Gamer's Paradise

By the time you read this, I’ll be sitting pretty in Los Angeles, California attending the world’s biggest and best video game conference, E3Expo 2005. There were only a handful of people that knew what the heck I was talking about, when I told them, “I’m going to E3!” For all you gamers out there, you very well know what E3 is and you’re probably really jealous that I went! For everyone else, let me educate you. . .

The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), “Where Business Gets Fun,” as they say, is the world’s largest trade event showcasing entertainment software and other related products. This 11th annual expo is the biggest ever with a show floor that covers 540,000 net square feet, the equivalent of 2,700 city blocks. Tens of thousands of industry professionals from around the world attend this every year to experience the future of interactive entertainment. Sorry, but It is a trade-only event and you must be invited or qualify as industry to attend. This year, there are over 400 exhibitors from 90 different countries to debut over 1,000 never-before-seen computer and video games and other related products . . .oh baby!

E3 is owned and operated by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which is the United States association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers and the Internet. ESA members collectively count for more than 90 percent of the $7 billion a year in entertainment software sales.

This is my first E3 ever. I’ve wanted to go to one for years, and now I’m so excited to be at one! Some highlights of E3 2005 that I’m looking forward to are the recently announced Xbox 360, the new PlayStation 3, the next-generation Nintendo game machine and lots and LOTS of new games and toys. In my upcoming columns, you’ll be reading about all the goodies I find. If you want to attend E3 virtually, check-out www.e3insider.com. It’s the next best thing to being there in person.