E3: Show aggressively screens out party crashers
Don't even think about it.
The security guards at E3 are keeping eagle eyes on E3 badges to make sure no one sneaks in. One guard tried to snatch infiltrators by making sure the name on the badge matches with the gender of the person wearing it. That guard, who declined to reveal his name, said he caught a man wearing a badge for someone named "Jenny." It didn't match the name on his drivers license.
Others have tried to get in by making color photocopies of legitimate badges. The show confiscated a stack of fake paper badges more than an inch thick, the guard said.
In past years, it was a teenage boy's rite of passage to sneak into E3, the world's largest industry-only video-game event.
They contributed to some playful pranks and some not-so-fun mayhem. One year, the legend goes, an interloper wreaked havoc by shearing power cords throughout the convention center.
Mostly, though, they clogged the booths and made it hard for everyone to see the games and navigate the sardine-packed floor.
This year, the Entertainment Software Assn, the group that puts on E3, said it would police the list of attendees to keep the show at a manageable size. More than 35,000 people registered for the show, down from more than 65,000 at the show's peak in 2005.
"We pre-qualified every individual to make sure they have a connection to the industry," said Michael Gallagher, president of the ESA. "We have to fight to keep the numbers down."
-- Alex Pham
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