DF Retro - E3 2002 Time Capsule - Never-Seen-Before Showfloor Footage

Join John Linneman along with Marc and Coury from My Life in Gaming to review some of the MLiG team's never-seen-before 60fps footage taken from the showfloor at E3 2002 - this is the Electronics Entertainment Expo at the height of its pomp. Trade only, packed with crazy booths and big, big games. Note that this video was recorded before E3 2023's cancellation.
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[@Maximilian_Dood]

My first E3. Still have the Panzer Dragoon Orta pin. Legit bummed E3 might be gone.

[@mysubscriptions5619]

Holy shit the real Max and not a scam account!

[@zane_dye]

Same here Max. was the best experience ever. truly will miss it and sad i might never have the chance to let my son experience E3

[@ryu.hayebusa]

Don't worry geoff keighley will bring us future gaming news

[@dankir1]

She's dead Jim

[@fuzz7981]

It's gone. But June showcases will live on.

[@FSAPOJake]

I'm gonna miss the old days of E3 so much. E3 was like Christmas for gamers, and even though we're getting the same number of announcements nowadays, it just isn't the same when everyone is doing their own events at differing times of the year.

[@Mr.SpicyIce]

Because experimentation has died in their eyes. They found the best way to present their press conference. This lead to better sales of the games presented. This adds up to a formula that can be used for each and every one after. It's disappointing really. This is also a good thing but also a very bland thing.

[@kamikazilucas]

thats cap, they barely show anything these days, escpecially nintendo which used to show a load of big games every e3 but now they show barely 1 or none at all like last year or 2020

[@pierrostation]

The E3 press conferences literally motivated me as a kid to learn english

[@arsnakehert]

Plus it feels like half the games in these showcases they give too much opportunity to trash games that are planned to be live services, and you're forced to sit through these to get to the things that are actually relevant

[@whodatninja439]

i wish i couldve experienced it 😥😥

[@Jeffdraws101]

2001-2005 was the perfect balance of huge AAA games being cutting edge while also being reasonable to create in a quick timeframe.

[@tropicata]

I would even say 2001-2012. I always think back to how we got the entire mass effect trilogy in just the span of 5 years and it makes me so sad about the state of things nowadays. I genuinely believe the 360/PS3 gen was the sweet spot for game development, where games felt expansive, deep and cinematic while still being reasonably short to make. We didn't know how good we had it

[@michaelhutchings6602]

Marty O’Donnel said something similar when he said that 2007 was the perfect balance of tools to do almost anything while the industry still being driven mostly by passion.

[@AlexanTheMan]

Never got to attend a single convention, but the gaming magazines that came around that month were the next best thing

[@paulanderson929]

For sure! Was thinking about this.

[@dun0790]

I think we all looked forward to those i alway got my Nintendo official mag but would usually get another cross platform one too see what else was announced

[@JimLeonard]

Bless you for doing a proper 60p conversion of the footage.

[@KosmoCrisis]

I started working at PlayStation in 2003. I got to be at the PS3 announcement E3 and be on the floor with my lead showing our game called SOCOM Fireteam Bravo. Love this!

[@Cwayne1989]

You worked on SOCOM?!?! Holy shit dude, I played so many many hours of that game online back in the day with the playstation 2s network adapter, Plus the included mic made it so that everyone actually spoke and worked together. I miss SOCOM

[@jonRock]

Wish they would bring that game series back.

[@demantim]

Still playing UT2004 to this day. At high resolutions and framerates it's still amazing looking *and* playing. Glad to see some love for it here!

[@shaneosullivan8546]

Love ut2004. If you want to have a great laugh install the original Call of Duty. There's so many people playing instakill with rifles and it's 60 person free for all. Mental.

[@callumdointhings5]

I love when John just recites an entire company's history and ends it with what engine the Tron game on PS2 ran on.

[@AquaticMammalOnBicycle]

Oh if you were into PC gaming at the time, that studio Monolith (not to be confused with the Japanese Monolith as they say) made some of the neatest most interesting games like No One Lives Forever and Shogo. The Tron note made Jon and Corey want to talk about NOLF and Shogo for a moment.

[@sveitadurgur]

Man this was such a joy to watch, I'd love to see you boys tackle other editions of E3 this way again.

[@juanjosealmanzar6330]

Why does your comment say "three weeks ago" when the video was uploaded today 5 hours ago?

