E3 ready to rumble

While the industry might be taking a hit in the pocketbook as a result of the console transition, that doesn't seem to be making anyone shy about participating in the Electronics Entertainment Expo. This year's event--to be held May 10, 11, and 12 in Los Angeles--has, according to the show's producers, sold out of all its available exhibitor space a month earlier than usual.

Entertainment Software Association president Doug Lowenstein waxed poetic about the show in a statement, saying, "As the global computer and video game industry enters an important creative and technological transition, the early sellout of E3 Expo affirms the critical importance of this event." This year's show will host more than 400 exhibitors "covering space equivalent to 4,650 Olympic swimming pools," according to the ESA. For nonswimmers, that's the equivalent of 540,000 square feet, spread over five exhibit halls.

An ESA source adds that if the Los Angeles Lakers don't make the playoffs, the organization could choose to grow the event by another 15,000 square feet by using meeting room space in the adjacent Staples Center. Currently the Lakers are in eighth place in the NBA's Western Conference, with the top eight teams making the playoffs.

The source did not address how the fates of two other potentially playoff-bound Staples Center teams would impact the show. The NBA's Los Angeles Clippers are currently in fifth place in the Western Conference, and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings are holding the seventh spot in that league's Western Conference. Both leagues will be in the middle of their playoff schedules during E3.