There's something more open about a nakedly grasping trade show vs a pile of ads masquerading as an awards program, but an honest scoundrel is still a scoundrel.
Since it was always a media event that the public couldn't attend it isn't a huge loss today when we have so many other events that are also public. Maybe 10 years ago this would have been a big deal, but people have been asking for a long time now if E3 was still relevant. The last 4 years have basically proven that E3 no longer has a place.
Well, E3 is no longer relevant now that companies like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft do their own independent announcements on their own platforms. I never went to E3 myself. I always watched coverage from my house and from G4tv.