Summer is upon us. Waterparks, BBQ’s, and swimming pools. Feels like I am forgetting something. Oh! That’s right. Only the biggest video game event in the history of gaming. At least it used to be. With the recent years on scale backs and STRICT invitation only terms, what does that mean for this year? Let’s take a look at the history of this amazing event.

To go into E3, you have to start with CES (Consumer Electronic Show). CES showed off all of the new technology and electronics that were on their way out. Some made it some didn’t. Only problem was, video games weren’t really a part of the show. They were house far in the back. Passed all of the televisions, radios, and car stereos, you might get lucky and find a room in the back where all the video games are at. It was a gamers paradise. Unfortunately, the paradise was small. That was all about the change.

One year, a single gaming magazine editor came up with an amazing idea. Pat Ferrell felt it was time for a change. He felt video games could definitely carry their own weight for a show exclusively for the industry. He had no idea how right he was. So he got a small group of people who pushed their way to make E3 itself. Together with the IDSA (now the ESA) the show was finally given the green light and history was made.

Fast forward to 1995. A few key developers and publishers dropped out of CES’ line up. Gamers were confused for a bit until E3 was officially announced. Finally, in Los Angeles, it was time. The show was an instant success. With the unveiling of the Playstation, Sega Saturn, and the Neo Geo CD came out. Nintendo announced the “Ultra 64″ but didn’t have anything to show for it. Just building the hype. The show was attended by close to 14,000 people. It continued to grow through the years. The industry was happy and the fans were happy.

In 1997 E3 was moved to Atlanta. It was not a good move according to the gamers themselves. It was in a bad location and more or less inaccessable to to those wishing to attend. So in 1999 it went back to the LA Convention Center. Once it returned, it was bigger and louder than it was before it left as well as the time it spent in LA. Over 60,000 square feet of the convention center floor was taken up by video games and all of the fanfare that went with it. Surprisingly enough, only 30,000 of that was taken up by the actual games themselves. The rest of the floor was taken up by the music, stage work, and of course the booth babes. With a small concert going on in almost every major developers booth area, it was sure to get your attention.

It worked for years. People came from all over the world just to attend. Not to mention, every major figure in the gaming industry could be come a rock star. For proof of that, just look at Tomonobu Itagaki. The rock star of them all. Shigeru Miyamoto is always a fan favorite as we has something amazing to announce at the show. The movie stars come out, models, musical artists came out. It became a place to been seen.

Once 2005 came around, attendees started to notice something. The show was growing too fast and there were too many people. The focus was hardly on the games anymore. Instead fanboys would rather stand around and argue why their system is the best. Others would crowd around the G4 booth hoping for a couple seconds of face time so they could brag to their friends they were there. You could hardly walk around without getting hit by the horrible stench of someone who hadn’t showered the whole show. The freebies that used to flow like water, were near impossible to get unless you clubbed someone over the head to get that last Link inflatable sword. It had just gotten to be too much. The E3 heads were taking notice.

You have to keep in mind. E3 had ALWAYS been an invite only event. That was one of the other reasons E3 came around. It held up pretty well. Only members of the video game industry were allowed to attend. It kept the crowd down and allowed everyone an equal chance to play the games and to go to the press conferences. Then all of a sudden people who worked in the electronics section of Target were allowed in. The numerous people who worked at Gamestop were able to get in. Hardly any credentials were checked. All you had to do was know someone. Which ended up pushing the number of visitors to a record 70,000 people.

In 2006, E3 was scaled WAY back to a small 10,000 people. Due to rigorous credential checking and general developers who weren’t in the upper tiers of the industry. Most of the “press” attendees were random bloggers and small site people trying to claim they were members of the press or media. Registration began to exclude the individuals from the show. In 2007 this was pushed even further by sending out invitations directly to people they felt should attend the show. This left out many indie developers. Some still made it through. Some key figures weren’t even allowed to attend the show with their in house colleagues. Many people felt this to be a huge blow to the show. Simcity creator, Will Wright, compared the show to a “Ghost town” and feeling like he was “a zombie” concerning to the abrupt scale back of E3.

For the 2009 year, things are going to be different. They are opening it all back up. For anyone and everyone. That’s right. If you work at Gamestop or target, you get to go to the show again. Maximum attendance will be 40,000. It doesn’t seem like a lot of people but when you are crammed in with expanding booths and developers, it is for sure. The floor will be expanded to accommodate the size of the show. Is it really enough? Will it be like it was, or will they structure it in a way where you will still be able to get around and actually enjoy the show without having to step over some person who has vomited on the floor from the partying the night before? Only time will tell.

Coming from a person who has been to 6 years worth of E3 shows, I think the cap is a good idea. Of course it will come down to how they lay out the floor. In 2005 I almost couldn’t stand being there. It had gotten way too big. Mostly due to television media being allowed to pretty much run the show with no rules or regulations. You had channels at E3 who didn’t need to be there at all. G4 was really the only ones who should have been there. MTV, MTV2, VH1, Spike TV, and a few others. They were blocking paths and stopping a single person right in the middle of the stampede to ask them a question that was pretty much worthless. In the end, it made it unbearable for many people who attended.

So what do you think? What are you hoping to see from this years E3? Who are you hoping to see? If you have attended, share your experiences in our comments section. I will post a follow up article after I return from this years show.

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