The Best E3 Moments That We will Remember Forever

E3 2018 is nearly upon us and we’re sure to have some epic surprises and more of those already confirmed titles that we cannot wait to see again. Over the years there have been some great moments and some stinkers, and I’m sure this year’s event will be no exception. However here I’m going to look at some of my favourite moments in recent years. Now with so much potential ground to cover, I’ve limited myself to E3 events over the last five years and just six of my favourite moments. This list is of course personal to my own interests, so please sound out the many moments that I’ve missed out across our social media channels.

Sony Trolls Microsoft on Game Sharing (E3 2013)

When the Xbox One was announced at E3 2013 the original intentions were to release a console that would play digital games only and would restrict game sharing with DRM. Naturally this was met with a huge uproar and while Microsoft backtracked on that format immensely, and have done great work since that time to repair that damage, they’re arguably still feeling that heat even today. However, even though the PS4’s announcement got so much right, it was easy for just about anyone to play the good guy or gal. This gave Sony the perfect opportunity to poke fun at Microsoft’s expense with some epic trolling courtesy of Shuhei Yoshida and Adam Boyes highlighting how easy it is to share games on the PS4, in the simplest, yet most troll-like way possible as seen via the short video below.

YouTube video

Xbox One Backwards Compatibility Announced (E3 2015)

Two years had passed since that disastrous Xbox One reveal in 2013, Microsoft had now made great strides to repair the brands image with Phil Spencer leading the charge. DRM had been removed and the console was not supporting digital games only, yet it was the announcement at E3 2015 that took another huge step to please fans by making the Xbox One backwards compatible. The Xbox One now plays 100’s of Xbox 360 games with more titles being added to that growing list on a regular basis and recently even original Xbox games were made playable on the console, and at least one backwards compatible game is always included as a free title in the monthly Games with Gold. Better still, the Xbox One makes these classic games look even better with crisp visuals and an improved framerate, but they look even sweater if played on an Xbox One S or Xbox One X.

Final Fantasy VII Remake (E3 2015)

Right I’ll get this out right away, I’ve never played a Final Fantasy game. Whether it is a mixture of not being able to afford a PlayStation 1 as a young teenager, and missing the boat for one reason or another later down the line, the Final Fantasy series has always somehow eluded me. However, I am certainly aware that the Final Fantasy series is one of the most loved series’ in the gaming industry and the original Final Fantasy VII is largely considered to be one of the best games of all-time.

So when that trailer dropped at E3 2015 and the moment fans in attendance realised what they were watching, there was an almighty raw in excitement that I’ve never heard before at E3, so much so that it even made my hairs stand up. Sadly however, the development of the Final Fantasy VII Remake has had various troubles and delays, and no one knows for sure when it will be released. Hopefully we’ll get a solid update at E3 2018 and if that happens, expect it to be added to my gaming bucket-list.

Shenmue III (E3 2015)

It may have been a bit surprising that when Shenmue III was announced at E3 2015 as a PC and PlayStation 4 exclusive (even though we all know that it will come to Xbox One one day) with a KickStarter campaign, there was an immense buzz of excitement when its announcement was made. There was so much hype in-fact, that it absolutely blew its KickStarter target away with ease. While Shenmue III was originally slated to release at the end of 2017 (which we all knew wouldn’t happen), it has suffered several delays and now has a release target of 2019. However, considering that Shenmue II first released in 2001, we’ve built up a large degree of patience already and the added fact that a Shenmue and Shenmue II Collection is set to release this year for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, I’m sure we can wait that little big longer for the release of Shenmue III.

Super Mario Odyssey (E3 2017)

We knew that Super Mario Odyssey was coming to the Nintendo Switch as it was announced shortly before E3 2017, but some were perhaps a little concerned that it may stray a little too far from the beloved and iconic franchise. While the initial announcement trailer featured much of Super Mario in the 3D world we’ve come to adore, it also featured Mario in a world with normal(ish) looking humans and it just looked odd, and many thought that Mario’s power of possessing NPC’s with his cap named Cappy would just be a little too weird, even for Nintendo. However, when we got to see more of Super Mario Odyssey at E3 2017 all our concerns were addressed and it was soon realised that we had nothing to worry, after all, weird is what Nintendo does best. Super Mario Odyssey blew fans and critics alike away with a host of E3 awards and when the game released later in the year, it became one of the best games on the Nintendo Switch. What were we ever concerned about?

God of War Returns (E3 2016)

In recent years especially, Sony have been knocking it out of the park at E3 and that was certainly the case in 2016 as a brand new God of War was announced, featuring a more mature (and grumpy) Kratos. The ten minute gameplay demo showcased Kratos teaching an unnamed young boy how to hunt and ultimately, survive. It was later revealed that this boy was named BOY…, sorry Atreus, and Kratos was in-fact his father.

This brand new God of War on PlayStation 4 was a reboot to the series and after Kratos had killed and avenged all there was among the Greek Gods, this reboot would now be set within Norse mythology. God of War released just this year and went on to not all break all sorts of sales records, but it also cemented itself as one of the PlayStation 4’s best exclusives, and one of the PlayStation’s best exclusives of all-time!