Capcom Opening E3 Booth To The Public

E3 may have become a dull, stodgy, press-only event, but that isn't stopping Capcom from doing its best to appeal directly to the audience that matters most: The gamers.

Capcom has extended an invitation to "actual humans" to drop by its booth at E3 on the afternoon of July 17. The booth will be open to the public from noon until 1:30 pm, with one catch: Space is limited, so anyone wanting in will have to send a note to Capcom ahead of time, asking to be put on The List. If you're not on The List, you're not getting in.

A blog post by Capcom community rep S-kill says that while the booth isn't very big, "It's packed with goodness, including of course all our new games, and a mysterious Street Fighter IV rug!" While it's far too early to even suggest that this move might represent an eventual return to the gamer-driven E3 of lore, it is interesting to see the company setting aside a chunk of time during an extremely busy press event to interact directly with its fans. If other E3 exhibitors follow Capcom's example en masse, it could very well represent a fundamental rejection of the "new" E3 and a shift back to a more consumer-oriented show.

Gamers who are going to be in the area on July 17 can toss their name into the Capcom E3 hat here.