This year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is unique in that the general public was allowed to purchase tickets to gain entrance to the event. Previously it has remained as an industry-only event reserved for developers, publishers, PR, press, and other folks related to the video game industry. As a result, E3 2017 is likely poised to be a bit different than in year’s past.
For starters, there will be a lot more people there so the crowds will be bigger than ever. Additionally, a brand new initiative is starting called the E3 Coliseum, which is headed by Geoff Keighley from The Game Awards. The Coliseum will be opened on Tuesday (June 13th) and Wednesday (June 14th) at The Novo at L.A. Live as a “spectacular main stage” to help get “video game fans closer” to their favorite creators. Essentially, since fans and individuals without press passes can’t typically gain access to the press conferences running from Saturday-Monday, this event serves as a way to get a similar experience in front of a live stage with many of the industry’s most respected and successful luminaries.
You can see the full schedule for E3 Coliseum here, but unfortunately it’s very light on VR or AR focused material. The only targeted session is a large panel discussion titled, “New Realities: Gaming in VR, AR, and Gaming.” The event will be held at 10:00AM and features Ivan Reitman, a Director/Producer, Curtis Hickman from The Void, Will Smith from The Foo Show, Tanya Watson from Squanchtendo Games, David Ellison from Skydance Media, and Brandon J. Laatsch from Stress Level Zero Games.
Other sessions during the two-day span include a Bethesda Software panel (maybe Fallout VR will be shown,) Epic Games panel (Unreal Engine is heavily involved with VR, as well as titles such as Robo Recall,) and a panel focused on Microsoft’s Scorpio, which could have information about VR capabilities. Overall though, this event is mostly focused on traditional video games.
Let us know what you think in the comments below! Will you be attending E3 this year?
