Top 5 Historical Nintendo E3 Announcements

To continue with the theme of ‘E3′ I figured we’d take a look back at some of the historical announcements from Nintendo. The conference has been around since 1995, so there’s been plenty of huge news bombs to come from the conference in past years. Here’s a Top 5 list of what those announcements were.

5. - Nintendo Gamecube (E3 2001): Nintendo has always been about making itself different than the competition. Back when the original NES debuted, they used graphics and stellar animations to make Mario a video game (nay entertainment) icon. The NES was unlike anything anyone had ever seen, and you could say that somewhat for the Gamecube.

While the Gamecube wasn’t a monster success, when it was first announced there was a huge buzz at the time. People were shocked by choice design, as well as the name. While the design and name were surprises, the disc format and controller design would be the jaw droppers. The format Nintendo chose for game discs was a surprise, as the Gamecube would utilize mini-discs. This would put off alot of people due to the fact that the Gamecube wouldn’t have any options in terms of playing other forms of media (music, movies). The controller design hit right about the time that ‘ergonomics’ was making a huge push. Due to this you could tell that Nintendo’s design choice was trying to fit the hands perfectly. Although the Gamecube wouldn’t be the biggest success for Nintendo, the system had a good amount of AAA titles and that’s why it gets #5 on today’s list.

4. - Wii Fit/Balance Board (E3 2007) - 2007 marked a very important year for Nintendo. They had just come off what could be called their best hardware launch in the company’s history. Even going into E3 the Nintendo Wii was still pretty hard to find. So, gamers were anticipating what announcements would be given for the new juggernaut. As the conference continued on people were on the edge of their seats, and that’s when the balance board came out. Once it was explained just what the balance board did, and what it would be utilized for many people were stunned. Some people got up and ran out of the auditorium screaming, heads exploded, and I’m pretty sure I dropped a hamburger I was eating while watching the conference. Most were wanting to hear about new games, and premium ‘core’ titles coming to the system. What was this freaking board, and besides bouncing soccer balls of my Mii’s head, what did it do?

Of course like I’ve said earlier Nintendo knew what they were doing. As more details poured in the balance board looked to change things. Video games could actually become healthy for you, by way of playing Wii Fit. As more ideas were speculated upon as to what the balance board could actually do, a tremendous amount of hype started popping up. When the Wii Fit bundle officially launched it was like the Nintendo Wii shortages all over again. Alot of places didn’t last a hour before the peripheral and game were sold out. We are nearly going into the second month of Wii Fit and it’s still hard to find. You can’t say that about too many games out on the market.

3. Ultra 64…Or Is That Nintendo 64? (E3 1996) - Before the release of the Nintendo 64, the closest thing console owners had to 3D was the style of Super Mario RPG on the SNES. When E3 1996 hit, you knew it was a transition year and that video games would never be the same again. When the image of Mario’s face in 3D form hit the screen, it was mesmerizing. The other classics that would be demonstrated were, Pilotwings 64, Wave Race, and GoldenEye.

The Nintendo 64 would see good commercial success even though it kind of fizzled out toward the end. There’s no doubt that the technology and software seen on the console would be the marker for what we know as current video game technology.

2. Nintendo Revolution (E3 2005) - Everyone was ready to see what the ‘Revolution’ had in store. Nintendo had been bragging that the system would be unlike anything that gamers had seen prior to it. They had said that the system wouldn’t directly compete with Microsoft and Sony anymore, and instead would venture off to a new path. What’s pretty crazy is that during the 2005 conference, not many details were provided for the Revolution.

This announcement at E3 would set into motion the current state which Nintendo is in. Once they had officially announced production of the Revolution, the rest as some would say is history.

1. Revolution Name Change, and Wii Control Demostrations (E3 2006) - There were a lot of mixed feelings going into Nintendo’s conference in 2006. Prior to E3 it had just been announced that Nintendo decided to change the name from Revolution, to the ‘Wii’. Once this news hit, the internet erupted with all sorts of negative responses. Most of these responses included juvenile phallic references, but some thought Nintendo was just on some kind of drug. Once the conference got underway though the news of the name change started to lose its’ luster.

The moment Miyamoto took the stage as a orchestra conductor and used the wii remote to conduct the opening theme of Zelda, everyone was captivated. As the conference went on, the excitement just continued to swell. We saw all kinds of demonstrations, ranging from what would later be Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Galaxy, and Wii sports. The montage that Nintendo showed I believe is what really got the excitement of the Wii started. We saw people swinging their controllers around, getting into sword fights, and swinging a bat, instead of pushing a button. The big announcement that really sent things over the top, is that Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess would be available at launch. After the conference was over, Nintendo could have called the thing ‘Operation Bananarama’, and people still would have been happy. It’s going to be hard to trump the awe inspiring moments of Nintendo’s conference in 2006.

So do you have different moments that have captivated you throughout the years at E3? Feel free to share them as I’m sure there were great moments I missed on the list.