So I may be in California during e3, how do I get tickets or are they even available?

Or is it completely free?

You must be a Illuminati, they don't just hand them to everyone.

Its a press event, you can't get tickets, you must be invited.

You have to work in the game industry in some form like a developer, writer, reviewer, blogger, press, etc. I hear E3 is extremely hard to get into though. It's a lot harder than say, CES. You don't have to be invited, you just have to apply and get accepted. 

You have to be a member of media really, and registration closed last week or the week before as well (at least from the emails I've been getting). So it's not looking too great right now sadly

From the E3 site:

"Welcome to Attendee Registration. Please note that E3 is a trade-only event and is not open to the general public. Individuals who are not able to document their direct, and current professional affiliation to the interactive entertainment industry are not qualified to attend. If you are from the retail sector, you must be able to provide documentation that verifies that you are responsible for company purchasing."

So you are ~probably~ out of luck.

Only in our wildest dreams, pal. :/

: ( yeah, what they said. Unless you are associated with the industry, looks like you can`t get in. Even then, the price for a ticket seems really expensive...

met a guy in L.A. last year who said he got in cause he ran a Halo fan podcast.

so that doesn't sound all that strict to me.

You have to whore urself out to a person with an e3 ticket or a person that has an extra one