In a rare piece of smart thinking and good economic news, the Entertainment Software Association announced the video games industry will be returning big-time to the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 2-4, 2009 and in 2010 and 2011. E3 had been ridiculously downsized and hidden in a hanger at Santa Monica airport, supposedly to save money and create a better deal-making environment by keeping the riff-raff out.
As I wrote here in 2007, “Keeping out the gamers who want to try the games is a ridiculous strategy.” It’s bad business to keep out the fan boys who are the core believers and spread word of mouth.
So let the hustling and registration-wrangling begin; “Instead of doling out registrations based on the usual invitation-only list, it will throw open the doors to any professional related to the fast-growing game industry, which is expected to generate about $50 billion in global sales this year.”
And the fan boys will be in for an extra treat; the scantily-clad models will return as well.
Tags: E3, booth-babes, video-games, Entertainment-Software-Association