of downsizing, like reducing the amount of attendees by 15% or so, but what the ESA is doing right now is shooting themselves in the foot.

It seems the ESA has become a little to self-interested for a lobby group. It's like if you're an actor or musician and your agent/manager is increasing his fees and at the same time decreasing their ability to represent you. I won't be surprised if everyone leaves for greener pastures.

How many gaming companies have backed out of E3 now, anyone got a count?

Wow, they've raised their dues by $3.5 million in one year, and yet they paid $5.4 million to change the location of E3. They also down scaled it, meaning fewer people can attend and spread the news with word of mouth. I'm surprised more companies haven't left the ESA.

Another soldier fallen. The ESA should learn and act fast. People now are either A: Going to Leipzig B: Going to TGS and C: Hoding there own convention.

I do not see how the downfall of E3 is related to PC gaming, Humorguy, because alot of what they show is console games and has been for a while now.

Bye bye E3

oh goodness... guess there will be no E3 2009... but i still look forward to 2010 cause you know thats when they go OH SHI and go back to reg ole E3... I find it funny though, E3 downscaled cause it cost the companies too much to put it on now it is costing the 3.25X the amount that it originally cost them in 2005! O well atleast I get more free tickets and more free hotel rooms from reviewing tee-hee ^_^

hey everything is okay, e3 still goes on, right?

lucidmike: i think you mean 3drealms's duke nukem... :-P

This is another sign of the AAA PC gaming format dying in front of our eyes. No need for exhibitions when you have nothing to show.....

ESA should have done more thinking or the other should be less selfish.

Good bye E3 we loved ye older show and knew not thine newer, smaller, crappy show.

E3 is straight up screwed.

Shame to see E3 go the way of the dinosaur (It will at this rate) I always enjoyed attending the show the one time i did back in 03', was alot of fun. The downsizing killed it, trying to make it all about meetings and closed door presentations ruined the whole atmosphere and made it seem like a chore to even watch the press conference videos.

E3 is doomed

bye bye ESA

ESA shot itself in the foot, and now the bleeding is still happening.

How about you read gaming magazines, And gamespot...Not only will you get the news either way....But you dont have to see a 2 hour long video for a prototype game coming out in the year 2011! DUKE NUKEM FOREVER ANYONE? :)

It's just a game convention, it won't have any impact on gaming at all. We'll have to wait later to see previews of the games of the game developers that decided not to go, oh wow.

Well, I think the internet will in part be the reason for the demise of E3. After all, all E3 really signifies is a time when the gaming industry got together to tell the world a lot of exciting news and ideas, and that'd trickle down to the consumer when the gaming publications would write articles about what they saw and what gamers have to look forward to. Now all E3 really does is give us a date when we know we can check YouTube for the next disclosed, latest gameplay videos and promotion videos for upcoming games that for some reasons game developers keep under wraps until this arbitrary time... and that's it. That and the ESA screwing everything up by barring the key constituents of the gaming industry from attending (i.e., the gamers!!).

Maybe the ESA will learn that they need to go back to doing things the way they were before 2007

Good bye E3

Well E3 was fun while it lasted...

@ OfficialBed shouldn't *have* changed And no. No they shouldn't have.

Actually, you got it backwards. They downsized E3 to squeeze out the smaller game publisher. Then they banned the public, and then the exodus began.

shouldn't of changed E3...

Wow! Quite a bit of companies are leaving the ESA these days.

The internet is destroying the 25 odd year corporate stranglehold on us, and I couldn't be happier!

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Another one bites the dust. Let's face it. ESA has really eff'ed up E3 by down scaling it. I wouldn't be suprised if this trend continues ESA should be ashamed of thier corporate greed. Bye, Bye E3. I'll see you in hell.

at least we got TGS.

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Dammmmn. All these companies are backing out. It must be because E3 is not the huge hyped event it was before; it's more like a boring tradeshow, the kind that high school field trips attend.

They seriously need a new East Coast show. And they seriously need an overhaul of sorts, why else would these comp[anies be jumping ship, unless its just not cost effective anymore. somethings up, and either way, it stinks.

I'd be more compelled to care if the ESA did more to protect the game industry's name. They need to do more to counter all the bull that gets spread around about video games. That and they need to fix E3. No wonder so many companies are leaving.

Bye bye E3

ESA is on the way to destruction.

i hope doom 4 will be a great game!

F*** you ESA. You made E3 suck.