http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7631&Itemid=2

Of course 18,000 may be paltry compared to other, more established convetions, but I'd like to see the first year numbers of those as well.

The convention got a lot of put-downs from the gaming press, usually about the attendance and game selections, and for not having earth-shattering news announcements. Yet I remember the first PAX convention wasn't so hot either. And how big was the first E3?

Basically, the gaming press seemed to act like the eletist snobs that turn me off of film and music critics. By refusing to acknowledge that these problems could be merely growing pains, and instead acting as though these problems are somehow unique to this expo, they show a complete lack of reason and objectivity. They expected things from the show they should have known better.

EDIT: And Destructiod has similar thoughts on the criticism of the expo. 

Okami Wii announced and media calls it flop??? Anyway, it's an open convention thus 18,000 seem a bit low. It's not like E3 that's only for journalists.

It's the first year, open or private. 

Nintendo's presence didn't save it? :| Hopefully it does better next year.

All educated (don't want to use "hardcore") gamers knew about it; no matter if it's first year, it's a bit low. My guess is that most gamers expected it would be a flop, or not very interesting at least.

You say no matter if it's the first year, and THEN point out that most gamers stayed away expecting a flop? Wouldn't being a first year, and therefore not established, CAUSE that expectation?

PAX - 1337 pre-registered attendees first year (Tycho saw it as a blessing of the gaming gods) , with 7000-10,000 total I think.

Just throwing that out there. Webcomic with 250k daily views.

 That's excactly my point. Many expected it would be overshadowed by E3, TGS, Leipzig and most importantly, Nintendo's own earth-shattering conference a week-or-so ago. They thought Nintendo had nothing new to show, and they were they only hardware company attending.

I found interesting this article about E 4 All by Next-Gen :

When I first arrived at the LA Convention Center I expected lines around the block and all the media madness of E3, but that is not what E for All is. E for All is not a hype factory; it is not a place for startling announcements and giant displays. It’s not the place to “see it first” or hear the news as it breaks. But it’s also not a giant LAN party or an inflated gamer’s basement or a social rendezvous for people who love games.

It’s not E3 and it’s not PAX.

What it is is an excellent place for the industry to reach out to the consumer. It’s a place where the people building the games can come face-to-face with the people playing them.

I was stunned by the 2K/Firaxis booth. They were running a demo of the Civilization: Revolution and every time that someone played their demo a member of Firaxis would stand quietly behind them and watch what they did. When the conference-goer put down the controller the staff member would ask them what they thought about their game. I asked one of the designers about this and he responded:

“We’ve still got five months left, what better way to make our game better?”

I think that’s what’s at the heart of this conference: the industry making themselves available to the consumer…and really listening.

I pulled aside about a dozen random people in the exhibition hall and asked them for their opinions on the conference. I got a wide range of answers. I got “I expected more” and “Where are all the games” to the obligatory “Metal Gear Rocks!11!”, but there were two responses that really stood out for me.

The first was from a young man in a baseball cap and hoody who said excitedly, “I just met the guy who made Madden!” We all know this statement means nothing. We all know there is no “guy who made Madden”, but to him he had a meaningful experience talking to someone in the industry. Later in the conversation he said to me “I got to tell him (the Madden guy) all the things I wished they’d do, it was dope." That’s where the value in E for All lies.

The second quote was from a girl in her mid-20s at the Wii booth. We talked for a long time about gender roles in games and she said to me “Yeah, I just told off one of the jerks who made Rumble Roses." I’m pretty sure this meant that she vented at some poor Konami employee for a while but, again, she felt like she got someone in the industry to listen to her. And you know what? She might be right. If you want my guess, whomever she talked to will certainly remember the tongue-lashing she gave them.

So, my impressions? When I first came here I was disappointed. I was expecting something else. I was expecting this conference to be the clone of something I already knew. It’s not, it’s something different. So, if you plan on attending E for All, it’s important to remember: this isn’t GDC, it’s not a place to job hunt, it isn’t E3, news isn’t broken here, it isn’t PAX, you’re not here to hang out, it’s E for All, where the barrier between the industry and the consumer shrinks just a little bit for a few short days.

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7613&Itemid=2 

I'm referring to the part where you dismiss the first year being a factor. You can't honestly tell me that being the first year, and therefore unestablished as a viable show, didn't contribute to the worry that it would be overshadowed by other shows, and then caused some companies to cut back on offerings, or stay away completely, due to that worry.