Tretton: E3 09 needs exciting floor show

Sony Computer Entertainment America president Jack Tretton has called for a return to the ‘exciting floor show’ of bygone E3 Expos.

Tretton’s comments echo those of EA Sports’s Peter Moore and THQ’s Ian Curran, who have both demanded that the event regain some razzmatazz” and strut and swagger”.

Last year’s E3 was labelled soulless” and likened to a hospital corridor” after a subdued turnout and lack of major announcements.

Tretton told MCV this week:

E3 has been a fixture as a key voice for industry news and announcements since 1995. Over the years, it started being seen by many as becoming too much of an arms race, resulting in show costs that exceeded corporate value.

I think everyone agrees that the most recent attempts to downsize the show swung the pendulum too far. We have continued to invest heavily in our press event each year, however, to ensure the highest quality of information and presentation has been made available to the industry, press, and, ultimately, consumers.

Without the presence of an exciting show floor at E3, it is clearly more difficult to generate the needed attention that the industry deserves.

I’m hopeful that this year’s show will strike the right balance and that the excitement that E3 has generated in the past will now return.”