E3 today is a thunderstorm of neon spectacle. It’s marketing buzzwords and hip executives wearing blazers and T-shirts as they show us their hot new video game trailers. Twenty years ago, though… Twenty years ago it was a little different.
E3 2016. Photo via ESA
This incredible new footage of the first E3 expo in 1995 (shot by Anthony Parisi) is a lot of fun to watch today. Back when E3 was more of a trade show and less of the customer-centric marketing campaign it is today, video game executives spent a whole lot of time discussing stats, showing charts and complaining about piracy.
The camera is shaky and the sound quality isn’t great — it’s from 1995, after all — but this video is a trip. At 2:49 you’ll find the Sega keynote, then at 37:45 is Sony, then 1:03:00 is Nintendo. Then at 1:36:25 we get a look at the show floor, starting with some excellent demo footage from Secret of Evermore, complete with placeholder boss fights.
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4 responses to “Footage From The First-Ever E3 Is A Real Trip”
The Sega Saturn Realsports ad is so bizarre, but not moreso than the deadpan presenter straight after it.
And it is the $100 more than the Switch.
Haha jump to 1:37:20 for the Killer Instinct Dancers. What a time to be alive.
Oh lol they’re back at 2:27 too.
Ooh Virtual Boy stuff at 2:33:25. Oh man there was a racing game? I want that 😛
A Virtuality system at 2:39:40.
Hahaha Mortal Kombat live stage show at 3:08. Followed shortly by Doom. And then the Mortal Kombats come back.