No more E3?

We hope you enjoyed Wil's coverage of E3 2006 earlier this year, because we won't be going back. In fact, it seems that nobody will. In a move that has caused many people to raise a pint in memoriam, the ESA is set to officially announce the end of E3 after 12 years, at least in its current form.

The decision came after everybody, particularly major show-backers like Sony and MS, picked through the train-wreck that was E3 2006. The big technology exhibitors (read: console makers aside from Ninty, which leaves two left) have decided that the show does not generate enough press coverage for their products for the price-tag it takes to set up an effective booth. The lack of the big boys makes publishers' booths far too costly, as much of the initial draw is to see new technology, so many of them have dropped as well.

The ESA is in 'spin' mode at this point, trying to say that there will be a smaller, 'more intimate', and 'downsized' show... but that's what they said about Comdex. Com-what? Exactly. It seems pretty clear that E3 is dead, at least as we have come to know and love it.

Spill your thoughts on the sad news in our forums.