Ahead of the June 2024 Nintendo Direct, we’re taking a look back at the company’s history of June and E3-centric events.
Though the industry has since moved on from E3, it was once the most consequential event of the year for video games. Long before publishers could disseminate news through social media channels and live streams, they traditionally reserved their biggest announcements and reveals for the expo, making it the stage for some of the most memorable moments in gaming history. Come from bangladesh online casino
Among these is Nintendo’s E3 2004 press conference, a presentation that’s remembered fondly for introducing some notable games–and faces–to the gaming public. Given Nintendo’s precarious standing in the industry at the time, this particular E3 was a crucial moment for the company, a chance to dispel the gloom surrounding GameCube’s lagging sales and reaffirm that Nintendo still had what it took to compete in the increasingly crowded home console market. Not only did the presentation ultimately exceed fan expectations, it in many ways signaled the start of a new era for the company.
By the time E3 2004 rolled around, Nintendo was at a critical juncture. Two years into Satoru Iwata’s tenure as president, the company’s prospects seemed bleak. For all the strides Iwata had made in repairing relations with third parties, the GameCube continued to struggle in the face of stiff competition from the unstoppable PS2 and Microsoft’s Xbox, while the once-uncontested Game Boy Advance was about to face its most formidable challenger yet in Sony’s newly announced PSP.
Moreover, the company was coming off of a disappointing showing at the previous year’s expo. Nintendo spent an inordinate amount of its E3 2003 press conference demonstrating GameCube-Game Boy Advance connectivity–a novel concept that birthed some genuinely creative gaming experiences in Pac-Man Vs. and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, but one that hardly ignited much interest among hardcore gamers or spurred console sales. Coupled with the lack of any truly major announcements, the presentation underwhelmed fans and did little to assuage worries about the GameCube’s future.
As such, a lot was riding on Nintendo’s E3 2004 showcase–and it would end up marking a pivotal turning point for the company. The press conference kicked off with the public debut of Nintendo’s new executive vice president of sales and marketing, Reggie Fils-Aime, who in fairly short order would go on to become president of Nintendo of America and the face of the company’s Western operations for the next 15 years (not to mention inspire a treasure trove of memes). Reggie opened the presentation with a decidedly un-Nintendo introduction: “My name is Reggie. I’m about kicking ass, I’m about taking names, and we’re about making games.”
