The chairman of this year’s re-vamped Edinburgh Interactive Festival believes that E3’s downsizing is a welcome boost to the show’s drive to become more mainstream than ever.

Renamed from 2006’s wordy Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival, chairman Chris Deering and other organisers of this year’s bash have worked to bring it closer to the TV and film events, which also operate under the Edinburgh umbrella.

This push has been supported by the appointment of specialist festival agency Arthur Leone PR and the appointment of high profile speakers and sponsors such as Nintendo – as well as a more prominent presence in promotional Edinburgh Fringe literature, including the official programme.

“This is the fifth consecutive event in Edinburgh focusing on interactivity and we want to appeal to a mainstream audience – the sort of people who also visit the TV and movie events,” Deering told MCV.

“Edinburgh is the first networking event for the games sector in Europe of 2007. With no huge E3, it’s inevitable that it will take on a higher profile.”

Registration for the show, which runs from Sunday August 12th – 14th, is now open. Tickets cost £120 before August 1st, rising to £149 afterwards. Click here to visit the official site.