Industry sources tell me that along with a much-needed downsizing, the new, intimate E3 will be pushed back to a three days in July.

Having spent much of the day talking to industry insiders I'm starting to see some of the real reasons behind the move to downsize E3. The main, overarching reason seems to be that the event had become more important then the industry it was created to showcase.

Developers were spending sickening amounts of money and time to ply their goods and stand out from the glitz and noise of the show. Many companies had fulltime positions created just to deal with putting their presence at the show together. The business of making games slowed to a crawl each year as companies primed for the show. Games were rushed or slowed because of the show. In essence, it had become the cart driving the horse and the industry was tired of it.

Personally, I think the summer is a little better. That seems to be the slow down for the industry and for news in general. Of course, that means it might be during my birthday. Dammit! Brian Crecente

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