By Tess 2 years, 10 months ago • 0 Comments
Last year, only 40 companies attended E3. This year, the roster has doubled summing up the total to about 86 companies scheduled to attend. Even among such a large list, some big names were omitted. Midway and Natsume are among some of the names left out of the list.
Midway took some hard hits this year. After eating the losses from the ill-fated Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe release the company filed for bankruptcy and lost its membership in the ESA, so perhaps the absence is excusable at this point.
Natsume isn’t doing so hot either. With the atrocious Princess Debut releasing for the DS as well as the institution’s notoriety for glitch-ridden games, the publisher is starting to lose itself. As of late, Natsume’s been going the Sega route and investing most of its resources to creating pinball games and slot machines.
Another company missing in action is D3Publisher, the makers of Puzzle Quest. The company was recently acquired by Namco-Bandai so they might just sit this one out while dealing with the merger or D3Publisher may decide show up under Namco-Bandai, who is slated to attend this year.
Tecmo is having quite a few legal troubles. The current president, Yoshimi Yasuda, resigned in the wake of the company facing two separate lawsuits: One from Team Ninja front-man, Tatsuki Tsunoda and the other from employee representative Hiroaki Ozawa. Tsunoda is going after Tecmo for unpaid bonuses and emotional distress while Ozawa is seeking compensation from the corporation for unrewarded wages on behalf of 300 employees. All this is while Tecmo is undergoing a merger with KOEI Entertainment.
E3 will be held June 2-4, 2009 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
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