With the downsizing of the annual E3 show, which traditionally attracted 70,000-plus game industry professionals annually; a new show is opening its doors this year. And it's open to the public. The E for All Expo will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center (the old haunting ground of E3) this October 18-20. The creators of the show, IDG Entertainment, are the publishers of GamePro Magazine.

The show will include pro videogame tournaments, demos of the latest videogames for Christmas, a Video Games Live Concert and a job fair for those interested in getting into the game development business. Pricing hasn't been determined yet, but the new Expo already is allowing gamers to sign up for registration to the event.

The game convention is being aimed at the gamer. In fact, a contest of the past two months was held to name the actual event, which was originally called GamePro Expo. California resident and gamer Dante Padre named the event E for All Expo and he'll get a free trip to the show.

As for the new E3, which is now called the E3 Media and Business Summit, it will be held July 11-13 in Santa Monica California. The event will only be open to top tier press, with fewer than 5,000 invites expected to go out. All of the big game companies, including Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, are expected to be showing new games at the show, which will take place at the Santa Monica Airport Hangar and local hotel suites. I plan on attending both events, so you'll get first-hand accounts of the games later this year.