We all know that E3 didn't go too well this summer. We all know that E for All was far from a mob scene.  We know that IDG runs both E3 and E for All. We know that Kotaku has reported that the ESA is considering opening up E3 to the public next year. Asked about the future of E for All, an IDG rep said that the company would have announcements about future events soon.

Given all that, it seems entirely logical to me that IDG and the ESA will be announcing they are merging the two events in some way next summer. Maybe they'll say it's E3 for the industry for a day or two and then open it up to the public and call it E for All for a few days. Maybe it'll be E for All in one public section and E3 in a separate private section. Either way, it's essentially killing off the unsuccessful E for All expo and improving the troubled E3 by making it a Tokyo Game Show or Leipzig-like partially public event. But it sounds nicer by saying they're merging, doesn't it?

Of course, maybe I'm totally wrong. This is just an educated guess.

After last year's rather dismal showing at IDG's inaugural E for All, organizer IDG swore that the show would go on and return in 2008. Joystiq has a very nice illustration of why that decision isn't looking wise.

Exactly two publishers are currently committed to attending E for All in LA in October, Electronic Arts and Microsoft. 32 exhibitors are listed on the E for All site, but the other 30 are all accessory and paraphenalia makers, game retailers, videogame schools and other non-profits (plus, of course, the inevitable Fatal1ty). If E for All is, as advertised, "the place where games and gamers" meet, it's looking like a pretty one-sided meeting. It's difficult to imagine attendees would be satisfied paying $35 for one day, $60 for two days, or $75 for four days with "Gears of War 2," "Dead Space," "Mirror's Edge," and possibly some early builds of games coming out in 2009.

But the really bad news for E for All is that almost every major publisher is attending Penny Arcade Expo this weekend. From Atari and Gamecock through Activision Blizzard and Nintendo, they're pretty much all there. The Penny Arcade folks are expecting 50,000 plus attendees in Seattle this weekend. (I'm going to be there too, for the first time, and am pretty damned excited).

Last year, E for All had 18,000 attendees who came to see three major publishers: Nintendo, Konami, and THQ. It's hard to see how things would be different this year. If they can't sign up more big exhibitors, IDG and the Entertainment Software Assn. (which gave E for All its endorsement after downsizing E3 last year) risk some major embarrassment in the wake of PAX.

For breakdown of which publishers were at E for All last year, which are there this year, and who's at PAX, check out Joystiq's handy chart.

Update: A rep for IDG sent me the following response:

At this point we'll just say that the show isn't over until Tiger hits his last hole in one, Microsoft has packed up its last Xbox, Target has sold its last Wii Fit, Fatali1ty has blown away his last opponent, and the World Cyber Games National champions are crowned. Further announcements are forthcoming and we are confident that E for All 2008 will be a great event for everyone in the gaming community.

I'm back and catching up. Here's some of the big videogame news last week that I missed...

-Mario Puzo's grandson is suing Paramount to get a cut of the profits from the "Godfather" game.

-"Underworld" director Len Wiseman is now attached to direct "Gears of War" at New Line. This is good news, at least for those who want to see the "Gears" movie happen, since once New Line was downsized and folded into Warner Bros, there was reason to worry whether the project would survive. Apparently it is and by attaching a fairly big director, the new New Line is signalling it's still a priority.

-After the rather dismal showing exhibitor- and fan-wise at last year's E for All, IDG had some good news by announcing that Microsoft has signed on. With "Gears of War 2" coming this holiday season, that'll be at least one really big draw for gamers. And it's probably the reason why the show's October timing works well for Microsoft.

-EA's bid for Take-Two got extended for a fourth time and the latter company has finally reached a deal to turn over all the material the FTC wants to investigate the proposed agreement. And Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick continues to be uninterested. What exactly does EA think is the endgame in all this? Fascinating.

-Longtime EALA chief Neil Young, who has recently been heading up the mysterious new Blueprint group focused on developing new content in new ways, has left EA to work at his own company. I had been hearing he was unhappy and trying to land a new job for the past few months. Company vet Louis Castle is taking over Blueprint, which is in charge of the Steven Spielberg games, amongst other things.

After what can only be described as a soft debut last fall, with 18,000 attendees, most major publishers not displaying, and hundreds of open demo stations, IDG has scheduled the second annual E for All for the same month, just a couple of weeks earlier.

As Joystiq first noted, and I have confirmed, E for All will be back at the Los Angeles Convention Center in October, only this time from the 3-5, rather than the 18-21 like it was last year. Previously, it had been scheduled for August, the same weekend as Penny Arcade Expo.

Interestingly, this goes against what IDG's VP of event development Carolyn Rauch told me last fall as she was explaining the event's performance. Here's what I wrote then:

Rauch granted that the October date wasn't ideal, and was chosen because the convention center wasn't available earlier. IDG has scheduled 2008's E for All in late August. That should work better with publisher's marketing plans and allow more students to attend on weekdays.

Competing with Penny Arcade was obviously going to be a nightmare, but it will be very interesting to see how E for All will manage to overcome last year's problems and get enough publishers to spend marketing money so far into the fall, as well as whether it will charge gamers the $50-plus that tickets cost last year.

For the record, here's part of IDG's statement they just sent me:

We are very excited to be holding the event in October, a decision that reflects the great success of the last year's event -- also held in October -- as well as the positive feedback from exhibitors and attendees about the Fall timing.