After the intense week we have just managed to put behind us, it would be an act of pure masochism to even think about E3 2007. Mmm, yeah... Well now that you know me a little better, it's with great pleasure that I bring you the official date for the next edition of the world's top gaming show: May 16-18, 2007. That's right folks, in precisely one year from tomorrow, all of the industry's hot-shots will be back in Los Angeles, bombing us with announcements, screenshots, trailers and wii'rd controllers.

But for now, let's take a look over some figures published by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), who of course is the owner and organizer of the E3 show. This year marked the twelfth edition of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, with something like 400 exhibiting companies (representing 80 countries) converging on the Los Angeles Convention Center. All in all, it seems that 60,000 industry professionals were drawn to the show in 2006, while the educational conferences and workshops - hosted by more than 175 industry figures - had nearly 2,000 attendees.

Aside from the on-site presence described above, people from all over the world were once again able to check out some of the show from their homes, by accessing the trade event's official consumer news site - E3Insider.com. Compared to 2005, the E3 Insider website attracted double the number of visitors during the three days of the show, totalling 1.5 million visits. Damn it, think I'm gonna make me one of 'em "insider" websites next year.

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)