Gamertell

Welcome to the latest installment of Gamertell’s 2Bits, where writers debate opposing sides of video game issues.

For this round, Gamertell writers ponder the Entertainment Electronics Expo (aka E3) and whether or not it should be an industry-only event or open its doors to the public.

While most debates have two sides, we’re adding a third for your reading pleasure because, let’s face, some people simply don’t care if E3 is open to the public or not. Sure, we should probably call it “3Bits” this week but, hey, who ever said we have to follow the rules?

E3 - Open, Closed or Who Really Cares

• E3 should open its doors, let the people flow
• Keep those E3 doors closed
• It doesn’t matter whether E3 goes public or not

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E3 2008 was an unmitigated disaster.

This singular sentence summed up the reaction that gamers felt towards this version of the long-running video-game based trade show. Once an event celebrated as much for its extravagance as its large variety of video games on display, the 2008 version of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, now known as the E3 Media & Business Summit, was a shadow of its former self, stripped of its style and verve which resulted in its popularity with gamers plummeting faster than the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The reason E3 lost its luster can be attributed to…

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Honestly it really wouldn’t matter. The entertainment industry is built on information and hype. Public or not, the information would get out to the public. It’s just a question of how quickly the word would actually get to the public. With E3 public, anyone who is able to go to the convention would get instant access to information on the upcoming “next best thing.” Without the convention going public, it’s a matter of seeing what the press shows the public.

Some people complain about…

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E3 should not be open to the public. It is a convention for people in the gaming industry. Period.

Though it would be nice to let anyone go to this convention, if they allow that to happen then E3 will basically end up becoming the next Comic-Con which means thousands and thousands of people, crowded around an already cramped convention center (many carrying pointy sticks, mind you).

People go to E3 to have intelligent conversations with…

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The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) recently announced that E3 2009 will be expanding into something that more closely resembles the massive spectacle the event used to be known for, as opposed to the smaller E3 Media & Business Summit of recent years (2007‒2008).

In response to this news, the International Data Group (IDG) has confirmed that the E for All Expo will not be making a comeback in 2009. Speaking with Joystiq, an IDG spokesperson confirmed that the organization’s “focus now turns to E3.”

An ESA spokesperson explained…

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After three years since the industry event became an industry-only function, it looks like the Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3, will once again open its doors to the public.

The newly formatted event will be capped at 40,000 people and will be held during the first week of June 2008. The first day, June 2, 2009, will see the three major companies holding their press events while the event will be open to the public on…

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The Game Critics Awards list of the best games of 2008 has just been announced and the winners for the Best of E3 2008 include Fallout 3, LittleBigPlanet, Spore, Gears of War 2 and Madden NFL 09.

Click through for the complete list of winners…

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There’s been no shortage of doomsayers predicting that this year’s E3 was the end of the road for the once-mighty expo. Not so, according to a post at Gamespot. The show will go on, at least for another year…

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Haven’t caught all of the Gamertell news this week?  Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles!

• Live Blog: Sony’s E3 2008 press conference
  “  Bookmark this page and plan to press REFRESH a lot (either by hitting F5 or CTRL+R). We’re Live Bloggin’ Sony’s E3 press conference. It starts at 11:30 a.m.…“ MORE »
• Live Blog: Nintendo’s E3 2008 press conference
  “  Bookmark this page and plan to press REFRESH a lot. We’re Live Bloggin’ Nintendo’s E3 press conference. It starts at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time (Noon Eastern time), Tuesday,…“ MORE »
• Ion reveals Drum Rocker premium Rock Band drum set
  “Since the first Guitar Hero was released back in 2005, we’ve all had to clear out some room in our closets to store our beloved plastic instruments. As time went on, the number of music peripherals has doubled. Wired…“ MORE »
• How To: Link your Playstation Underground and Network IDs to create a Portable ID
  “  With the E3 2008 announcements and Playstation network upgrades, Sony has chosen this week to allow its users to link their Playstation Underground IDs and their Playstation network IDs. Calling it a Portable ID,…“ MORE »
• Live Blog: Microsoft’s E3 2008 Press Conference
  “ MORE »

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At E3 2008, Activision and a representative of id announced that they are working on a follow up for Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Details at the moment are hard to find, outside of the press conference given at E3.

For those of you who haven’t been too involved with the evolution of Wolfenstein, id took the franchise for a turn that made it more popular in 1992 with…

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