E3 2007 Revamp Interview
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Q: First, can you comment on the argument that rising costs in exhibiting and planning for E3 has cause this retrenchment of the show?
A: Publishers have been spending a ton of money for the 15 years of shows that I've been going to, so while it probably costs more than it did, including adjusting for inflation, I don't think it is drastically different. Before Obsidian, I worked for Interplay for close to 12 years, so I was exposed to the publisher side of trade shows for a long time. Interplay's big booth debuted at CES in January of 1994. A few years later, in it's largest configuration, it was on a 8000 sq. ft. area of the show floor, was two stories, had 8 meeting rooms, a large lunch area and was able to demonstrate games on close to 50 computers or consoles. It took a week to setup and needed a staff of 40 to 60 people per shift during the show just to keep it running efficiently. At the time, Interplay wasn't even a top 5 publisher and was investing that sort of money and resources into trade shows almost ten years ago. So, I think the argument that E3 has gotten more expensive recently is not completely accurate.