[@datfatpug]

@@juanjosealmanzar6330 Patreon early access, probably

[@juanjosealmanzar6330]

@@datfatpug oh, ok

[@HeloisGevit]

​@@juanjosealmanzar6330 could be a time traveller

[@omgyeti2049]

I've got a few hours of footage from 2003 on VHS that I'm suddenly trying to get upload to my computer to see if they want to use some of it. Gotta share the nostalgia. 😅

[@truknet]

Game development was so fast then! Imagine gta 1,2,3, vice city and San Andreas. Launched between 1997 and 2004. 5 games in 7 years. Gta 5 came out in 2013. Yet here, we are 10yrs later without even an announcement! It's crazy!

[@theblah12]

It’s a shame, sure massive AAA games look visually spectacular today but they’re just so conservative in their game design because of how long they they to produce - a lot of really core gameplay decisions have to made 3-5+ years before release and so sometimes they feel outdated before the title has even come out, chasing trends half a decade later. I feel like back then developers could be a bit more experimental or iterative in their designs because of how quickly titles came to market, if something didn’t work out then it wasn’t the end of the world because the next game was only 1-2 years away anyway.

[@manchesterunitedno7]

Is it me or ever since games required to be online, even when it's a single player experience. The production output begin to slow down. Don't even start to me with game as service.

[@steveafanador6441]

Man even the sound of the tape going in the VCR is nostalgic.

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

Being a teen back then kicked ass. The rise of gaming in the mainstream and the excitement of what games were becoming. Damn, what a time capsule!

[@gucbhispeklfe4454]

Gaming is mainstream since the early 80ies among young people.

[@Clay3613]

@@JokerX350 Silence.

[@jackbootshamangaming4541]

@@Clay3613 enjoy your shitty mainstream games codfan

[@pencilcheck]

@@JokerX350 I don't follow this logic, care to elaborate?

[@thedude8128]

​@@JokerX350 wut? games are much better now. r u kidding? lols

[@daystyrfer7887]

Despite never getting to experience E3 in person, I always looked forward to watching it on tv and reading about it through gaming magazines. We can always hope that it gets revived in one way or another.

[@Coroice]

I can't believe John got the budget to stage and film a period-accurate recreation of E3 2002 for April's Fools Day! :p

[@castjet9898]

Man, when I was a kid in Honduras the E3 seemed like the most magical thing ever, I would see mini clips here and there and see all these games I didn’t even knew about, it all seemed magical.

[@ionseven]

I attended a few E3s, 2001-2004 as a student (university permit) for a few years and once for work, and there were tons of games even with flashy marketing. Games were also just as expensive to make back then, dare I say more adjusted for inflation. Tools have massively evolved, so back then they were just as complex with much smaller teams. Now budgets have shifted to aggressively market recurring microtransaction scam models through streamers, youtubers, and other influencers - not game development. I'm also still firmly convinced new found wealth in microtransactions (EA, R*, Activision, etc) and chopped full games sold as DLC (like Destiny) gaining popularity at the beginning at Gen 8 are what have ruined E3 and high quality AAA output in general. Now marketing budgets ultimately failed without any new products to show for it. No need to make new games when games like GTAO are raking in billions. All AAA fell to this greed which is why we saw the rise of live service garbage.

[@benschram]

we need more content like this. John and his sick burns on peoples fashion sense and self reflection of his younger years was hilarious.

[@dcarpenter85]

I was 17 at the end of my junior year of highschool. What a trip down memory lane! Thanks DF+MLiG.

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

Class of '03 baby!

[@GameChronicles]

Do you plan to do anymore of these time capsules? I have hours of Hi8 footage from 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006 E3 including the full Microsoft and Sony press conference introducing the Xbox 360 and PlayStation Triple. Lots of floor and cosplay coverage along with nearly every major booth, attraction, and sizzle reels plus most big titles. Just found them in storage and in process of creating table of contents and digitizing. Happy to share.

[@BenWillock]

1998-2008 was definitely the golden decade for gaming.

[@rars0n]

Disagree. I think it was 1992-2002.

[@jim0_o]

@@rars0n There must be calculation or simple algorithm to figure out how old you guys are, ex. assume base age 9yo at start of golden + length of era divided by 3 or something. But yeah the golden era must be starting 2006-7 with Steam, Crysis and the Indie game dev. boom (ending around always online and difficulty menus taking Visa) or the period starting with original Id's Wolfenstein3D/Doom ending with every publisher/dev. forcing IPs into premature 3D. (the era before being mostly Nintendo)

[@pferreira1983]

1989-1996

[@alteredgenos]

more E3 time capsule shows like this pls 💯👌

[@GreggyAck]

Yea, I agree. I'd love to see more of these.

