Game expo thrill gone as focus on business

By Kemp Powers

SANTA MONICA, California (Reuters) - A seasoned fan of the world's biggest video game trade show might be disappointed to find the sometimes-irreverent industry is now taking itself a little more seriously.

At this year's main venue for the Electronic Entertainment Exposition, a Santa Monica airport hangar, television screens demonstrate the hottest new games to a quiet few, while the scantily clad women at promotion booths and legions of fans who once typified the spectacle are noticeably absent.

Seeking to make this week's E3 Media and Business Summit more business-friendly than in previous years, organizers have locked out most of the gamers, culling a show once attended by 60,000 to just over 3,000 handpicked guests. And many of them didn't even venture onto the showroom floor.

With the show now headquartered at Barker Hangar and spread across hotel rooms in this Los Angeles-area beach city, many find it too small and no fun.

"I hate it," said Dan Hsu, editor in chief of video game magazine EGM, who like many is frantically shuttling from one hotel suite to another across Santa Monica in an effort to meet key executives and attend presentations.

"I knew I would hate it going in, and it only took an hour or two to confirm that this is the worst show ever," Hsu said.

Some of the most high-profile criticism came from Hideo Kojima, designer of Konami Corp.'s blockbuster "Metal Gear Solid" series. Kojima credited the excitement of previous E3s as a motivation to create great games.

"I know that E3 is a business show, but it is also an important festival," Kojima told a crowd at a Konami news conference on Wednesday. "I hope that my E3 will return next year," he added, to loud applause.