In years past, E3--the Electronic Entertainment Expo--involved as many as 50,000 members of the video game industry descending on the Los Angeles Convention Center in early May. This year, the show--now dubbed the "E3 Media & Business Summit"--has been radically downsized, rescheduled to July, and moved out to Santa Monica.
With all of the gaming consoles now effectively old news, the show doesn't quite have the air of anticipation as it did the last few years, when gamers were scrambling to get a glimpse of the then-unreleased Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii. Still, the show promises to hold a surprise or two, and the keynote press conferences from the Big Three are always where the biggest news hits. Microsoft kicks things off tonight at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT. Tomorrow, it's Nintendo (Wednesday, July 11, noon ET/9 a.m. PT), followed immediately by Sony (2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT).
We'll have complete coverage of each event, as well as all of the news from third-party developers later in the week. In the meantime, here's a roundup of the preshow action:
- Revving up for a pared-down E3
- PSP redesign: Fact or fiction?
- What's on deck for the PS3?
- Microsoft E3 preview: Price drop anyone?
- The DS at E3: Games, games, and more games
- What E3 might bring to the Wii
- PlayStation 3 price cut official: 60GB PS3 now just $500
- Microsoft to 'Bring it Home' again at E3 '07
- EA gets strangely political with 'Army of Two' E3 mailings
- Garden sim 'Plant Tycoon' extends its roots
- Details emerge on Spielberg's EA video game initiative
- See all E3-related stories (Crave)
- See all E3-related stories (CNET News.com)