A lot of us miss E3. While now we have a good number of online showcases that we can watch comfortably on our TVs or phones, there’s something about these huge in-person events that has been lost. The feeling of surprise, the excitement before every conference, and how the main studios worked hard to present new games and hardware were some of the things that made E3 great for the public.
Also, it was the cringe. Yes, we all have some embarrassing moments from the big show that we revisit from time to time. In our list, you’ll find some of our favorite ones, including big company fails, weird demonstrations, and awkward presenters.
10 Xbox One’s Showcase (Microsoft E3 2013)
The Generation That Xbox Lost
Microsoft had everything to succeed with its 2013 conference: exciting game announcements (MGS 5: The Phantom Pain, a new Forza, Killer Instinct, and The Witcher 3, among others) and a brand new console to show.
They nailed the games, but the Xbox One announcement was abysmal. It started before the show, with rumors of an always-online requirement and the lack of game sharing (which weren’t denied during the event), and it ended with the major focus on other types of entertainment and the price: $499. There’s a two-second silence after the announcement, and Phil Spencer’s face is invaluable.
A 20-second clip from PlayStation’s conference harmed Xbox’s public image, and the PS4 price announcement ($399) doomed Xbox One’s launch.
You can watch the entire Xbox conference here. There’s also a cringeworthy moment with Battlefield 4 at 1:13:00.
9 Peggle 2 Announcement (EA E3 2019)
A More Iconic Jump Than Super Mario’s
EA started its conference by teasing what first looked like a Battlefield or Medal of Honor… and ended up being Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (which came out as a great game, by the way). PopCap co-founder and studio director John Vechey appears on stage dressed as a Zombie to introduce it for a brief moment and leaves for the rest of the gameplay showcase.
However, once the demo is over, Vechey comes back to the stage to make one more announcement: Peggle 2. He says the name out loud, makes an awkward jump, a remix of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy starts playing, and everything we see is a “Peggle 2” with a rainbow and some stars. That was the whole announcement.
You can watch the entire EA conference here. 9:30 is the sweet spot.
8 Elon Musk And Todd Howard Interview (E3 Coliseum 2019)
Thank You, Audience
Game Awards host Geoff Keighley used to work a lot at E3 before creating Summer Game Fest. During the E3 2019 Coliseum panels, he hosted interviews, and one of them was with two big names: Todd Howard and Elon Musk.
While there were some awkward moments at the beginning and many not-funny jokes, interesting discussions about space, AI, technology, and the future kept the interview going.
Until the open mic section started and the audience took control: questions about living in a simulation, ways of entertainment on your travel to Mars, someone asking Musk how much they have to beg to have a selfie with him, the neural net program joke, and the Coup de grâce: “What’s the actual biggest failure that you’ve been through to be where you are?” “We blow up three rockets at the beginning.”
Here’s the entire interview. Around the 36:00 mark is where the questions start.
7 Mr. Caffeine (Ubisoft E3 2011)
“Everyone Do It With Me!”
For its 25th anniversary, Ubisoft needed to do something special. Presenting games that would be fan favorites (Rayman Legends, Far Cry 3) would be one thing, but what about also featuring professional host Aaron Priceman (“Mr. Caffeine”) to present some of the games and throw a few jokes here and there? Well, it was pretty terrible.
Priceman had the energy of a good host, but the jokes weren’t really landing with the audience. Maybe it had to do with the sexism (“40 percent of women are playing video games, and 89 percent of them are smoking hot”), the embarrasing slideshows jokes, or the silly dick jokes (“thanks to Sony Move… Here, hold my joy wand”).
You can watch one part of the presentation here.
6 PS3 Showcase (Sony E3 2006)
A Rough Start For PlayStation 3
In 2006, it was time to show the successor of the marvelous PS2. The excitement for PlayStation after such a fantastic console couldn’t have been measured.