[@Neo-Abobo]

I completely related to Try's rant about not using component cables on compatible TV during that era. In 2002 I bought a nice 32 inch JVC I'art CRT with component and s video inputs, yet still ran all my systems through composite. I just didn't know any better at the time. No one really talked about or made a big deal of how huge on an upgrade switching cables was. This was well before the days of DF and MLiG 😅. Here in 2023, I still have and use that same CRT to do all my retro gaming today. And of course i now use high quality component cables on everything and it really does look amazing. I kick myself now looking back that I never took "full advantage" of that TV at the time I first bought it. It wasn't till several years later that I realized the errors of my ways.

[@AquaticMammalOnBicycle]

Part of it is that there was no KZbin, no quality video on internet, and not even good quality screenshots, print magazines were still a source of visual information, plus people had been fine with composite in the 90’s. So nobody consciously knew or cared about the benefits.

[@chrisschauman1764]

Man I am terrible at shooting film. Was a good call to edit in footage of the games.

[@princepeachfuzz]

yooooo thank you for your efforts this was awesome 💌💌💌

[@Rhuno]

This brings back so many great memories. I was at this show, writing for a small gaming site at the time. Neon lighting, extravagant displays, booth babes...truly the halcyon days of gaming. I'm sad that this doesn't exist any more, but so grateful I was able to experience it in all its glory!

[@tyo101]

Great to see Linneman and the guys reflect upon what was an exciting period for the in-person gaming showcases.

[@josha3212]

E3 watch parties with friends were so special growing up

[@myopiniondoesntmatter7068]

E3 lost its way once it let the unwashed masses in. It should've just been predominately for the press. But then they let anyone with 2000 youtube subs in, then anyone who would pay and it changed the attitude of the people at the event. Pre ~2011 E3 was a completely different beast to the period that came after - devs were actually likely to be on the floor and directly talk to you instead of just it being PR and basically retail staff. I used to work for the Australian PS2 Magazine and was part of a group that got flown out every year from 04 to 08 and later go to go back in 2012-14 via freelance work. Getting anything done interview or anything work wise was hell in 14 which is why I stopped going and eventually changed careers (also saw how the winds were flowing with the whole streaming/influencer thing making reviews near obsolete). In 05 I could hit basically every target I was asked for and get a bunch of bonus stuff you'd only get by running into people actually on the floor with free time. In 14 I spent 80% of my time in queues, waiting for people because for some reason it was now a family event in some cases with kids everywhere that dad had dragged the family to and he wanted to try and talk to Konami PR about how they should remake SOTN or some other nostalgia fuelled conversation directed at someone who didn't care, couldn't do anything about it but couldn't tell them to go away. The only way you get real dev interviews now are with things like noclip or maybe when stories leak to twitter "journos". There is literally no point in going to a physical space anymore when online exists. People already have proven they don't need to wait for reviews or try a game before buying - they'll just pre order off a trailer and complain that they got burnt. Companies know this - so E3 is irrelevant and a stupidly big cost/time waste that they can cut.

[@Roooobb]

Man, John is a fountain of knowledge. I'd love to see him together with Jeff Gerstmann, going through the history of games.

[@REVOLVERE]

Holy crap this is some rare footage 😮

[@DoritosBurger]

I miss the days before the internet where you needed to host actual physical shows and events to advertise your products, these days the internet has made things so simple that it has become mundane and lost its magic.

[@rshapiro6]

Thanks for sharing this, I was at the show and see a lot of memories here in the footage. No shots of me passing the camera though, haha

[@NeoTokioo]

Industry is EASLY 10 times bigger than back then and look at the shows we had 20 years ago and compare them to nowdays... Companies became LAZY AND VERY GREED.

[@pixelslaughter3492]

E3 was my favourite time of the year rivaling holidays when I was younger. I understand why it's gone but I honestly think it helped having everyone do events together like this because the hype of the event itself helped hype for all the games etc

[@ZiggyStardust85]

The German video game magazine Gamepro had very detailed booth tours on DVD since E3 2003, which I enjoyed watching. I have few memories of E3 2002 because I only read PC magazines at the time.

[@DigitalAsshat]

I was there in 2002. I'm old.

[@JGRICH61]

Digital Foundry and the MLiG men… what a crew. What a collab. What a time!

[@RE4-Station]

I miss the 2000s, I also miss E3, it was like the super bowl of gaming

[@blazeup1132]

I was so hoping this wasent a April fools joke, and I'm so glad it wasent. Please do more like these guys. I have/can binge you guys watching this stuff all day long. I love old conference videos.

