Santa Monica seems like a really nice place. Though, it is hard to tell for sure when you spend so much of your time in taxis and shuttles running between the awfully dispersed venues of the new E3. Yes, the smaller and more exclusive attendance made for an intimate and higher quality experience, but the poor physical logistics added unwelcome friction to the process. Oh well, gotta take the new bad with the new good, I suppose.

Admittedly, I’m not a typical E3 attendee (ie, “developer association director” is not part of the intended audience marketing blurb)… So, I was quite fortunate that I was able to make it into a handful of the press conferences and a few of the parties and receptions. But, mainly I was there for a few behind the scenes meetings…

It was interesting to witness the continued difference between the approaches taken by the more hardcore platforms (ie, Xbox, PlayStation) and Nintendo. For example, Microsoft’s big headliner was that the trio of Madden 08, GTA5 and Halo 3 were going to cause a perfect storm of sales and growth for the Xbox this holiday season. Meanwhile, Nintendo introduces WiiFit and boasts about its impressively diverse consumer demographics. It’s no coincidence that several of the big publishers were touting their parallel hardcore games and games for everyone strategies…

One of the particular “new goods”, was the expo floor. Much smaller, less noisy, and focused on the games (instead of booth babes and skateboard ramps). The booths were totally normalized down to a cluster of pods with a system+screen for everyone. Also, relative to the rest of the expo, the showcases for indie games and serious games were given a massive amount of space and good floor placement (big kudos to the ESA for including these elements).

Anyway, a few photos for flavor:


Before the real action, Kyle Orland (Joystiq) approves the annual non-tradition of the E3 non-party for journalists.

New ESA president Mike Gallagher welcomes attendees to the new E3 at the opening reception.

One of the few developers on hand, Andre Blechschmidt (at right) from Radon Labs in Germany.

The opening reception was hosted on the circular driveway of the Fairmont Miramar, a surprisingly nice place to have it.

Into the Pixel art was showcased during the reception. Nice to see an indie piece (from Introversion’s Darwinia) make the final cut…

“Celebrity” journalists were out in full force. Here, Dean Takahashi is spotted wearing a stylish red polo.

The ever-jovial Graeme Devine (Ensemble Studios) under the Xbox aura.

A stunned Greg Zeschuk (BioWare) at the Microsoft press conference.

Fan culture (surprisingly) figured prominently at E3. Here, Corporeal plays their rendition of the Halo theme song.

Continuing the music theme… Peter Moore did very poorly at Harmonix’ Rock Band.

Reggie boasts impressive numbers.

Wow, WiiFit! I don’t think anyone saw that coming…

This is EA’s booth. All of it.

Wii Zapper. Very smart and simple. Though, folks like Jack are going to have a blast ripping the industry for this one…

The masterminds behind the Indie Games Showcase at E3: Stephanie Barish (IndieCade), Sam Roberts (IndieCade/Slamdance) and Celia Pearce (IndieCade/GeorgiaTech).

Gail Markels (ESA) and Bo Anderson (EMA) check out Barker Hangar.

Somewhat coincidentally, the IGDA’s LA chapter was having a social meet-up during the week. So, I stopped in to say hi to Jeff Lander (EA) and friends.

Alas, the babes and cheap thrills were not completely abandoned. Though, this was quite fitting for Eidos’ Conan party.

I slipped into the Nintendo party (which was being held at my hotel), and sadly, I could not spot a single person I knew :(

“Mr. Stage Presence” Tony Key unveils Jam Sessions, Ubisoft’s first foray into music games and part of their “games for everyone” strategy. Of course, this was quickly followed by demos of military shooters and Assassin’s Creed.