Actually it's not even "E3 2007", because that would sound way too exciting for what the Entertainment Software Association has in mind for next year's E3 expo. Instead, the downsized event will be called "E3 Media and Business Summit", replacing the former E3 Media and Booth-babes Showdown that we all knew and loved (the babes, that is).

Set to take place between 11-13 of July 2007 in Santa Monica, California, the chopped-down E3 will be an invitation-only event, focused mainly on press events, business chit-chat, and intimate meetings (*wink wink*) in premier hotel suites and meeting rooms with media, retailers, developer partners, and other audiences. There's no mention of any "room service babes" in ESA's latest comunique, which is why next year's E3 will be all the more boring.

That's not how the ESA sees it, of course. They claim that the new E3 Media and Business Summit "will combine the best elements of the former trade show into a business event celebrating the video game industry's present and future". Gee, they must have a very boring view on how the industry's future will play out.

Here's more about it from Douglas Lowenstein, President of the ESA.

"The new E3Expo is first and foremost about getting business done. (...) The new E3Expo event will be more personal, efficient and focused, and it will provide the top stakeholders who make games, sell games, and cover games streamlined access to the people and products they most need to see."

In other words, boring. Luckly, top console companies such as Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are expected to stage major (and hopefully interesting) off-site press conferences. The summit will also include a "Barker Hangar venue" - where participating companies will be able to showcase their games, demos, trailers and such - as well as a few other things:

"The new E3Expo will also feature a daily luncheon conference session with top executives and/or analysts and a Serious Games showcase. In addition, ESA is exploring adding an independent games showcase and including the highly successful "Into The Pixel" video game art competition and exhibition. Finally, evenings will be a time for receptions and parties so participants can interact at the informal events that have been an E3Expo tradition."

Business et circensis...

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)