Forward of the June 2024 Nintendo Direct, we’re looking again on the firm’s historical past of June and E3-centric occasions.
Although the business has since moved on from E3, it was as soon as essentially the most consequential occasion of the 12 months for video video games. Lengthy earlier than publishers might disseminate information by means of social media channels and dwell streams, they historically reserved their greatest bulletins and divulges for the expo, making it the stage for a number of the most memorable moments in gaming historical past.
Amongst these is Nintendo’s E3 2004 press convention, a presentation that’s remembered fondly for introducing some notable games–and faces–to the gaming public. Given Nintendo’s precarious standing within the business on the time, this specific E3 was an important second for the corporate, an opportunity to dispel the gloom surrounding GameCube’s lagging gross sales and reaffirm that Nintendo nonetheless had what it took to compete within the more and more crowded dwelling console market. Not solely did the presentation in the end exceed fan expectations, it in some ways signaled the beginning of a brand new period for the corporate.
By the point E3 2004 rolled round, Nintendo was at a important juncture. Two years into Satoru Iwata’s tenure as president, the corporate’s prospects appeared bleak. For all of the strides Iwata had made in repairing relations with third events, the GameCube continued to battle within the face of stiff competitors from the unstoppable PS2 and Microsoft’s Xbox, whereas the once-uncontested Sport Boy Advance was about to face its most formidable challenger but in Sony’s newly introduced PSP.
Furthermore, the corporate was coming off of a disappointing displaying on the earlier 12 months’s expo. Nintendo spent an inordinate quantity of its E3 2003 press convention demonstrating GameCube-Sport Boy Advance connectivity–a novel idea that birthed some genuinely inventive gaming experiences in Pac-Man Vs. and Last Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, however one which hardly ignited a lot curiosity amongst hardcore players or spurred console gross sales. Coupled with the shortage of any actually main bulletins, the presentation underwhelmed followers and did little to assuage worries in regards to the GameCube’s future.
As such, quite a bit was using on Nintendo’s E3 2004 showcase–and it might find yourself marking a pivotal turning level for the corporate. The press convention kicked off with the general public debut of Nintendo’s new govt vp of gross sales and advertising and marketing, Reggie Fils-Aime, who in pretty quick order would go on to change into president of Nintendo of America and the face of the corporate’s Western operations for the following 15 years (to not point out encourage a treasure trove of memes). Reggie opened the presentation with a decidedly un-Nintendo introduction: “My identify is Reggie. I’m about kicking ass, I’m about taking names, and we’re about making video games.”
Nintendo wasted little time illustrating that closing level, instantly showcasing three hotly anticipated titles coming to the GameCube within the close to future: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Star Fox Assault, and Capcom’s Resident Evil 4. The tone of the convention was a stark distinction to the earlier 12 months’s. Nintendo made a aware effort to restore its picture amongst core players and spent the opening moments of the presentation highlighting a slate of mature video games aimed squarely at ardent followers. Although it wasn’t sufficient to in the end reverse the GameCube’s fortunes, Metroid Prime 2 and Resident Evil 4 would each go on to earn important and industrial acclaim, whereas Star Fox Assault would acquire a cult following for its willingness to experiment with the collection’ formulation.
On the identical time it was courting hardcore players, Nintendo additionally started paving the best way right into a wider market. Later within the convention, Iwata took the stage to disclose Nintendo’s implicit response to the PSP: the Nintendo DS, an unorthodox dual-screen handheld that featured a contact display screen, microphone, and wi-fi communication. Although initially positioned as a “third pillar” meant to coexist alongside the Sport Boy line, the DS was a daring gambit–one that bemused press on the time and served as a check dive into the “blue ocean” technique Nintendo would totally embrace with its subsequent dwelling console. With the DS, Nintendo was intentionally opting out of the technological arms race that fueled the online game business. Although the hand held was a marked step up from the Sport Boy Advance, it didn’t try to compete with the PSP straight by way of sheer horsepower. Reasonably, Nintendo traded cutting-edge tech for numerous distinctive enter strategies, opening up totally different types of interactivity and, in flip, authentic gameplay experiences not doable on different units.
On the time, the gaming media wasn’t fairly certain what to make of the DS. Many interpreted it as a nervous Hail Mary, cobbled collectively shortly in an try and stave off the assuredly dominant PSP. As historical past would show, nevertheless, Nintendo’s gamble was a smart one. Although the DS launched with a number of conventional video games, together with a packed-in demo of Metroid Prime Hunters, the system shortly discovered an viewers past common players because of its approachable interface. Even those that had by no means performed a online game earlier than might simply intuit the best way to function the system’s contact display screen, which in flip gave rise to quite a lot of non-traditional video games like Nintendogs and Mind Age. Each titles would go on to promote a number of tens of millions of copies, reaching far past the standard gaming market and propelling DS to changing into one of many best-selling techniques in historical past.
The most fun announcement, nevertheless, was but to come back. Following the DS demonstration, Reggie returned to the stage and closed out the presentation by inviting viewers to “step inside yet one more world” for GameCube. The ensuing trailer slowly panned by means of a collection of life like fantasy environments, every scene constructing intrigue and anticipation over what this new thriller title might be. Simply as Hyperlink rode into focus astride Epona and it grew to become clear {that a} new Legend of Zelda sport was within the works, the viewers erupted in cheers, punctuating what was already an thrilling press convention with one of many loudest ovations in E3 historical past.
The as-yet untitled Zelda sport would finally change into Twilight Princess, and its darker, extra life like artwork fashion was a transparent response to the divisive response that greeted Wind Waker and its sunny, cartoonish visuals a number of years earlier. It was but additional indication that the notoriously obstinate Nintendo was keen to course right and cater to longtime followers when warranted. Twilight Princess wouldn’t launch for an additional two years, and whereas it might nonetheless function GameCube’s swansong, it might additionally usher in Nintendo’s subsequent dwelling console, the Wii–another uncommon technique that paid off for the corporate. Twilight Princess helped propel Wii gross sales and would go on to maneuver greater than eight million copies, making it the best-selling console dwelling installment within the series–a designation it might maintain on to for greater than a decade till it was finally overtaken by Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
This eventual success is additional proof that E3 2004 was a pivotal second in Nintendo’s historical past. After years of struggling to stay related within the business it had helped form, Nintendo used its press convention to put the groundwork for a extra promising path ahead for the corporate, one which set it up for even larger success than its glory days within the ‘80s and early ‘90s.