[@Bludgeoned]

My buddy wanted to go to a field trip on the second day of this E3 so he lent me his pass. Biggest standouts of this event were definitely seeing Tony Hawk walking around the crowd, playing Steel Battalion and an early World of Warcraft, and seeing Adema play Immortal to promote Mortal Kombat. Wish I could go back to these times, in my mind these games are still and will always be the cutting edge in graphics!

[@dotfearlolpwned]

Man i love these time capsules. Takes me back to the hype we used to have for E3. It was like christmas for video games.

[@itsd0nk]

Smugglers Run!!! There was some amazing multiplayer modes hidden within that game. On top of that, there were some cheat codes that enhanced the gameplay and graphics. You could turn up the game speed and suddenly you had a gorgeous 60fps and responsive multiplayer car game with fun mechanics.

[@CursedTeardrop]

Such a shame E3 is cancelled this year, i really hope it’s not the last time we see it. Console & game reveals are not the same without a live audience reaction.

[@Vartazian360]

E3 is dead its not just canceled this year. Its over. So sad 😞

[@mickeydeth]

Back then e3 was so much more… then it turned into a shitshow of trailers and teasers from already leaked games and nothing more

[@alexandrebelair4360]

@@mickeydeth It was the same back then, just bigger.

[@SimonBuchanNz]

I watch restreams for that reason, which honestly is probably better, since they're people you know and you can hear what they're thinking too.

[@Sonikkua]

I attended this E3 and I’m definitely seeing if there’s any chance I can spot myself 😅

[@phil.wilcox]

I remember switching from composite to a SCART full RGB connection for the PS2 and was completely blown away! It was an amazing upgrade for very little money. Oh and I was 18 at this time and was really into the Playstation World (PSW) magazines with the free DVD showing E3 footage! I still remember E3 with the announcement for MGS2 - with the VHS cassette of the demo, I must have replayed that until the video wore out!

[@Bottlecapy]

I attended E3 in 2015 it was a amazing dream fulfilled as a gamer. I’m sad to see E3 gone.

[@neals6348]

Awesome video. I was only able to attend E3 1999 n 2000 before leaving the LA for about 10 years. Those shows were something else, I attended once more when it opened up to the public in 2017 and it was nothing like my memory of the old shows

[@StariusPrime]

I finished high school in '97. I remember this time very well. I don't think we'll ever seen trade shows like this again unfortunately. But a lot of that momentum has transferred to conventions instead, eliminating the gap between industry and consumer, professional and fan. The growth of PAX is an example of this. But that being said, I'm a huge fan of things like E3 and CES back in the day.

[@puma0085]

The Old E3 from 1995 until the mid 2000s was really something special. I have always dreamed of visiting one but never made it there. I am living on another continent after all. Thanks a lot for showing these footage. I am really into watching stuff from these old trade shows.

[@-INFERNUS-]

I have many E3 DVDs when GameSpot were selling them and also some from Next Gen Video called E3 Access, and an obscure one from Planet GameCube E3 2002 DVD.🎮

[@AgentSmith2K]

Those beautiful days now completely ruined by digital distribution. Things are about to get boring

[@Gorilla_Jones]

I was an attendant of the first 6 E3s as a journalist. This is a tragedy. CES and countless other showcases of industries survive. But the showcase of the largest and most profitable medium can't? 🙄 The embracing of the digital distribution scam, the fickleness of modern gamers, and the "FAIL" generation has struck yet again.

[@JediForceClutch]

So many great games in just one event. Insane.

[@bepkororoti8019]

This is the pinnacle of old dudes being old dudes

[@bitsbobs8158]

Man I was 21 then. I was just starting my new engineering job. I got my PS2 for my 21st Birthday in October 2001 and couldn't really afford any games. Come May 2002 I started my new job and went on to buy 50 games for my PS2 over the next 4yrs. They used to pump out so many good games back then. Now they barely make anything, nothing that I'm interested in anyway. These were much better days man.

[@FunkyPertwee]

What a great time for games. I was already into retro at the time, but I had no idea I would look back on the early 2000's with such nostalgia. Wish I could go back to Costco with my grandparents in the year 2000.

