So E3 is nearly upon us, and I’m fortunate enough to be one of the elite few who got invited. Not under Channel Massive’s banner. At least– not this year.

The thing is, I’m a little hollow about everything. I’ve been to E3 about four or five times and this is the first year I’ll be going to the “professionalized” version of it. The spectacle, lights, babes, whatever, that literally blew my mind the first year I went will no longer be there. Yet also absent will be the punk underage kids and little snots with bogus websites who aren’t there for industry, journalism or networking but instead for photos with strippers and free giveaways. I’ll miss the former. Not the latter.

But we’ve lost both at what cost? I get to line sprint four city blocks from hotel to hotel for three days straight because publishers (those who attended, at least) turned their nose up at the super-small, standardized booths in Barker Hangar in order to use more impressive, non-restricted space at their local hotels. I do dig the idea of a quieter atmosphere and more direct contact with the developers and publishers, but the scattered locations are far from convenient, especially in the span of only a few days.

Further, I’m even wondering if there will be as many big announcements as there has been at previous E3s. Many publishers have responded to E3′s downsizing by focusing all their budget into other overseas shows (Leipzeig or TGS), or they’ve even just made shows just for themselves (Ubisoft, etc.). Beyond that, the spectre of “E for All” looms over October. Where’s the focus? When should the press be excited? How about the gamers? Our annual Games Are Glorious holiday, previously in May, is now a muddled rainstorm that comes and goes in spurts throughout the year.

It’s all funky. It’s a funky, transitional year that probably (hopefully) won’t ever be repeated once everything is learned from these shows.

At any rate, I’ve got my fingers crossed to incidentally see some of the awesome MMO stuff coming out this year– be it something special from NCSoft or a game like CONAN. Just writing “Conan” gets me excited. But we’ll see. As I’ve alluded to, I’ve got a huge schedule of console-related stuff to hit up, and that’s my first priority as an E3 attendee– my invite dictates that. But if I can scrounge up some hot eyes-on impressions or something else for you guys and my awesome co-hosts, we’ll try to put together a little mini-sode for you. Keep your eyes out for something cool and drop us a line at mail@channelmassive.com. I’ll be sprinting the pavement to it as soon as I know.