The Electr𒀰onic Entertainment Expo, commonly referred to as ‘E3’, is the largest and most broadcasted press event for the games industry in the world. Since its inception in the summer of 1995, the expo has grown to host over a hundred thousand media guests annually. Conferences held by the largest publishers and console manufacturers serve as the public eye of E3 with each conference streamed live to millions around the globe.
Many players see E3 as a magical time of year where their next favourite games are unveiled – sometimes even without a firm confirmation of their relea🀅se dates. During these shows, presenters are willing to do just about anything to make their product stand out as the innovative and new must-have title. Promotions in the past have seen celebrities, stand-up comedians, and even real-life cars brought in to spice up the programs. But, because of the pressure of announcing new games to a wide audience, sometimes things go wrong in the presentations. Worse still, the presenters completely ꦑfail their delivery.
In an industry where first impressions mean everything, bad presentations and mediocre hosts can completely derail the unveiling of even the most compelling AAA title. Though there are many excellent game and service reveals each year at E3, it is the failures that prove to be the most intriguing parts. The following examples represent the absolute worst aspects of the E3 press conferences ove🔯r the years. From incompetent hosts, cringe-worthy catch phrases, lackluster performances, and a slew of technical glitches, these are the absolute biggest fails in gaming history.
15 🐲 ജ Kinectimals Acting (E3 2010)
When Microsoft was still trying to sell its loyal following on the promise of motion gaming with the kid-friendly Kinect, one game was discussed more than the rest. Kinectimals was introduced with a girl on stage speaking to and interacting with a virtual tiger cub in the game. Unfortunately, Microsoft missed the mark in their casting choice because the girl, though animated, seemed to get too into her role to the point that it became awkward to sit🎉 through. There is a certain phony eagerness in her expressions and laughter, making it apparent that she was very much aware of the attention she was getting on stage. Perhaps the worst example of a cringe-worthy moment in her acting is how the young actress pretends to be tickled by the tiger cub. What was Microsoft thinking?
14 🌊 Battle Tag Reveal (E3 2010)
At their 2010 press conference, Ubisoft attempted to branch out of video games a bit with their augmented reality laser tag game, Battle Tag. As one could expect at this proposition, things did not go well. The game was demoed with a makeshift laser tag arena on stage with gymnasts jumping around, showing off the alleged intensity and fun energy Battle Tag would bring. Though the game’s demo functioned as it should, many were left with a feeling of total indifference for Battle Tag and its upbeat presentation. ൩It didn’t help matters that the launch price was a st𒈔eep $130 – over double that of full-priced AAA titles at the time. Joel McHale's constant banter only proved to add to the tedium of this boring novelty knockoff to real laser tag.
13 Wii Musicᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ And Drum Solo (E3 2008) ⛎
Miyamoto introduced their latest gimmick with Wii Music at Nintendo’s 2008 E3 show, and its problems were soon made clear. It was a game filled with 50 instruments that encouraged the buttons to be pushed at random for people to share in the joy of music. It gets better: Ravidrums and a few others join Miyamoto to form a band of six that presents a song to the spectators. They proceed to play the original Super Mario Bros. theme, which quickly ends up being one of the worst renditions of the song in recent memory. Aside from just the music, watching a group of adults wildly shaking controllers in the air hoping to form a melody is just painfully awkward. Even though that is how the Wii Music presentation concluded, it began with Ravidrums perfo♏rming a sweat-induced solo for a full minute to drum up the audience’s 🉐excitement.
12 😼 Skyward Sword Connectivity Issues (E3 2010)
Two years after the awkward Wii Music demo, Miyamoto returned with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and faced a much more straightforward technical issue. Promising a Zelda experience with full motion controls, this demo quickly turned into a mess. The Wii-motes did not seem to be calibrated correctly or were suffering from interference. The input was so bad that if someone were to casually walk into the conference without context, they would quickly assume the game was a broken mess. Miyamoto even went so far as to ask if somebody in the audience is using ‘wireless.' The worst part is that the demo begins with Bill Trinen feigning ignorance on Zelda’s controls only for Miyamoto to reveal himself and have him teach Bill how to play. Too bad it was🥂 actually broken after that! Fortunately, this showcase did not reflect in the final release of the game.
