To those guys who went to this years E3, how do you get the E3 passes? Do they also check if your info is legit or not? Thanks.

I asked Deftones17 to get one for me

They asked for my drivers license. not any verification of employment.

lol... i also asked him but he never responded to any of my posts or emails so i figured he was too busy.

really i didn't have to show him anything. he just swiped my card and gave me a badge holder.

I bought four passes off Yahoo Auctions for $80!

For those who might be interested in registering next year (May 23-25, 2002). Here's some helpful info. You can register several different ways, and there are several packages to choose from, some of which require appropriate credentials. Check out http://www.e3expo.com. Registration usually starts in February before the event, and there is an April cut-off for early registration which can get you a discount if you are paying.
You can get FREE admission to exhibits only (the only thing really worth seeing, but you won't get into any "closed" areas like Sega's booth this year or any VIP areas) if you are in the retail industry or a similar profession. You have to provide two forms that prove your employment, which are listed on the site. This is what I register for, and it's only available for early registration and you can't register for it online, it must be faxed or mailed. You can download a .PDF to print and fill out off the site. You can register for exhibits only and pay, which I don't think requires proof of employment. This used to be about $75 back in '97 (first year I went), but has shot up to $150, and goes to $200 after the early registration cut-off. It's still a pretty good deal, but you can't beat free. There are also conference packages and media packages which cost even more and the media one requires credentials, as media attendees get pretty much full access to stuff everybody else doesn't, such as closed areas and sweet presskits and giveaways. The conference and other packages are really not worthwhile unless you plan to spend a lot of time listening to people blab about the industry as opposed to playing games and getting free stuff. As far as people "getting you passes," I don't think it's so easy anymore. In '97 and & '98, I got comp admissions for 1 colleague with my registrations, but haven't since they moved back to L.A. Not to say it's not possible, but I wouldn't rely on anybody getting you anything since you never know. In any case, E3 is definitely worth checking out and even though this year was smaller and seemed to be lacking in comparison to years past, I'm still glad I went. If there are other questions, please post them in this forum and I'll check back from time to time and I'm sure others here who have attended will also chime in.

What if you have your own website that sells computer artwork? Can you use that business as a way of getting some passes? Thanks.

Worth a try. They state that if they need additional information or proof for the free package that they will contact you. Just register early so if there's a problem, you can get it taken care of in advance, and be sure to KEEP COPIES of everything you send. Mine got messed up this year, but I kept all my stuff and fax confirmation and was able to take care of it on site in a matter of minutes. Probably would not have been the case if I hadn't kept that all together.

The gaming site we run was eligible for E3...but alas, my vacation started 2 days late for us to go...next year however...

well there was a reason for that. the show is very strict on how many passes they give out. due to the size of my business and it's annual sales, we are only allotted so many passes. basically, i got everyone passes that I could. it was first come, first served, so you must have been later on the list. sorry i didn't email you back about it, though.

Can I be put on the list for next year?

E3 is getting way too crowded. They let anyone in nowadays.

Did you actually go this year?? I've been every year and this by far was one of the smallest attended shows of them all! In fact, on Saturday, it was dead as hell. As for letting "anyone" in, I don't necessarily buy that either. They were confiscating "bogus" passes from people all 3 days.

It was only my first year, but I thought there were too many people there too.

Four of the people in my group (including me) got mailed two identical passes, so we had four extra badges. And they let you get as many badge holders as you want, so they would have been perfectly useable. Not to mention the badge readers they had at the conference rooms didn't work half the time anyway. I went to two or three that were really interesting, though I'll probably just save the money and go to just the exhibits next year.

Yes I agree that last years E3 had way more people! It was so crowded last year that I decided not to go on the third day.

This year the crowds were smaller (except in the Gamecube booth). I went all three days this year! I did see some people get stopped at the doors. They were trying to get in with photocopied badges.

I went with some friends this year and my bro had a fake pass. What we would is, i would distract the guards checking the passes. I would distract them by going close to them as possible so they'll only focus on me and my bro just goes in with the fake one.

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I *did* go. It was my 4th out of 7.

This year I only went the first 2 days, so I don't know about Saturday being dead.

As far as letting anyone in - what I meant was anyone who sends in a registration form will get a badge. There is absolutely no procedure in place to check if you are *in the industry* or not. (hence my subject "Industry only, my butt")

My friend and I are currently working on a website that includes video games (its music movies and video games all on one site) Would that be "industry" enough to get badges for next year (not that I will probably attend since I live all the way in Texas, I just want to know out of curiosity)?

Apparently, you didn't send in your for your pass this year. They were requiring that you send in 2 pieces of proof that you are in the industry. Whether it be a tax license, check stub, business card or whatever, they absolutely would not accept registration with out them.