What E3 Meant To Me
Still coping with the death of E3 2 years later
The year was 2006. I just came back home from school, skipped lunch and went straight to the computer (yes, the one computer we had in the house) to watch the recording of Nintendo’s e3 press conference on IGNs terrible media player, where they officially unveil the Nintendo Wii. I was in awe as I saw extended gameplay of Twilight Princess and an exciting new way to play with motion controls.
Fast forward to 2019, where I requested a work-from-home day to watch Nintendo’s E3 Direct live. I was in awe seeing the reveal trailer for Animal Crossing New Horizons and literally cry from excitement seeing Banjo and Kazooie be part of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Watching that presentation in 2006 kickstarted an annual tradition where, for that special week in June, I would stop everything around me to watch E3. I managed to catch 16 events, over 50 individual conferences, thousands upon thousands of World Premiers… It truly was the most wonderful time of the year.
While many made fun of E3, even on its dying breath, its importance to the gaming industry cannot be overstated. It was an event where all eyes were on the latest reveals, trailers and lack of gameplay footage. Even games that didn’t make it big during the presentations had a chance on the show floor. Trust me, I was sold on at least one game from shaky cam videos with no audio.
The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess’s reveal trailer in 2004 was the sole reason I became aware of E3. As a kid, I used to visit IGN.com at least once a day to browse and read the latest news (in a language I didn’t fully understand at the time). Being a casual visitor, it would always catch me off guard how, for one single week of the year, the number of articles tripled, and next to it that iconic letter-number combination: E3
I went from catching the recording after school, to skipping college classes to watch it live. From exclusively watching the Nintendo presentations, to watching every single one. And indeed, I watched every single one: The good ones, the boring ones, and my personal favorite, the cringy ones. Nothing beats watching two grown men with graphic tees and a blazer wiggle their arms at the screen to show off the Kinect. Those were the times.
These moments made this show even better, as BDG said, it was more than a trade show, it was theater. Classic moments like Reggie’s “My body is ready” and newer ones like Keanu Reeves’s “you’re breathtaking” have made their way into popular culture and became part of my vocabulary. Even innocent tech bugs became iconic and will forever be remembered, like trying to see the bottom of the shoe of your Xbox avatar.
Who could forget Ubisoft’s constant need of having a comedian on stage forcing “viral moments” between trailers (I like you Aisha, but this stage was not for you). Every person talking on stage during a presentation was either a paid comedian, a developer struggling with a teleprompter or a CEO trying to connect with young audiences. None of them were good. They were great.
As I grew up, E3 grew too. Between trying to reduce embarrassing moments and tech problems (like the famous broken sword demo), most companies transitioned from a live crowd to a digital presentation. And while the cringy moments were part of the charm, at least it shifted the focus back to the reason we were all there: the games.
Nothing beats the excitement of a crowd reacting to a new game announcement. Seeing the reaction to Metroid Prime 4 fills me with such joy despite being literally just the number 4. Regardless of the final result, the reveal trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 was iconic and I will forever remember it. Even if we go way back to 2004, the excitement during the Twilight Princess reveal trailer will never be matched.
This is what E3 was really about. Regardless of the quality of the games or what was shown, this excitement brought people together. The buzz, the hype, the heartwarming moments that E3 brought to the community can never be replaced.
I am very well aware that e3 was more a marketing event for shareholders, and less for the fans. But as a kid, it was something I looked forward to, every single year. No matter what was happening in my life, I knew that, around June, we would get a barrage of predictions, world premiers and thousands of hours of demos of our most anticipated games.
Summer Game Fest, Xbox Directs and many other lookalikes might still happen around June each year, but they will never match the excitement and charm of the Entertainment Electronic Expo.
Did E3 meant the same to you as it did to me? Leave a comment and share your favorite E3 moments!
I miss it too. Making a little calendar to catch all the shows I wanted to watch, and not to mention seeing the crowd reactions to all the big reveals. Made gaming feel big and connected
So many good moments from E3 that we will never get new ones of. I will always remember Mr. Caffeine hosting the Ubisoft presentation before Aisha. This article made me mourn E3 all over again. Lovely to see the old UI for the IGN website forums again. I was on gametrailers myself but still ran by those forums every so often. So many good moments.