History of E³
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The history of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) began with its creation in 1995 and has continued through the most recent expo in 2006.
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[edit] 1995
The first E3 was put on by the Interactive Digital Software Association (now the Entertainment Software Association). It coincided with the start of a new generation of consoles, with the release of the Sega Saturn, and the announcements of upcoming releases of the Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Virtual Boy and SNK's Neo*Geo CD. Specifications for the Nintendo Ultra 64 (later renamed the N64) were released, but there was no hardware shown.
The event ran from May 11 through May 13 in Los Angeles, California. Keynote speakers included Sega of America, Inc. president and CEO Thomas Kalinske; Sony Electronic Publishing Company president Olaf Olafsson; and Nintendo chairman Howard Lincoln.
[edit] 1996
Nintendo's press conference unveils the Nintendo 64 and Super Mario 64 in the U.S.
The Unreal Engine is shown for the first time by Epic MegaGames, but no actual Unreal gameplay.
The event ran from May 16th through May 18th in Los Angeles, California.
[edit] 1997
The event ran from --- through --- in Atlanta, Georgia.
Some of what would become the most popular First-Person Shooter games are unveiled, such as Half-Life and Unreal.
FPS games that have appeared:
| Ritual Entertainment | Ion Storm | 3D Realms | iD Software | Valve Software | Epic MegaGames | LucasArts Entertainment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SiN | Daikatana | Prey | Quake 2 | Half-Life | Unreal | Jedi Knight 2 |
[edit] 1998
Half-Life makes an ultimate appearance at E3, in its final development stage.
Duke Nukem Forever is shown for the first time.
A Prey trailer is shown.
The event ran from --- through --- in Atlanta, Georgia.
[edit] 1999
The Dreamcast, the first Sixth Generation Era console, is featured.
The event ran from --- through --- and from here on ran in Los Angeles, California.
[edit] 2000
The PlayStation 2 and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty are featured, as is the Xbox and Halo: Combat Evolved. The latter had a poor showing, however it became one of the world's best selling video-games later. The PlayStation 2 would go on to become the world's highest selling console.
[edit] 2001
The Nintendo GameCube and the Xbox were two new systems featured. They would both be released later in the year.
[edit] Microsoft
Microsoft held its press conference unveiling their first season of games for the Xbox. Some notable mentions include: Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, Enclave, Jet Set Radio Future, Halo, Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding, Mad Dash, Project Gotham Racing, Project Ego, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Dead or Alive 3, and Gunvalkyrie.
[edit] Nintendo
Nintendo also made its first American unveiling of the Nintendo Gamecube in this event. Some notable games include: Luigi's Mansion, Star Wars, Pikmin, Wave Race: Blue Storm, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Cell Damage, Eternal Darkness, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Too Human, Super Monkey Ball and Star Fox Adventures.
Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, unveiled at an earlier Spaceworld was almost absent from E3 2001.
[edit] Sega
This year was also the last E3 appearance of the SEGA Dreamcast. Although it was nearing the end of its small lifespan, it still continued to show support. Some games include Sonic Adventure 2, Floigan Brothers, Ooga Booga, and Bomberman Online.
[edit] 2002
[edit] Microsoft
Along with unveiling Xbox Live, the Xbox also made a showing at E3 2002. It hosted numerous games like Blinx: The Time Sweeper, Splinter Cell, Dead to Rights, Unreal Championship, Panzer Dragoon, Ninja Gaiden, and the never to be released B.C..
[edit] Nintendo
Nintendo GameCube games previewed on this show include: Super Mario Sunshine, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Star Fox Adventures, Timesplitters II, Resident Evil 0, Wario World, Rayman 3, Aggressive Inline, Phantasy Star Online, and 1080 Avalanche. They also unveiled the first major wireless controller, the Wavebird, with Super Mario Sunshine being played with it.
Nintendo also supported the Game Boy Advance with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland, Doom II, Nights: Score Attack, Reign of Fire, Egg Mania, BattleBots, and Super Monkey Ball Jr.. They also showed how you can connect with the Nintendo Gamecube for special content, as demonstrated in a co-op mode for the Wind Waker.
