So it’s finally happened. After console makers, one by one, decided they were better off presenting their games from within the controlled environments of their own expos, and with the ever-growing digitisation of gaming reducing the need to trade shows on the scale they used to be, E3 has finally shuttered for good.
It’s not like we haven’t seen it coming, and some of us paid our respects a while back when it was already clear that the writing was on the wall. But now it’s actually happened, we gathered some of DualShockers' finest to reflect on their greatest E3 memories.
One thing’s for certain: there’ll never be a gaming event quite like it again.
E3’s Death Was Inevitable, But Damn I’ll Miss It
If Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are their own fiefdoms, E3 was the great annual jousting tournament where they all had to face off against each other
1996: The Unrivalled Buzz Of A New Generation
I’m going to cheat a little bit here, and actually pick a YouTube video that captures E3 in 1996 in all its glory. I was originally going to go for the big reveal of the N64 that year, but there’s just something about watching grainy VHS footage of E3 back then that puts into perspective what a significant event it was at this pivotal period in the games industry.
Videogame graphics were right on the threshold of 2D and 3D, as we see Super Mario 64 in one clip, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 in another, and, bizarrely, an old arcade cabinet with Defender on it tucked away in some random corner.
I’m not sure there’ll be as exciting a time as the late 90s in gaming again. It really felt like anything was possible in the medium, that we had no idea what to expect next, and this footage from 1996 captures that perfectly.
2013: The Turning Of The Tide
Matthew O’Dwyer, Evergreen Editor
I loved E3. My friends and I treated it like a yearly holiday. I would pack up and go stay at my best friend’s house.
I’ll never forget 2013. Xbox made a misstep that hurt them for years. After the blowout success of the 360, Xbox should have had things locked down. Instead, they announced the Xbox One with the idea that you would no longer be able to share games with friends or sell used copies.
After Xbox started getting some heat for this, their soon-to-be-deposed CEO at the time Don Mattrick basically told players to go buy a 360 if they didn’t like the new way Microsoft was doing things. A friend of mine stood and exclaimed“what the hell are they doing?”We were glued to the G4 coverage. Then Sony came in to deliver a crushing blow with their instructional guide on how to share PS4 games. Everyone in the room laughed. It’s definitely my most memorable moment from E3.
2006-2012: The Xbox 360 Glory Days
For me, it’s difficult to call to mind a specific year as my comrades have done. As the middle child in a set of three gamer brothers, E3 was always a big event in the Coleman household. We were unabashedly an Xbox family — at least until I transitioned to PC gaming in my teen years. We were glued to the stream every year, eagerly awaiting to see the next installments in our favourite series: Halo, Gears of War, Mass Effect — Xbox had a lot to offer back then.
There wasn’t one stand-out announcement or memory I remember viscerally, just the overall excitement and vibe of watching the event with close ones. Once a trailer flashed on-screen, we’d do our best to guess what game was being announced before anything telling appeared. It was the anticipation that made E3 special and whether it’s just because I’m growing older or the vibe has changed I just don’t get that same excited feeling anymore.
There will always be showcases, streams and events to get eyes on new games but E3 was storied — there was an emotional side to the event. I’ll miss it, though I’ll always have my memories.
2004 - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Reveal
Matthew Schomer, News and Features Editor
In the ’80s, as my reading skills grew and I started diving into gaming magazines, the first developer I really idolized was the creator of The Mushroom Kingdom himself, Shigeru Miyamoto.
Fast-forward to my final year of college. I was cramming in all those senior-level courses, and working an unpaid internship at a newspaper and a barely paid job at the college newspaper, shuffling between my sparsely furnished one-room apartment near campus and my parents' kinda-furnished basement. I was broke and having to rely on old or used games for my precious little play time, but I looked forward to getting my degree and having the funds to fuel my favorite hobby (just kidding! Newspaper journalists don’t make any money, silly!).
I watched the trailer forThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princesswith the reserved apathy suitable for someone in my financial situation, but as the video ended, the tableau of Link holding the Master Sword (in his left hand, as nature intended) was replaced with the silhouette of my original idol standing in the same pose. His words weren’t anything particularly memorable, but that image of the man who sparked my love for gaming, clad in a 1-Up Mushroom tee shirt and wielding the greatest blade of them all, made me feel like I was 8 years old again, excited for the next phase of my life as a gamer.
10 Best E3 Presentations Of All Time, Ranked
E3 presentations are always full of surprises, but these showcases rank above the rest.
