Updated: 13 Jul 2016 6:51 pm
Posted: 12 May 2011 11:00 pm
It's an altogether unique experience for the longtime Nintendo faithful, and as this year's E3 2011 approaches we're turning back the page for a bit of reflection on E3s past. Which years did Nintendo knock it out of the park? Which ones would we rather forget ever happened? And what, if anything, can the past decade's worth of expo showings help us to predict about what we're about to see this year?
Join us as we dive in to uncover the answers over the course of two weeks, focusing on one year each day. We kicked things off on Monday by looking back at Nintendo's 2001 showing. Tuesday was 2002. Yesterday we brought you back to E3 2003 and today it's E3 2004.
The+Lead-In
If you've been reading all of our E3 lookback articles so far and have come into this one after yesterday's 2003 piece, you should be able to guess that hopes were not high heading into E3 2004. The '03 showing had totally bombed, blasting our faith in the direction the company was heading – and the year following it found us forced to just going along with them.If you wanted to keep going as a Nintendo fan, that meant making do with a less-than-stellar Mario Kart sequel and shelling out tons of extra cash for a collection of GBA-to-GameCube link cables that would end up having little use after the whole connectivity phase came and went. There were a few hits in the span of time between E3 '03 and E3 '04, like the undeniably excellent F-Zero GX. But the era was more memorably defined by unattractive, oddball releases like Kirby Air Ride, Pokemon Channel and Custom Robo.
The Game Boy Advance luckily helped ease the pain of the Cube's lacking release calendar, though, as that same span of time saw several major success stories emerge on the portable. Square Enix brought us Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Nintendo localized a Fire Emblem game for America for the first time. The Mario & Luigi RPG series got started, and Metroid: Zero Mission reinvigorated Samus Aran's original adventure with brand-new style.
The end result of living through a year of weaker home console releases and stronger portable content was a mixed emotional state heading back to Los Angeles for the 2004 expo. The memories of the previous year lingered in the air, but surely Nintendo had learned its lesson? This year's show would be different, right? It would be better?
The+Big+Announcements
Heck yeah it would be.E3 2004 was everything E3 2003 wasn't. Bold, energetic, full of attitude and unexpected surprises, it was the birth of a new, confident direction for Nintendo with the establishment of a tone of voice that has been reverberating for the company ever since.
And that voice belonged to Reggie Fils-Aime.
"My name is Reggie. I'm about kicking ass, I'm about taking names, and we're about making games."
Boom. Lights dim, awesome trailers for hot games like Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Resident Evil 4 start playing and the Nintendo vibe has instantly shifted for the better. E3 2004 was the introduction of Reggie to Nintendo fans, and for many the beginning of "the Reggielution." Fils-Aime's arrival as an on-stage presence for the company kicked off a furious revival of Nintendo fanboy pride, as the man was instantly adopted by the community as the new champion of all things good about Nintendo. It's no wonder that now, seven years later, Reggie's still going strong as the face of NOA – he's even been promoted to the position of President in that time span.
E3 2004 offered much more than just a new personality to do the talking for Nintendo, though. In addition to a robust lineup of great upcoming GameCube games, the company also brought out its newest portable platform – the first Nintendo DS. It wasn't the most attractive unit at the time, as its plastic housing was bulky and bulbous and would go on to be redesigned before the system launched to stores later that year. But the expo started to get the point across about the appeal of the platform, all starting with Mr. Satoru Iwata holding it up on stage during the pre-show presser.
Mr. Iwata even gave us our first hint of information about the Wii, with subtle comments about how the next home console would revolutionize gaming. The "Revolution" codename was born.
But Nintendo wasn't done yet. Reggie's brash introduction, the reveal of the DS handheld and a first bit of info on the Revolution all took a backseat to the surprise that concluded that year's event. The lights dimmed one last time, an epic piece of the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack began to play and a new trailer showed an unknown horseman galloping across the plains. He was only unknown for a few moments, though, as when he came closer to the camera he was undeniably Link.
A mature, realistic, grown-up Link.
Tears of joy were shed in the Kodak Theatre that day, friends, as after the shock of Nintendo's cartoony style shift for The Wind Waker it was finally giving the fans what they really wanted from a new Legend of Zelda game. It was our first look at the game that would eventually be named Twilight Princess, and after the video concluded Shigeru Miyamoto himself leapt out onto the stage holding a real sword and shield. It was a surreal and incredibly entertaining moment, and it capped off what may very well have been the best E3 press event Nintendo's ever had.
