According to my ‘follow-up’ email from E For All Expo’s media connection – the show was considered a smashing success! This was a first time show and a revival of sorts of the ‘old’ E3 except instead of just media – all types of gamer fans were allowed to come play. I saw plenty of young adults between the ages of 16-25 going around checking out the latest games and that was a good sign.
Some of the bigger and cooler booths there was Nintendo, Konami, THQ and EA. Konami highlighted the show with their first ever playable (in the U.S.) demo version of the hotly anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4 title. Nintendo had an amazingly large booth and showcased Super Smash Bros Brawl with a giant stage and arena for winning prizes and also plenty of demo areas for Mario Galaxy and Guitar Hero on the Wii. Conan was playable inside the THQ booth and EA’s booth was littered with games like The Orange Box, The Simpsons Game and Rock Band. Speaking of Rock Band – the tour bus was there with a huuuuuuge stage and was one of the highlights of the show indeed! Also dead center was Guitar Hero 3 and tons of free guitar picks and stickers to be had for all who passed through their booth.
In addition to playing games there was plenty of shopping to be had – I picked up an Atari 2600 flashback 2.0 edition for cheap and our friends at Mimobot and Messiah Entertainment were showcasing their products as well. Another cool highlight was the Video Games Live concert which took place on Friday evening next to the Los Angeles Convention Center at the Nokia Theater. Not only were fans treated to an awesome array of musical compositions from video game scores but there was also a ‘meet and greet’ of talents from all over the video game spectrum.
Final verdict – a good show overall for a first time out – but low attendance and
lack of celebrity hype really hurt what could have been an amazing show.
More info: http://www.eforallexpo.com
Comments are closed.