CES organizers considering an E3 replacement

Before the first Electronic Entertainment Expo in 1995, the big show for gaming in the US was the Consumer Electronics Show, held twice a year and featuring the latest and greatest in everything from TVs to cell phones. But CES scaled back to a single show in Las Vegas each January, and the game publishers decided to congregate each May for E3, largely leaving the CES show behind.

But with E3 downsizing and pushed back to July, the producers of CES are looking at reclaiming a bit of ground in the gaming industry. The Consumer Electronics Association, which owns CES, has announced that it is "forming an advisory committee to solicit gaming industry feedback and explore the viability of a West Coast event in late spring 2007 focused on the gaming and entertainment marketplace."

One of the concerns brought up regarding the freshly scaled down, invite-only E3 is that it takes away a very large, very visible stage on which smaller developers and publishers can get their products noticed by the industry at large. CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro said he's witnessed a demand for that stage to be replaced.

"Since ESA decided to eliminate the E3 event in its known format, we have been deluged with inquiries on whether we could fill the tradeshow needs of smaller video entertainment companies," Shapiro said in a statement. He added, "The Consumer Electronics Association believes that tradeshows are the most viable means for reaching a market, as they serve smaller companies and entrepreneurs who need access to media, buyers, and investors."

The CEA has already announced the support of NCsoft, Majesco Entertainment, and Auravision in forming an advisory committee.

CES isn't the only convention looking to step into the void left by the retooled E3. The Austin Game Conference and Gen Con are both growing, with the latter even moving its So Cal Gen Con satellite convention into the Los Angeles Convention Center, longtime home of the E3 show.