20 Best Ever E3 Moments
4. Half-Life 2 Blows Everybody's Minds (2003)
At E3 2003, Valve announced one of the most anticipated video game sequels in history - Half-Life 2. But not merely that, they came armed with an extensive 20-minute gameplay demo showing off its astonishingly impressive visuals and mechanics.
The graphical fidelity of the environments and characters, combined with the literally game-changing reveal of the Gravity Gun, obliterated most all skepticism of Valve's ability to deliver a sequel that would at least match if not surpass its predecessor.
Gamers are always keenly looking for "this is next-gen!" moments at E3, and this was perhaps the one to rule them all.
Valve's no-nonsense approach sold basically everybody on Half-Life 2, enough that it won the Game of the Show award.
And though the game's release was ultimately delayed by more than a year due to the infamous source code leak, the final release somehow exceeded lofty expectations.