Getting into the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) this year is being compared to getting the golden ticket in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and not just for the attendees but also for the exhibitors. The number of companies that will be at the show has shrunk from more than 400 to just 32 companies. So what are the smaller guys to do?
One option is for them to wait until this fall’s E For All Expo, which will be held in the former stomping grounds of E3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The other option might be to sort of crash the party, and attend Gamecock’s alternative to E3. The outspoken game promoters, and former founders of God Games, have unveiled plans for their own event to take place on the same days as E3 in Santa Monica. Dubbed the E.I.E.I.O. (Expo for Interactive Entertainment Independent and Original) Fun Fest 2007 this event would probably rekindle the infamous “Promised Lot,” which God Games had set up in a parking lot across from the convention center complete with strippers, a skateboard ramp and open bar all day long… and much to the bane of the E3 promoters I might add. So if E.I.E.I.O. does come together it is sure to have class written all over it!