The price of a ticket to E3 2011

E3 is considered by many to be a gaming Mecca, and the annual trip to Los Angeles their Hajj. Unfortunately for them, E3 management is clamping down on media badge assignments this year, and a lot of people from small sites aren’t going to be able to attend the 2011 Expo...and I don’t think this is entirely a bad thing.

[wwm0nkey]

Price of a ticket. $400 and you can go regardless of your affiliation to the industry. I have been twice and already ordered my ticket for my 3rd year!

Can not wait till E3 2011!

[remanutd55]

or you can go to the pre E3 playstation blog meet up and get a chance to enter sony press conference and E3 , thats what i did last year

[wwm0nkey]

I rather just pay the way in like I do. I save up each year to go. Rather know im 100% getting in rather than just a chance im going to get in.

[Megaton]

I'm surprised more people don't know that. You can buy tickets. I went with my friend last year when he was picking up his passes and at least 1/3 of the line was there to buy. It's not like some exclusive event. Any of these bloggers who submit to N4G all day can get in for free under the guise of "online journalist".

[LtSkittles]

What I would do for a ticket. Always wanted to go since I made the discovery of it in 2004.

[wwm0nkey]

again, $400 will get you in. just buy it on their site.

[LtSkittles]

Don't have $400 XD

[NexGen76]

Damn didn't know that but is the 400 for everyday of the event ?

[wwm0nkey]

Nope, its all 3 days. If you go one year you can start getting the tickets for $360. Its a big price but its a really fun event to go to if you are a huge gaming enthusiast.

[Lavalamp]

Does it also get you into the press conferences, or is it show floor only?

[zslash]

No, the press conferences are separate. Having an E3 badge does not get you in those. You need to be invited by Sony/Nintendo/MS.

[RockmanII7]

I'd honestly rather go to PAX, and that is only about $60 for a 3 day pass.

Edit - Close enough
http://east.paxsite.com/reg...
$55 for 3 day pass, $35 for 1 day pass

[KaiokenKid]

Soo, basicaly only the big boys get to go? What about the peopel trying to make a name for themselves?

[ScubaSteve1]

thats why you gotta work in the business

[KaiokenKid]

But what about the people that want to get into the business? Theyre screwed. You cant just go to a class and they give you a certificate into the gaming business world. You have to do do stuff to get noticed or whatever, how can you do that if you are locked out of stuff? This limits new blood getting into the game and the old dogs will become the ONLY people.

[LtSkittles]

Major in journalism, make a site/domain, hire people, get interviews, get noticed?

This is what I'm thinking of doing, just get a group of people/friends who know their stuff.

[zslash]

The requirement is very modest. 8000 uniques in a month is nothing! One story on the N4G front page will get you that in a day basically.

[IrieMars]

I went last year for the first time in my life. Let me tell you E3 will tear you apart. We had a team of 8 go to the event and it's nothing like you see on the sites. Ok maybe it is sort of. But for the most part it was me and our team running back and forth between meetings and interviews, then back to the press room to dish out as many words on what you just saw in the last three hours of meetings and interviews into thirty min of writing time. Then off you go to the next meeting or interview.

Going to an event this big as press takes a lot out of you. If your editor and cheif does his planning right, you will have very little time on the floor to actually walk around and see everything. From day one to three I was booked with all kinds of meetings and things. So I would race as fast as I could to write, just so I can have a moment to actually walk around. Games I actually played, very little. Our team was always running in and out of the press room, we had places to be.

Looking from the outside in like I use to, E3 looks like a blast, but once you are there as press, it really becomes something to big for it's own good. And having a big team of editors really helps the site capture almost everything. One man cannot get all aspects of the show. Why? Because there are more off limit rooms hiding the good stuff, the show floor is just for chumps that didn't make appointments and have to stand in line to see or play anything. Just saying.

[ScubaSteve1]

down with e3 and them wanting money, How i miss the good old days WHERE IT WAS FREE

[wwm0nkey]

They where loosing A LOT of money when it was free. Honestly its better the way it is now.

[Neo Nugget]

I would rather go to PAX.....

[SpLinT]

id rather sneak in like i did last year. lmao.

[Cairnius]

The article was speaking to people who want to get in as press, not just people who want to get in.

You can pay $400 and walk the show floor all day...but you don't get into:

- The demo rooms in the publisher's pavilions
- Some of the video presentations
- The big conferences
- Any of the private rooms on the second floor where all the really cool stuff is

Example given, last year Sony's pavilion had this raised, second floor they built. Only press got up there. They have snacks and drinks, big televisions set up with couches, and PR people to walk you through games and answer questions.

All you got on the ground floor, i.e. general admission, was standing in huge fucking lines to try and get to play Killzone 3.

So, yeah, if you can go as press, you want to go as press, which is why all these fly-by-night sites have been doing it for years...and you don't have to pay $400 to get access that's a thousand times better than all the paid attendees'.