20 Best Ever E3 Moments
RIP E3, we hardly knew ye.
E3 is dead, long live E3.
In recent years there's no denying that the relevance of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) has waned considerably, in large part due to major publishers reducing their presence there, and the pandemic showing companies that they don't need a splashy, expensive conference to sell their games.
And so, with this year's edition of the showcase recently being cancelled - making it the fourth straight year with no in-person E3 - it's pretty much confirmed that E3, at least as we know it, is dead.
With Geoff Keighley's Summer Games Fest basically taking over the summer, there doesn't seem to be sufficient interest in E3 moving forward, even if many gamers will miss its more concentrated week's worth of gaming announcements.
E3 was very, very far from perfect, but it's also an event that provided gamers with some of the most iconic and unforgettable reveals of all time, not to ignore the many outrageously funny and diabolically strange on-stage moments.
E3 may be gone, but it's certainly not going to be forgotten any time soon. And so with that in mind, let's raise a glass to the show's most beloved moments...
20. Microsoft Unveils Halo 2 (2003)
After the phenomenal success of the Xbox's flagship FPS Halo, fans were over the moon to see their first glimpse of the sequel at E3 2003.
And boy, the nearly nine-minute video - a combination of in-game cutscenes and gameplay - certainly suggested that Halo 2 was going to be a bigger, better sequel in basically every way.
It was a reveal that understandably brought the house down and ensured the game was on everybody's lips, even if that euphoria was sullied somewhat by skepticism from journalists that these dynamic visuals were actually achievable on the Xbox's hardware.
And, indeed, they were bang on the money - Bungie eventually realised they couldn't replicate these complex gameplay elements and sheer number of Things Going On, and so the sequence featured in the demo never actually made it into the final game.
All the same, if you're old enough to remember watching that gameplay demo during E3 week, it was a truly chills-giving moment.