11 🅠 Pele and Academy of Champion🍃s (E3 2009)
The year prior to Joel McHale’s tedium streak solidified in Battle Tag, Ubisoft unveiled Academy of Champions in conjunction with the legendary soccer player, Pele. To his credit, McHale does his best and appears humbled to be in the presence of a legend, but the problems begin when the trailer for Academy of Champions fails to play. McHale ꦐneeds to keep the audience interested and tries discussing the game with Pele. Fortunately, Pele has a translator with him and begins to discuss a bit of his life and his work to improve the education of children in Brazil. If Pꦚele were not that engaging, McHale would have had to fill in for 6 minutes of awkward dialogue before the trailer would finally run. This is one of the better examples where the awkwardness could have been a lot worse if the guest had less charisma.
10 💝 Dance Central 3: Usher's Performanc♌e (E3 2012)
To promote the latest Kinect game, Dance Central 3, Microsoft brought on barely relevant pop-music idol, Usher, to drum up interest in their dance game. Within the first few seconds of his full performance of the song, “Scream," it was apparent that he did not know the room was full of press and not his fans. Usher kept yelling, “Get Up!” as if to drum up enthusiasm. Unfortunately, the only energy in the room came from the seizure-inducing light show behind the dancing artist. To add insult to injury, Usher’s song was being played over the speakers so it was blatantly obvious when he missed words and was out of tune. In fact, most of his real performance was timed differently, so it felt like Usher was competing with himself. Eventually, the song ended with the Dance Central 3 logo displayed on the screen behind the action.
9 Battl♊efield 4: "We're Continuing?" (E3 2013) ♛
During the 2013 Microsoft press conference, Patrick Soderlund of DICE presented Battlefield 4 on stage…or tried to. Shortly after boasting about an impressive gameplay demo at 60 frames per second (fps), the audio for Battlefield 4’s demo never came, leading to several ‘boos’ to fill the theater instead. The video quickly cuts and Soderlund announces that they will start over. With nearly a minute gone by and still no Battlefield, the presentation is re🍒placed by the impatient crowd’s escalating volume. Soderlund hastily announces that they may see it later and attempts to leave. He is signaled to stay and asks with perfect clarity and shock, “We’re continuing?” In this moment, it is clear that he does not want to be there and is very embarrassed. Fortunately for Soderlund, the game demo r🍨estarts with sound, and the show continues as planned.
8 🦩 Kinect Issue: "Bam! There it is!" (E3 2009)
Another Kinect-oriented blunder from Microsoft (noticing a pattern yet?), is actually from when it was still called ‘Project Natal.' At the 2009 conference, Kinect creative director Kudo Tsunoda came out on stage to introduce the power of full-body motion gaming. During an explanation of the motion capture, Kudo gets a little carried away and asks, “You ever wonder what the bottom of an avatar’s shoe looks like?” He kicks his foot up to show, but the Xbox has other ideas. Kudo’s avatar appears to have some sort of ragdoll-inspired seizure, contorting the body wildly and only showing off part of the bottom of the shoe. Since Kudo was so excited as he kicked his foot in the air, he also yelled the now infamous, “…well BAM! There it is!” No, Kudo: there it isn’t, but thank you for showing us an honest look at how broken the Kinect would 💙be down the road.
7 ܫ Sega Saturn Shadow Drop (E3 1995) ꦫ
The oldest entry on this list takes us back to 1995, which included the likes of the Sega Saturn, Sony’s PlayStation, and the Nintendo 64 (then the Ultra 64). During Sega’s press conference, it was announced that the console was shipped the day before and was already on the market with 10 games to be released within days. To understand the reason this was a terrible idea,🅺 one must look back to the state of the industry at the time. The Saturn was rushed out before enough games were finished because Sega needed to compete with the launch of the original PlayStation. Unfortunately, shortly after Sega announced a price of $399, PlayStation shot back with a $299 price tag. Rushing the console at a higher price point with a weak launch line-up, effectively sealing the fate of the doomed Saturn.
6 💃 There Is An Offline Console: The Xbox 360 (E3 2013)
Shortly after the unveiling of the Xbox One and its first E3 showcase in June 2013, Xbox executive Don Mattrick took an interview with games journalist Geoff Keighley. The subject: the launch of Microsoft’s new console. Over the presentations, it was driven home that the latest Xbox was an always-online device that required constant Internet connectivity. It also did not allow Xbox One games to be traded at stores due to digital licensing of the games. These announcements were not taken to favourably by anyone. Unfortunately for Don, the backlash did not end there. During the interview with Keighley, Don said, “…fortunately, we have a product for people who aren’t able to get some 🔜form of connectivity – it’s called Xbox 360.” Yes, you read that right: the top Xbox executive said that you could continue to 𝔉enjoy the older hardware, segregating the Xbox community in half. Great job, Don.