ESA endorses E3 successor

In a statement to be released tomorrow, IDG will make it official--it will produce a consumer-oriented games-focused trade show next October. The show will have the endorsement of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the trade-industry body that has produced the Electronic Entertainment Expo for the past 11 years. And, lastly, the show's name will not be GamePro Expo, after IDG's print magazine.

While none of this is particularly new--GameSpot covered the show, the endorsement, the naming, and likely renaming of the show last week--tomorrow's statement will be the first official notification of the event.

Exhibitors will be allowed to sell games on the show floor, according to IDG, and a ticket to the three-day event will likely cost $100.

The show is planned to be a mass-attendance event along the lines of the old E3, not the insider-oriented E3 Media and Business Summit announced earlier this year. The new show will attempt to "re-create the same buzz as E3 while avoiding the headaches for exhibitors," an IDG publication stated today.

The new show remains slated for the Los Angeles Convention Center and will take place from October 18-20, 2007. In addition to the show floor, which is designed to be filled with publishers, developers, platform holders, retailers, and content delivery providers, there will be tournaments and ample room for attendees to mingle and network.

As far as what the show will be called, IDG is inviting gamers to try their hand at a name. The contest will run through November 20, 2006. IDG says it will reward the individual whose name is chosen with two round-trip airline tickets to the event, hotel accommodations, and local transportation.

A winner and show name will be announced on November 21, 2006.

The new event will be produced by former E3 Expo vice president Mary Dolaher and her team, all formerly employed by the ESA.