e-for-all-expo posts

E For All officially done; E3 committed to LA until 2011

by John Callaham Oct 24th 2008 @ 8:00PM

You could read in between the lines about the fate of E For All Expo in our story a few days ago but our sister site Joystiq has finally got the last word on the consumer game show from the IDG World Expo. This should put all doubt to rest: "Unfortunately, E for All will not be occurring in 2009, as our focus now turns to E3."

And speaking of the newly bigger and stronger Electronic Entertainment Expo, another sister site, GameDaily, reports that E3 has got a new contract with the city of Los Angeles that will lock the show in the city until 2011. According to the story, LA officials expect that the June 2-4, 2009 E3 will account for more than $18 million in economic impact to the city.

Filed under: Biz, Culture

Is E For All Expo done? IDG CEO gives a cryptic answer

by John Callaham Oct 22nd 2008 @ 6:00PM

Earlier today we reported on the resurgence of the large trade show version of E3 for 2009. That event will be handled by IDG World Expo (who also handled the two smaller invite only E3 events for the ESA). But what about the fate of IDG's own consumer game show E For All Expo? The event has not received the kind of publisher support that the old E3 or the current Penny Arcade Expo has received and this year's event, held just a few weeks ago, only brought in 15,000 attendees.

Big Download contacted IDG World Expo for comment and received this rather cryptic response that's attributed to its CEO Mary Dolaher: "We want to thank all of our E for All partners for their support, and we encourage E for All exhibitors to participate in the E3 new event, which we believe will meet their needs as well as those of the industry at large. IDG World Expo is very pleased to be partnering with the ESA on E3 and continuing to play a central role in that important industry event. We look forward to furthering our contribution to the success of the video game community."

While that statement doesn't state flat out that IDG has decided to finally put E For All Expo to bed, the fact that IDG is encouraging "E for All exhibitors to participate in the E3 new event" doesn't sound promising for the future of the show. We will keep you updated.

Filed under: Biz, Culture

E3 2009 coming June 2-4; invite-only format gone but will booth babes return?

by John Callaham Oct 20th 2008 @ 8:15PM

For the past two years the Entertainment Software Association has made its annual trade show, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, a smaller invite-only event for the media rather than a massive trade show with large exhibits and booth babes. The result was a show that, while good for journalists to quietly check out upcoming releases, fell flat as a way for the game industry to promote themselves and their upcoming games.

Last month rumors began to surface that E3 2009 could be open to the public. Tonight, on G4TV's X-Play TV show it was revealed that the event would return to the LA Convention Center and while it still technically won't be open to the public the TV show stated that it won't be invite-only either. Apparently the show will be returning to its larger trade show roots which should allow the event to also return to its larger attendance numbers of around 60,000 people or so.

The dates for the show have also been confirmed; it will be held June 2-4 which is a month earlier than the invite-only format's July dates but still a few weeks later than the old trade show version's May dates. It's currently unknown if IDG World Expo, who has helped the ESA run the two previous invite-only events, will return for the new expanded show. More info on the new E3 is expected to be revealed tomorrow morning.

Update: Newsweek is reporting that E3 2009 will in fact open its doors to the public on June 5-6 and that the attendance will actually be capped at around 40,000 attendees which is less than what Penny Arcade Expo had at its event last August. Again more news is coming tomorrow.

Filed under: Biz, Culture

Lower attendance for E For All Expo 2008

by John Callaham Oct 6th 2008 @ 8:00AM

The second annual E For All Expo is over and the self-proclaimed "North America's premier video game event" actually came away with lower attendance than last year's inaugural event. The show, held at the LA Convention Center, had 15,000 official attendees this year compared to 18,000 for the first edition of the show (the number might have been even smaller had E For All not hosted two pro gaming events organized by third parties).

As they always do the organizers of the show, the IDG World Expo, claim the event was a "true success" despite the fact that only three major game publishers (Microsoft, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft) exhibited at the show. The press release had no mention of any plans for a 2009 edition of the event. Meanwhile our sister site Joystiq has their own impressions of the event. This coming weekend will find a really successful consumer game show being held, Blizzcon, where the $100 tickets for the two day event sold out quickly.

Filed under: Biz

E For All Expo begins today but will anyone come?

by John Callaham Oct 3rd 2008 @ 1:00PM

Today is the first day of the 2008 edition of the E For All Expo, the self-proclaimed "North America's premiere video game event." to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The first event, held in 2007, was heavily hyped beforehand with the expo's organizers, the IDG World Expo, predicting in interviews with their CEO that they were expecting between 20,000 and 30,000 attendees. In the end the event only brought in 18,000 attendees and only five major game publishers exhibited at the event.