[@darrylt8502]

I have dreamed of going to E3 but didn't think I would ever attend because I struggled to find a job in the gaming industry. Then, in 2010, I got in the industry and didn't waste anytime. I took the whole week off along with a few other colleagues and it was a blast! E3 turned into my summer vacation: the free t-shirts and other weird and fun stuff, game samples, photos with booth babes, evening parties where majority of attendees were gamers, and staying in the hotel/motel watching the 3 game companies present their upcoming projects/games were just an epic experience! I went for 4 years straight until work got very busy wouldn't be able to take time off near E3 time. Sadly, I don't think E3 will ever return. Maybe in 10 years but I doubt it.

[@mbh9566]

I hope you guys will cover Gran Turismo 7’s newly added 120fps mode. I’d love to know the particulars of what is actually going on with it. And Digital Foundry is my go to source for that kind of stuff.

[@GAINAX01]

Crazy how many timeless classics were all on display for a single year of E3.

[@AJDOLDCHANNELARCHIVE]

The best 5 years of gaming in my opinion was 1998-2003. A mix of the mastering of the old technologies like 2D/isometric RPGs, early detailed 3D like Metal Gear Solid, and then the huge jump into what I would still consider, convincing and slick 3D graphics, with all sorts of post-processing effects that give that era an amazing style of its own.

[@THEDTSMAN]

Now this is a great video. Every second of this is just pure joy.

[@fcukugimmeausername]

I remember playing GTA3 for the first time. What an experience. Games just don't have the same impact these days.

[@Albake21z]

Such a fun watch, I'm really going to miss E3. Thanks for sharing this!

[@FunkyVerbV2]

This video is giving me such a warm feeling of nostalgia. I love this era of video games.

[@rabbitenjoyer6320]

This commentary and footage is great. I was a little kid at the time and only played a couple of the games mentioned, but I have heard of almost all these. I DO remember learning what E3 was in 2003 when I heard Halo 2 would be shown there.

[@paperclip9558]

A series that I've been waiting for, the timing has never been more appropriate too, RIP E3. Great video, guys.

[@schumachersbatman5094]

it's interesting how big events like these were, back when we lived in a world of "information drought", punctuated by great "information harvests" (like E3). There where often many months were I didn't get any video game magazine or other media, either due to money concerns; Or I juts forgot about games all together. When there was no 'social media hype waves', local constellations filled that role. Midnight releases, movies and concerts would be hyped up by friend groups, sometimes the entire schools or my city block would basically go to something. Now we each live with a private stream of information, and everyone has their silo and watch TV shows, listen to music, play games all on their own schedule. Mostly asynchronously from others. It's uncanny how the world population, the games industry (and the world economy) is larger now: and because we live in our silos, it all feels so much smaller.

[@thomaspleacher2735]

What stands out to me about this footage is that Nintendo was still competing with Sony and Microsoft on their terms. In those days there were certainly stereotypes about Gamecube being "for kids", but it was an indisputably powerful console, and its showcase games really were AAA titles in the truest sense of the word. Back then Nintendo wasn't the quirky, lower-priced alternative option you could buy alongside the "main" option of Sony or Microsoft. I miss those days sometimes.

[@SHGames97]

Totally agree with John on that Doom 3 section. Carmack was on fiiiiire, ID has always been ahead of the game. Reserving the “DOOM” name the technical leap ID4 would make is fitting.

[@quatz1981]

Gaming was awesome during this time period. Some of the best games ever made and what was on the game disc was the finished game, no patches or microtransactions.

[@izamanaick]

loved watching e3 as a kid in the 2010s, had such a great time coming home from school and tuning in to youtube and wherever, watching the streams and developer interviews and demos

[@MrRom92DAW]

I LOVE this. It’s easy to clown on E3 these days and it may not be as important as it once was, now that we’re in a post-internet world… but the newer generation will never understand just how huge E3 was and what it meant to gamers. In 2002 I was 10 and in the prime of my game magazine reading days, desperate for any glimpse of news of what went down at these events

[@Dr.D00p]

2002 I had a Xbox & Dreamcast sitting under my 32in Panasonic Wide-screen CRT with a Dolby Pro Logic sound system. JSR, JSRF, Halo, PGR, DOA 3, PDO and various other classics had never looked or sounded better....

[@MicahtheDrumCorpsPseudoboomer]

Gosh, I'm so jealous!

[@jonnyh5858]

Love this era, mgs 2, half life 2, doom 3, agp graphics cards, direct x 9 ahhh simpler times

[@maleprincess62]

So sad that this went public now and we hear Matt keep referencing E3 like it's still alive

[@fensoxx]

Rygar on the NES is one of my favorite game memories of all time. It felt like an open world game a generation before. The music was perfect too.

