"I hate E3 like this," said John Riccitiello, Electronics Arts' CEO. "Either we need to go back to the old E3, or we'll have to have our own private events."

Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America, concurred. "E3 this year is terrible," he said. "The world used to come to E3. Now it's like a pipe-fitters show in the basement."

Sega of America's president, Simon Jeffery, said he doesn't want to go back to the days when he would spend $5 million on E3. But he said there should be some more flash to bring back retailers, who have abandoned the show.