I must confess I've never quite made it to E3. I did get so far as having my name on the door a year back but other commitments meant that I had to stay in not-so-sunny Melbourne instead. I make this comment just to make you aware that I'm probably not the most qualified person to make any comment on the way the shows have been run in the past. Nonetheless, I can comment on the show and its evolution (or devolution) in recent years from the perspective of a very avid consumer of all the news and information that makes it from the show room floor to the public arena.

As each year has brought another E3 the conference has felt less like an industry event and more like a big Broadway musical. Elaborate sets costing in their millions, big booming music and celebrities have turned the conference into a big extravaganza that seems very far removed from the reason journalists and game developers from all over the world go to all the trouble of attending for in the first place.

Every E3 that seems to pass draws more and more criticism from seasoned attendees. Old PCPP Editor, David Wildgoose remarked that 1995's E3 had virtually no hands on experiences for journalists to report back to the hordes of gamers hungry for any information on upcoming titles. I personally remember reading with some degree of dismay stories of people from companies like Walmart and EB being in attendance. This wouldn't be a problem if it were people such as inventory/order managers but we are talking counter staff here. That's right, lines to play games being made bigger by people treating the event as their own personal arcade parlour.

Glitz and glamour is all well and good but when it gets in the way of the purpose of the event in the first place then something is going to have to give. Originally we were lead to believe it was going to be the booth babes (somehow they still were in appearance this year) but now it looks like the entire format is undergoing review. If this means a revamped trade show focused on the industry and a better dissemination of information to the gamer public as a result then expect me to be amongst the first on the docks to wave my hanky at the old E3 as she sails into the sunset.