There has to be a substantial saving for not attending. I can't believe any differences would make Sony not go if it cost 5 million considering the views worldwide. I've heard 10s of millions before.
This is 2006 and probably not talking about Sony or MS in how much they have to pay.
"Following the 2006 convention, IDGA—now ESA—found that many exhibitors were worried about the high costs of presenting at the event, spending between $5–$10 million for their booths.
[12] They had also found that a larger proportion of attendees were bloggers and attendees who were not perceived to be industry professionals by vendors, managing to secure access to the conference. These additional attendees diluted the vendors' ability to reach out to their target audience, retailers and journalists.
[23] Both of these reasons had previously caused the
COMDEX trade show to shut down.
[23] Several large vendors told the ESA that they were going to pull out of the next E3, which would have had a domino effect on other vendors.
[12]"