This year’s E3 has finally come to and end, and it brought us happiness, excitement, surprises and of course some disappointments. That VideoGame Blog did some massive covering from the event (with more to come), and we’ve enjoyed hands-on time with many games, and dug deep into all the screenshots, trailers and interesting news that has been released. But E3 has changed. Only a couple of years ago, the event attracted around 60,000 attendants, whereas this year approximately 5,000 invited-only people showed up. Various top execs around the world now explain their dissatisfaction about 2008 year’s E3.

While speaking to the San Fransisco Chronicle, John Riccitiello, Electronic Art’s CEO, said “I hate E3 like this. Either we need to go back to the old E3, or we’ll have to have our own private events.” Riccitiello wasn’t the only one that was unhappy about the current state of E3. “E3 this year is terrible,” said Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America. “The world used to come to E3. Now it’s like a pipe-fitters show in the basement.”

It’s obvious that E3 has gone through some changes. It used to be all about grandiosity, laser shows and booth babes. Now, far less money is being spent on the event, and those attending are invited to the show. This means the event is less extravagant, but also more specific and targeted.

What may help E3 regain its former status, is holding the event at a different time. Now, it’s held during the companies’ quiet periods, and because of the selling season during fall, many companies are unable to keep new games secret, thus making big announcements at E3 impossible. This year’s E3 was more about confirming already circulating rumors, and releasing debut trailers for games we knew was about to come.

Make sure to join our constantly growing community discussions and tell us about your opinions on this year’s E3 Media & Business Summit.