E3 conference schedule announced

The ESA has published a schedule of events due to take place at this year's E3, with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all set to hold conferences along with nine third-party publishers, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

As detailed on the E3 website, Microsoft will kick off proceedings with an hour-long conference at 8.30pm on July 10.

Nintendo will take the floor the next day at 9am, followed by Sony Computer Entertainment America at 11.30am. The site states that entrance is by invitation only, and that "summit registration does not grant access to console company press conferences".

In the afternoon it's the turn of the third-parties - Electronic Arts (2pm), Activision (3.15pm), Midway (4.30pm) and Konami (5.45pm).

The venues for the platform holder conferences have yet to be announced, but all of the software publisher conferences are set to take place at the Starlight Ballroom in the Fairmont Hotel.

On July 12, Take-Two will hold a press conference at 8am, followed by THQ (9.15am), Ubisoft (10.30am), Namco Bandai (1pm) and Disney Interactive (3.30pm).

On both July 11 and 12 hotel meeting suites will be open from 9am - 5.30pm, while attendees will be able to view games in the Barker Hangar from 1pm - 6.30pm.

No conferences are scheduled for July 13, but the meeting suites will be open from 9am - 3.30pm and the Barker Hangar from 11am - 3.30pm.

More than 30 companies have booked booths in the hangar. The floorplan for the event shows that alongside the platform holders, the biggest booths have been reserved by Square-Enix, Konami, SEGA, Sony Online Entertainment, THQ, Namco Bandai, Capcom and Electronic Arts.