SAs the E3 Media & Business Summit wound down last week, gamers and industry execs chirped up about the state of the show. Speaking with the San Francisco Chronicle last week, Ubisoft North America president Laurent Detoc and Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello both panned this year's show.

　　"I hate E3 like this," Riccitiello told the paper. "Either we need to go back to the old E3 or we'll have to have our own private events."

　　Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter was no more charitable, saying the spectacle of the event was dead and the show itself is "headed for extinction" unless the publishers and console makers realize people don't care about it in its current form.

　　Regardless, there are plans for at least one more E3. A representative with the event's organizers at the Entertainment Software Association affirmed that much for GameSpot today, but gave little indication as to how next year's show will differ.

　　"As we do every year, we're beginning the process of surveying exhibitors and attendees to determine potential changes to the summit," the representative said. "Once this is completed and shared with the ESA's Board of Directors, we will make an announcement about the specifics of the 2009 E3 Media & Business Summit, which will occur."

　　The ESA has been unafraid of changing plans for the show in recent years. After the 2006 show drew more than 60,000 attendees to the Los Angeles Convention Center (pictured above), the trade group announced plans to radically downsize the event to around 5,000 invite-only attendees and move to nearby Santa Monica for 2007.

　　That move cost the organization $5 million in event cancellation fees, as it had already booked the LACC for its 2007 show. Despite that expense, the ESA moved the show right back to the LACC for 2008 while keeping the attendance figures closer to the drastically reduced levels of the Santa Monica event.