Add the name of Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter to the list of those who think E3 is an event in its death throes. According to the outspoken analyst, E3 is "virtually useless for retail and for investors," due to the fact that the event has changed so much from what it was a few years ago.

"The conference used to offer retail, media and investors an early look at games and an opportunity to speak with company managements," says Pachter. "Now the games have long since been announced and the event is virtually useless for retail and investors."

It seems like about this time every year we get the song and dance about how E3 is a big waste of time and it doesn’t really mean anything, and yet pretty much every major outlet (present company included) covers the event breathlessly from top to bottom. So I suppose we should ask ourselves, is E3 really on the outs, or do we just revel in controversy? This year seems especially volatile with a number of companies departing from the ESA, but is that a harbinger of dark times ahead, or simply the cost of doing business?