Unfortunately, Sony’s E3 2006 was bad. Apart from the lack of interesting titles, the company announced that its brand new console would cost $499 for the 20GB version, and $599 for the 60GB model (high prices now, even higher in 2006). And who can’t forget the Genji: Days of the Blade presentation, with the explanation of battles inspired by real-life events and a giant enemy crab jumping out of nowhere? Or the “game-changing new additions”, like changing weapons in-game or attacking enemies’ weak points to deal more damage?
You can watch the entire conference here. Check the 46:00 mark for another iconic meme.
5 Shape Up Demonstration (Ubisoft E3 2014)
I'm Sure This Sounded Better On Paper
If you’re wondering where Just Dance is in this list, you’ll be disappointed. While those moments were hated by the regular spectator, I always loved the musical numbers, especially as they started to get more extravagant and epic.
However, Shape Up was my limit. This was Ubisoft’s take on “video game fitness,” and it wasn’t the company’s most serious moment. From the director fighting himself doing jumps to two random Ubisoft employees doing a push-up competition, the showcase was painful to watch. Aisha Tyler’s vibrant hosting and funny comments weren’t enough to save this cringeworthy moment.
You can watch Ubisoft’s entire E3 conference here. Shape-Up starts at the 1:01:00 mark.
4 Jamie Kennedy Presents Activision Conference (Activision E3 2007)
“Where Are My Jokes?”
Using celebrities and artists from other branches of entertainment as selling points or presenters for video games isn’t something new. It used to happen a lot back in the day, and Activision thought it was a great idea to use actor and comedian Jamie Kennedy as the host of their E3 2007.
Kennedy never looked alright from the beginning, and it was such an agonizing conference to watch until the very end. Some of the highlights include him calling Stan Lee to the stage, who never showed up, Kennedy being roasted by Tony Hawk after a terrible interview (the Neversoft joke), and him doing push-ups before the Modern Warfare presentation. Not even having Slash on stage for Guitar Hero 3 could turn this over.
Prepare for the cringe and watch the entire conference here.
3 Wii Music (Nintendo E3 2008)
No, Not The Super Mario Bros. Remix, Please
Courtesy of IGN.com
Wishing to the astonishing success of Wii Sports, Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to try the catch lightning in a bottle twice with Wii Music. The result was one of the cringiest presentations that Nintendo has ever done, and a game that is only remembered thanks to this shameful moment.
I’ll let the video speak for this one, but I’ll say something positive: I love the drummer’s dedication and passion.
You can watch the entire conference here. 49:20 is where the magic starts. Also, don’t forget the Shaun White presentation at the beginning.
2 Battle Tag (Ubisoft E3 2010)
Joel McHale's Hardest Time
Yes, Ubisoft is the only company that has not only two, but three entries in this list, and the spots are well earned. Community actor Joel McHale is speaking about the latest innovations in hardware when, all of a sudden, frenetic music plays and some people start shooting each other… with laser guns.
McHale was stiff and gave one of the worst performances of his life while the shooters played with the audience, which was full of poker faces. The actor didn’t even want to read one line from the prompter, and I can’t blame him: “Are you seeing this or am I having a stroke right now?” Amusing stuff.
You can watch this part of Ubisoft’s conference here.
1 Konami Press Conference (Konami E3 2010)
The King Of Kings
You know this one was coming. I don’t think that any of the many, many conferences in the 26 years of E3 will ever match the unforgettable Konami show in 2010. It’s a trainwreck from start to finish, from president Shinji Hirano presenting a trailer for Glee’s Karaoke Revolution that never started (“Can we roll the trailer, please?”) to the embarrassing wrestlers’ fight in Lucha Libre AAA: Héroes del Ring, NeverDead’s awful presentation, and Naoki Maeda leaving it all on the field with Dance Masters.
My personal favorite, however, will always be producer Tak Fujii presenting Ninety-Nine Nights 2. The four longest and most uncomfortable minutes in an E3 conference.
You can watch Konami’s descent into madness here.
