What do you think of the sell-through rate on Madden titles versus Take 2′s urban sports series? Miss?

E3 was once the promised land for game geeks. In a huge hall in LA you could get and play games, watch scantily clad women who were vying for your attention, and generally feel like you were a plugged in member of an elite gaming force. Now, however, it’s going to be a big boring conference full of industry types and no scantily clad booth babes. That’s right. You might as well stop reading right now.

“The US is the world’s number one video game market and the E3 Media & Business Summit is its premier video game conference. The 2008 Summit will provide a professional and efficient environment for suite-based meetings with media, and other industry leaders,” said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, which represents US computer and video game publishers and owns the E3 Media & Business Summit. “We look forward to welcoming the media and top industry executives to a centralized, business focused and personalized experience. Our program of high-level meetings, networking and personal dialogue, and industry-shaping panel discussions will capture the explosive growth we have seen in 2007 and lay the foundation for the 2008 video game marketplace.”

Games are the new movie business: over-moneyed, risk-averse, and boring on the whole. Sad, sad, sad.

E3 Returns to Los Angeles, But Remains Booth Babe Free [Kotaku]