Prior to 1995, the video game industry used the
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) as their primary trade show venue. In the years leading up to 1995, the video game industry was usually delegated to an outdoor section of CES, which were not ideal conditions for promoting products. The International Digital Software Association (IDSA), later renamed to the
Entertainment Software Association (ESA), approached CES and its head
Gary J. Shapiro with their grievances about the conditions they had at CES. As CES did not consider video games as part of
consumer electronics, they were unwilling to alter how they would involve video games. This led IDSA to consider starting their own show. Pat Ferrell of
GamePro, a publication owned by
International Data Group (IDG) with experience in running trade shows like
MacWorld, began the process of organizing such a show.
Tom Kalinske, then the CEO of
Sega of America, was a prime motivator in establishing a new show, believing CES did not have the video game industry's best interests at heart, and had found previously that running a Sega-only event was highly regarded by retailers and media alike. IDSA also recognized that by holding its own trade show, it would have a means to finance its organization. Ferrell came up with the show's name "Electronic Entertainment Expo" with the idea that it could be treated as "E cubed", however, the games media found the "E cubed" approach cumbersome and preferred the simpler "E3" moniker. CES overheard these plans, and quickly proposed their own CES-branded video game-only trade show. IDSA and CES approached the larger video game companies to pitch their versions of the show. Many of the younger companies, like
Electronic Arts, desired the approach offered by IDSA, including the potential to own part of the show by becoming members of the IDSA, over what the CES offered. The primary holdout to IDSA's plan was
Nintendo, who believed their hardware should be treated as consumer electronics and thus should be part of CES. During these negotiations, the CES reserved space in Philadelphia for the show during the month of May, which Ferrell stated was "prime time" for retailers to prepare for late-year/holiday sales. E3 was originally planned for
Las Vegas, but after CES reserved space in Philadelphia for mid-May, IDSA switched to the
Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC) for the same dates to force exhibitors to choose. Los Angeles was selected partly because it offered easier travel from Japan compared to Philadelphia. Over the next several weeks, prior to either event having to put down their non-refundable reservation fees, IDSA made an aggressive push to get exhibitors for their show, securing more than 180 vendors. Of the major video game companies, only Nintendo and
Microsoft had held out, still undecided which show to attend. Soon after this push, Shapiro contacted Ferrell and told him he "won"; CES dropped the plans for their Philadelphia event. The same day, Nintendo and Microsoft reached out to Ferrell to discuss exhibition plans at his event. ==Event==