Your picks for the best and worst E3 of all time
The Electronic Entertainment Expo--or more commonly known as E3--has been an annual tradition within the gaming industry for nearly 30 years. Many press conferences have happened in the 26 different E3s that have taken place throughout the years, and even more games have been revealed during them. 2021 marks the first time that the event will take place digitally, but all the hallmarks that make E3 what it is will still remain mostly the same for the viewers at home; Nintendo, Microsoft-Bethesda, Square Enix, and more are set to take the virtual stage to show gamers the best they've got to offer for this brand new console generation.
Not every E3 is a show-stopping hype-fest, though. There have been plenty of years where the titans of the press conferences either have nothing to show, or too many failures to show for their efforts. Notorious instances such as PlayStation's E3 2006 event ($599 US Dollars!) or Microsoft's 2013 showcase (TV TV TV!) have gone down in history for their catastrophically bad press conferences.
For all the bad, however, there has been an equal amount of amazing E3s, ones that truly make us realize why we love video games, and why we love to see these grand reveals on stage every year. PlayStation once took aim at Xbox by dedicating a portion of its E3 2013 conference to show how easy it would be to share used games with friends, during a time where it was thought the Xbox One wouldn't allow you to play used games on another console. A couple of years later, PlayStation would also stun watchers by revealing Shenmue III and Final Fantasy VII Remake in a one-two punch that had the crowd roaring with joy.
In a mere matter of hours, the latest E3 news will be upon us. So while we wait, prepare our E3 bingo cards, eagerly hold onto our hype train tickets in suspense, and sit anxiously in our chairs, let's reminisce about the most exciting and most hated E3 moments. What E3 conference is your all-time favorite? Which one had you cringing until the very end?