E3 is dead, long live E3! The king of all gaming shows has officially lost its crown today, as the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) confirmed that a "more intimate" event will be held next year, in place of the extravagant E3 Expo we all knew for the past decade or so. Though not entirely dead, the event will have a new name, a new location and a new date in 2007. E3 Media Festival is what the ESA will be calling the gig, which will take place in July (rather than May), and is being pushed out of the spacious LA Convention Center, and into some smaller venues (a couple of hotels in LA, it seems).

This reduction will mean that only about 5,000 people are expected for the event in 2007, instead of this year's 60,000 visitors - thus making the whole thing a lot more focused, easier on the exhibitors, easier on the press and, last but not least, cheaper. But what do the major publishers think about ESA's move? Well, so far so good.

Nintendo, Electronic Arts and NCsoft were the first to express their support for the new format E3 Media Festival, and others will likely follow. A Nintendo rep already confirmed with GamesIndustry.biz that "Nintendo will be involved in the E3 expo next year", so it's now up to Microsoft and Sony to state their position. For what it's worth, Microsoft seems "supportive of the move ESA has taken", though a clear announcement as to their future E3 attendance has not been made yet.

Over on the third-party front, Electronic Arts also "supports ESA's decision regarding the show", commenting that "the new event will be less disruptive to development schedules and a smaller more intimate show in LA is likely to result in further support for regional events such as Leipzig, China Joy, the Tokyo Game Show and other events around the world".

That's pretty much what NCsoft had to say as well. NCsoft Europe boss Geoff Heath also added that "Tokyo [Game Show] and Leipzig [Games Convention] will get more attention if E3 does totally disappear" - a statement that should not be taken lightly! With the demise of the once great E3, it really is up to the Leipzig GC, TGS and a few other shows around the world to make up for all the glitz that's been lost. Not to mention all those scantily clad booth babes!

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)