Several years ago E3 got rid of the booth babes, and the gamers, and most of us thought it would die. They rallied the show a few more years, but the bells seem to be tolling for the convention one more time. Game Politics quoted a Wedbush-Morgan analyst this morning saying:

The show was small in scope, and the spectacle of E3 is dead. The Los Angeles Convention Center concourse was as quiet as a college library during summer, with little to attract media attention. The main game display area was similar in size to a school cafeteria (as compared to filling the entire convention center)...

E3 is headed for extinction, unless the publishers and console manufacturers wake up to the fact that nobody cares about the show anymore... [the]show is ill-timed, coming after most major holiday announcements are out, and landing during [SEC-mandated] "quiet period" for most of the companies... The lack of a spectacle will likely keep media away in the future, the lack of surprises will keep retailers away, and the lack of interaction with management will likely keep investors away...

We strongly believe that E3 should be held no later than early June (when companies can meet with investors and when some "secrets" have yet to be revealed), and believe that the spectacle should be restored by increasing the size of the show space.

Dennis McCauley from Game Politics has spoken out against the show in its current form as well!

The show is struggling to compete with what it once was in a way that just doesn't work for those involved, and unless the guys in charge change something, I'm afraid they won't survive.