[edit] Sony
The PlayStation 2 also made the headlines with Grand Theft Auto III, a controversial free-roaming game. Other games include Colin McRae Rally 3, Ratchet and Clank, Sly Cooper, Red Dead Revolver, The Getaway and Kingdom Hearts.
[edit] PC
PC game makers also made an appearance, revealing Doom 3 for the first time. Also previewed was Age of Mythology, and Warcraft III.
[edit] 2003
Half Life 2 is unveiled. A Halo 2 demo using an experimental lighting engine (which was not used in the final game) was shown.
The PlayStation Portable is first mentioned.
[edit] 2004
A Halo 2 12 person capture the flag multiplayer demo is shown taking place on Zanzibar. The PSP and Nintendo DS are featured. The first trailer for the seventh generation Zelda game, later named The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is shown.
F.E.A.R. is unveiled, a teaser trailer being released shortly after.
[edit] 2005
Sony debuts the PlayStation 3, showing it in an unplayable form. Many of the games shown are suspected to be pre-rendered video.
Some felt Microsoft's Xbox 360 was overexposed in earlier events such as the MTV unveiling.
Spore is shown first.
The Revolution, later named Wii is unveiled.
The Gameboy Micro is unveiled.
See also: List of games seen at E3 2005.
[edit] 2006
The 2006 E3 show focused on the upcoming releases of Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii, along with the next wave of games for the Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PSP, and mobile phones. Several websites such as the Washington Post noted in retrospect that Nintendo clearly dominated and stole the show. They cite as an example the lines; which were approximately half an hour long to play the PlayStation 3 and up to four and a half hours long to play the Wii.[citation needed]
[edit] Microsoft
Just minutes walk from the Nintendo event, Microsoft - its conference at the Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard - announced its plans for its current system, the Xbox 360. Although there was first confusion, Microsoft later confirmed that at the time of the show there was no deal to have ‘episodic content’ exclusive to the Xbox 360. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, spoke of plans to integrate several Microsoft services into one entity with Live Anywhere. This service will allow multiplayer games and communication possible between Xbox 360 and the upcoming Windows Vista operating system for the PC. Microsoft also announced a significant expansion of its Xbox Live arcade service, promising many more arcade favorites in the near future.
Upcoming games for the Xbox 360 announced include Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, Hitman: Blood Money, The Sopranos, Fable 2, Gears of War, and Sonic the Hedgehog.
[edit] Nintendo
On Tuesday, Nintendo held their pre-E3 press conference at the Hollywood and Highland Centre. The firm announced the US launch date for the Nintendo DS Lite. Nintendo decided not to announce the price for the Wii during E3, stating they preferred to announce it closer to the aimed date in Q4 2006.
Upcoming games displayed for the Wii announced include The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Super Mario Galaxy , Sonic and the Secret of the Rings, Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, Fire Emblem: The Goddess of Dawn, Red Steel, Disaster: Day of Crisis, Project H.A.M.M.E.R., and Excite Truck.
Upcoming games for the Nintendo DS announced included Final Fantasy III, New Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Children of Mana, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, Yoshi's Island 2, Star Fox Command, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Disney's American Dragon: Jake Long, Attack of the Dark Dragon, Diddy Kong Racing DS and Mario Hoops 3-on-3.
Upcoming games for the Game Boy Advance announced include Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, and Disney's American Dragon: Jake Long, Rise of the Huntsclan.
Upcoming games for the Nintendo GameCube announced include Super Paper Mario, DK Bongo Blast, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Baten Kaitos 2.
[edit] Sony
On Monday evening, Sony Computer Entertainment held their pre-E3 press conference at the Sony Pictures Studio in Culver City. The company announced the prices of two versions its upcoming PlayStation 3 console, the release dates were previously confirmed. The company said they will release the console in 20GB and 60GB versions.
Upcoming games displayed for the PlayStation 3 announced include Eyedentify, Final Fantasy XIII, MotorStorm, and Vision Gran Turismo.
Upcoming games for the PSP announced include Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Killzone: Liberation, Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, Tekken: Dark Resurrection, LocoRoco, Monster Hunter Freedom, Gangs of London, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, Sonic Rivals, Silent Hill: Origins (working title) and Lemmings.
