Metareview: E for All Impressions

You've heard our initial thoughts on E for All, but as day two starts we thought we'd gather up some early impressions of the show from other outlets and slap them together in a classic metareview. We'll probably end up doing another one of these at the end of the show if enough outlets do wrap-up impressions. Just to be clear, these are initial impressions and do not convey what can or will happen with the E for All show over the weekend (when there's gotta be more people going). Check out the shot of the LA Convention Center lobby from E3 2006 after the break for a comparison to the E for All one above.

• Macworld: "Some industry veterans who arrived on Thursday were a bit disappointed by what they saw. E3 veterans are accustomed to seeing every square inch of the mammoth convention center overflowing with game content. That's not the case with the new E for All show, as it only occupies the center's still-cavernous South Hall. But still, visitors were upbeat about getting their hands on the latest games and gaming technology, and vendors were anxiously anticipating a steadily increasing stream of foot traffic throughout the next few days."

• NextGen: "On a preliminary basis, the show does seem to suffer from the fact that Sony and Microsoft aren't present-maybe next year. Not having several of the big third-party publishers present as exhibitors also brings down the energy level a bit, perhaps more so than we expected now that we're actually on the show floor."

• Game|Life: "E for All is a ghost town, right now. I was talking with the Nintendo guys about how nice it is to be able to actually swing your arms and not hit other people. But that's because the show floor is small and attendance is smaller. There are maybe a few thousand people in South Hall, spread wide out across the thin showing of booths. ... To be fair, the show's currently only open to pre-registered attendees. And it's a Thursday. Hopefully things will improve for this show closer to the weekend, or once they let in people off the street at 3 PM. But right now, wow. It's pretty sparse."

• Kotaku: "Around 3 PM, when those who hadn't pre-registered for the event were permitted to enter, crowds grew by about a third, but there was virtually no waiting to get on most games. ... Granted, it's Thursday, and many of the gamers who might be interested in hitting up E For All may not be able to make it down until the weekend, but first impressions of public interest in the event isn't fantastic. We could very well be looking at the first, and the last, E For All Expo. No one will mistake this event for the 'new E3.'"

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