Turn the page for more.
The+Big+Games
The debut trailer for Twilight Princess blew us away at the pre-show, but it was unfortunately all there was to see with that new Zelda to that point – a playable version wouldn't be available until the following year's show. That didn't stop the Zelda franchise from taking another path to the show floor, though.The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap stepped in to offer us a fresh Zelda fix. It impressed us with its inventive growing-and-shrinking mechanic that let you alter Link's size, and was especially welcome since the Game Boy Advance, up until then, still hadn't had its own unique Zelda game. The GBA also brought out Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, kicking off a tradition of remakes for that franchise that we expect will continue with Ruby and Sapphire reboots at some point. Then unique titles like DK: King of Swing and Square Enix's card-based Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories rounded out the portable's roster.
That was Platform 1. Platform 2 was the GameCube, of course, and even without Twilight Princess in controllable form it was a great Cube demo year. Resident Evil 4 led the charge, finally appearing with the same style and approach that its retail release would feature. We met Ashley, got our hands on Leon's new over-the-shoulder shooting style and loved every minute of headshotting infested villagers.
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat brought us a quirky control concept by using the GameCube's bongo controller to direct DK in a platforming adventure, and it was a blast to try out for the first time. Then sequels to established hits from earlier years, like Metroid Prime, Prince of Persia, Viewtiful Joe and Paper Mario kept the momentum going. Nintendo even showed off the oddball Odama next to a full suit of armor. Wacky stuff.
But things weren't done after just two platforms' worth of games – because Nintendo had just announced its third pillar.
The Nintendo DS had a separate demo room all its own that commanded long lines all throughout the '04 show. Once you got inside you could get your hands on the dual-screened system for the first time, putting the new portable through its paces.
It's important to remember how skeptical everyone was of this thing. Another handheld machine, when the Game Boy brand was doing so well? And it's got two different screens on it? And I'm supposed to touch one of them? The DS was totally out of left field, and though we now know it would go on to dethrone the Game Boy and become a huge success, nobody really knew what to think back at that expo.
The demos helped in starting to get our minds wrapped around the concept, though. An early version of Metroid Prime: Hunters was the primary draw, showing off how the stylus and touch screen could act like a mouse-and-pointer setup for shooters. The Super Mario 64 DS demo, then referred to as Super Mario 64 x 4, showed off the system's 3D platformer potential and expanded N64-like power. A Wario Ware demonstration introduced tapping, slicing and rubbing at the screen. Namco's Pac-Pix gave us an idea of what drawing on the screen could bring to gameplay.
And then there was Steel Diver. The good old, underappreciated submarine demo sitting in the corner. Who would have guessed that it would finally make it out to retail seven years later, held in development for over half a decade and ultimately unleashed to launch the successor to the DS instead of supporting the system it was originally used to demonstrate?
That's an odd thing. But it teaches us an important lesson, especially as we're revisiting all these old E3s year by year – never count out anything Nintendo displays. It might disappear for a huge stretch of time, only to be brought back in all-new form later on for a future system.
IGN's Archived Coverage: E3 2004
| Game Boy Advance Best of E3 2004 | GameCube Best of E3 2004 Awards | Nintendo DS Best of E3 2004 |
Lucas'+Final+Impressions
I had been to the E3 Expo once before 2004, but this was the first time I'd ever been able to attend Nintendo's pre-show press conference in person. What incredible timing! It's been a joy to remember that day's experience and write about its high points in retrospect here, all the while recalling my seat right in front of the stage when everything was happening.The moment was made even better, too, by the fact that I got to share it with my brother Dan. We'd driven cross-country from Kentucky to California to get there, a three-day trip in my parents' old box-shaped family van. It felt like a true pilgrimage for us, young pair of Nintendo fans that we were. And the payoff, with Reggie, the Zelda trailer and sword-wielding Miyamoto, was sensational. It's a fond memory I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.
And that, I think, is why the combination of Nintendo and the E3 Expo continue to be so powerful for so many people. It's this event where memories are made. Where we get our first glimpses (either in person or vicariously through Internet and magazine coverage) of the games that will go on to become our favorite escapes from reality. Our bonding experiences with family. Our time machines letting us step back into our childhoods. Nintendo games get to be all those things for us, and E3 is the place that lets us take just a peak at our future memories in the making.
