We had recently reported on E3's more "intimate" tranformation, but now it appears the Consumer Electronics Association has nixed the immediate plans.
Many industry professionals were probably expecting a different response, but nevertheless, the CEA (owners of the massive International Consumer Electronics Show) announced yesterday that the group will not launch a game-oriented event to replace the loss of E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo). Initially entitled the "E3 Media And Business Summit," the ESA wanted to downsize the event and move it to the summer, but based on recent "industry feedback," the CSA isn't interested in pursuing that possibility.
The statement reads: "Although CEA was prepared to launch a new event, the recent announcement by ESA that it would open its event to both ESA and non-ESA members and would include PC and wireless gaming, led us to conclude that a new spring West Coast event would likely not serve the best needs of the industry."
While this does appear to be bad news, the statement doesn't rule out a game-focused show at another time of the year, and it doesn't eliminate the possibility of a collaboration between the CSA and ESA in the future.
"At this point, we will continue dialogue with the industry to determine if the need for a broader gaming event exists for 2008."