Next to the Christmas season, E3 is the biggest date on computer and console game publishers' calendars. This year's Expo takes place May 28-30 in Atlanta, Georgia, and, according to Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), which runs E3, more than 1600 new PC and console titles will be shown off during the show.

　　Lowenstein's group took a survey of the exhibitors expected to display their wares at the show, and that survey found that:

　　More than half of new titles to be shown at E3 have a multiplayer component, and 100 new titles have been designed exclusively for play on the Internet.

　　Sixty percent of the new PC games will feature 3D graphics.

　　As far as consoles are concerned, exhibitors will showcase hundreds of third- and fourth-generation titles for 32- and 64-bit systems.

　　Almost 30 percent of the new titles will be available for more than one platform.

　　Expo organizers say that exhibitors account for more than 95 percent of the 1997 US market for interactive entertainment. Seventy-five percent of exhibitors list people 18 and older as their most important demographic target group.