This year's edition hasn't gotten nearly as much hype as the inaugural event, possibly because there's even less participation from the actual game industry than last year. Only three major game publishers (Microsoft, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft) are scheduled to exhibit at the event, compared to last August's Penny Arcade Expo, which had over 20 publishers showing their upcoming games. Furthermore, the 2008 edition of E For All will be a three day event as opposed to the 2007 show which stretched over four days. Even the venue itself has gotten smaller. The 2007 event was held in the LA Convention Center's large South Hall while the 2008 show is being held in the building's West Hall which is about half the South Hall's size.

Continue reading E For All Expo begins today but will anyone come?

Filed under: Biz, Culture

Would you eat something called Gamer Grub?

by John Callaham Oct 3rd 2008 @ 9:30AM

If you are a gamer, chances are you have played titles for many hours straight and have tasted energy drinks such as Bawls to keep up your stamina. Now a company is introducing a new food product called Gamer Grub that they claim will keep your performance up with those late night LAN sessions.

Gamer Grub, created by Biosilo Foods will be sold in retail stores in four flavors beginning in 2009 and has already gotten the endorsement of the USA division of the World Cyber Games. So what makes this "performance snack" better than, say, chips and dip? The product's web site claims that Gamer Grub contains a mixture of items (Vitamin A, E, B3, C, Magnesium, Choline and L-Glutamic Acid) that they state "supports fast reaction times for maximum gaming performance." The food snack will be formally launched this weekend at the E For All Expo.

Filed under: Culture

E For All Expo to host . . . a children's film festival?

by John Callaham Sep 15th 2008 @ 2:30PM

E For All Expo builds itself in its own press releases as "North America's premiere video game event." However, after failing to get most game publishers to participate in the Oct. 3-5 show in the LA Convention Center the organizers, IDG World Expo, are apparently trying some new tactics...like hosting a children's film festival.

Yes, you read that correctly. E For All will host the fourth annual Los Angeles International Film Festival during the event, which will have over 70 animated, live action and documentaries planned along with basic animation workshops. Mary Dolaher, the head of IDG World Expo, states that the film festival will provide "show attendees with access to an even broader range of creative entertainment." As we have reported previously only three major game publishers (Microsoft, EA and Ubisoft) have announced plans to exhibit at E For All this year.

Filed under: Culture

E For All Expo 2008 exhibitor update

by John Callaham Sep 13th 2008 @ 9:00AM

We've been waiting for all of those "further announcements" that IDG World Expo have promised are coming about E For All Expo 2008 but in the meantime one of the major exhibitors at last year's inaugural edition of this consumer game event has decided to bow out this year.

That company is Nintendo who arguably made the show a lot more interesting than it would have been otherwise via demos of (back then) highly anticipated games like Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. However, GoNintendo has now gotten word from Nintendo's PR rep that, "Nintendo has chosen not to participate in E for All, as it did not fit into our plans for the year. "

Meanwhile the official expo web site is showing that Ubisoft is now an exhibitor at the show. Our PR rep at the publisher told us a few weeks ago they were not planning to attend but apparently they have had a change of heart as that same rep has now told us that they will be showing Far Cry 2 and EndWar at their booth. Ubisoft now joins Microsoft and Electronic Arts as confirmed major game publishers who will be exhibiting at E For All 2008. The event is still scheduled to be held on Oct. 3-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Filed under: Culture

Games Convention could expand to Canada

by John Callaham Sep 12th 2008 @ 1:00PM

Last month the Leipzig Games Convention was held in Germany and organizers boasted of 203,000 attendees. While the future of the Leipzig event is in question due to 2009's launch of GAMEScon in Cologne, Games Convention organizers have already announced they are thinking of moving to the North American market.

Now comes work via Gamekyo that the first such event might not happen in the United States but our neighbor to the north. According to a statement they received from Games Convention, "'We'll decide about the place of the new event in cooperation with the games industry. It seems to become a city in Canada, not in the US." Certainly the US is pretty full at the moment with events like GDC, E3, Penny Arcade Expo and E For All Expo, not to mention large events like CES and San Diego Comic-Con which have games as part of their exhibits.

Filed under: Biz

E For All Expo hosting another pro gaming tournament event

by John Callaham Sep 9th 2008 @ 5:00PM

It's looking like the organizers of next month's E For All Expo are moving the consumer gaming event more into the pro gaming tournament (or e-sports) arena. The event was previously announced as the host for the US finals of the 2008 World Cyber Games and today it was announced that yet another similar event will be held at E For All as well.

The event in question is the Intel Extreme Masters league who will hold tournaments that will give out $80,000 in total cash prizes at E For All on October 3-5 at the LA Convention Center. Teams will play in World of Warcraft and Counter-Strike 1.6 matches and the top teams, besides winning prize money, will move onto the world finals of the Intel Extreme Masters in Germany during CeBIT in 2009.

Filed under: Culture

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