LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2003--For the first time ever, consumers and game enthusiasts will get a first-hand virtual look inside the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3Expo), the world's preeminent interactive entertainment trade show, the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) announced today. The Web site, E3Insider (www.e3insider.com), will launch on May 14th at 10am when E3Expo's doors open to thousands of industry professionals at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

"With the launch of E3Insider, we've opened E3Expo's 'virtual doors' so that consumers and game enthusiasts from around the globe can experience the excitement of E3Expo," said Douglas Lowenstein, president of the IDSA, the trade association that represents U.S. computer and video game publishers and the owner of E3Expo. "E3Expo is a trade-only event, established specifically as a venue for the worldwide interactive entertainment community to showcase new products and take care of business. With that said, we felt it was important to be able to offer the millions of gamers out there who support this industry a way to see what's going on at the show, and E3Insider will do just that."

E3Insider will give consumers the ability to experience the excitement of this exclusive trade-only event and get a feel for the trends being seen and the products being showcased. The new site will capture the show's action and excitement through interactive coverage, news from exhibitor booths, interviews with industry professionals, video clips, photo galleries and stories about the show. In addition, E3Insider will feature daily sweepstakes, giving site visitors a chance to win prizes including game consoles. Visitors to the Web site will be given a look at some of the more than 1,350 never-before-seen computer and video game titles and related products that will debut during the show's three days.

E3Expo, now in its ninth year, is owned by the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. IDSA members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the $6.9 billion in entertainment software sales in the U.S. in 2002, and billions more in export sales of American-made entertainment software. The IDSA offers services to interactive entertainment software publishers including a global anti-piracy program, owning the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show, business and consumer research, government relations and First Amendment and intellectual property protection efforts.

E3Expo is a trade event, not open to the general public. Only working journalists with qualified media outlets will be eligible to register for media badges. No one under the age of 18 will be admitted, including infants. This policy is strictly enforced.