E3 is still a press-specific event, though. They've increased the scale of it from what it was cut down to after the organizers had gotten fed up with people sneaking in and shit, but PAX is still the only game-specific convention in America that's open to the public (barring company-specific stuff like Blizzcon). And like Johnny said, publishers are actually taking this show seriously and showing new details about games at the show. I know No More Heroes 2 is playable for the first time on the show floor (which makes me super jealous), and Valve is showing off one of the new Left 4 Dead 2 campaigns along with some of the new special Infected.