GameSpot spoke to Entertainment Software Association president Doug Lowenstien, who further dashed the hopes of young gamers everywhere of ever attending the E3 in whatever form. In previous years the ESA controlled who was invited to attend the expo, their policy some years seeming to include only people who breathed, most of the time. Now control slips into the hands of the game companies themselves.

"[The] ESA does not control invites," Lowenstein said. According to Lowenstein, his organization will be provided names from ESA members and use that as the basis for generating a list of invitees.

"[T]he point is for attendees to be the people participants want to see in one-on-one meetings...[but] that is not for me to say or influence."

Basically this all means that in order to get into the smaller, quieter E3 next year, the software and hardware companies will have to want you there, effectively reducing obnoxious 'I got into E3' posts on gaming forums by up to 75%. If you aren't a respected member of the gaming press, you only have seven months left to sleep with Cliffy B. I call firsties. Michael Fahey

Game companies controlling E3 invites [GameSpot]

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