[@yadspi]

About upgrading cables, many people didn't even know, my friend had s-video on his TV and didn't even knew about it. He was astounded when I gave him one for the PS2.

[@Booka3141]

I like that for everyone else this is a walk down memory lane for games and the industry at the time, for John its all about the TV's 😄

[@jediknight2089]

For years, E3 was the Super Bowl for the video game industry. Watching this old footage of the show floor was very cool, E3 will be definitely be missed.

[@RichmenInc]

I'm just happy to know that I've experienced it all before it died down. It was an event to look forward to as a spectator from home as a spectator on the floor. It really lost its magic cause of streaming liveshows, publishers doing their own thing on their terms, huge costs. And it's understandable. But for example lookin at this from home this event was perfect. Every publisher had a booth, the big 3 had a timeslot and a stage. Meaning you didn't miss a thing. Journalists would go cover every booth, attent the stage show and had private hands on game exclusives. And after that recap shows of every night with the likes of GameSpot with Jeff gerstmann and team. It was THE place to be for gaming news, announcements, game pitches to publishers, networking, Man what a time to be alive.

[@emmanuelelutin]

That Konami Era of glory... So much incredible games.

[@RetroBreak]

Loved seeing this! Early 2000’s E3 looked so exciting! As you said, so many games coming out so fast back then!

[@dsidebotham]

Totally miss E3. I would take days off work to watch it all online. It was my superbowl of video games.

[@chadhoganlive]

For all of the gamers who don't understand why E3 was exciting, behold! This was Christmas for us gamers. Every year it was an event we knew we could watch or, in 2002, read on the internet. Super fun, happening now but coming soon kinda stuff.

[@Gorilla_Jones]

I was an attendant of the first 6 E3s as a journalist. This is a tragedy. CES and countless other showcases of industries survive. But the showcase of the largest and most profitable medium can't? 🙄 The embracing of the digital distribution scam, the fickleness of modern gamers, and the "FAIL" generation has struck yet again.

[@R17759]

The ESA did it to themselves. Summer Games Fest is the new E3 now.

[@officegossip]

This was back when the greenlight for many projects were firing on all cylinders. We got great sequels to games not even less than two years before the first. Good times.

[@PatrikHorvathYT]

My name is Archer. Cate Archer. We desperatly need a NOLF3.

[@jippalippa]

I'll miss that magical summer week when It was tradition to stay up all night with friends watching the conferences and speculating on the announcements. Yes, we have conferences now too, but back then those were all within the same short period.

[@CT9wasmyhandle]

I love this sort of stuff. Really takes me back. There are some "remember year-x" videos on YT that provide a nice look back too. Remember 1998 is my favorite for maximum nostalgia reasons.

[@gabrieleriva651]

I remember italian magazines at the time taking for granted that Doom 3 and HL2 would come out on Xbox even then.

[@martymcintosh5026]

I feel old watching this, back when I had unlimited time and gamed way more than I do now

[@jonRock]

I miss those days. Now it's hard to find time to game

[@Macho_Fantastico]

Even though E3 is all but dead at this point, it did provide us some amazing memories. Whilst I never got to go myself, I could still appreciate the magic that was classic E3.

[@DJLA]

E3 was a cultural cornerstone of gaming. It was the time of year where all of the developers would show their cards, it was an indication of where gaming as a culture was going. Due to the nature of direct comparison, if a dev wanted attention they HAD to bring their A game, they had to stand out, it pushed devs and publishers to innovate to strive for something greater....if only to be greater than the competition. That was GOOD for consumers, in a way it held the industry to account and prevented it from becoming lazy....no one wanted to be the 'hated' game or publisher at the event so it would usually put pressure on them to be consumer focused. Now that they all have their own little announcements, it feels like the gaming industry as a whole has lost its cultural pull and direction, and we are just floating in new ways to be swindled for all the cash we have. Passionate developers are being swapped out for microtransaction psychologists, stories that an artist HAD to tell the world is being swapped out for [person saves world]-[DLC]-[horse armor options]-[remaster]-[remake]. Its sad to see the industry as a culture fading in the way it is into a fractured niche fulfilling money grabs that look pretty. I prefer the time when being unique and creative got the attention, not just who has the biggest budget. Its such a shame, I love this industry, I hope we find a way to bring that sense of general community back. Of course this is just my opinion but after seeing your video it triggered a strong sense of lamenting nostalgia. Cheers for everything you do lads!

[@lordxmugen]

Ill forever miss this era of gaming. When anything you ever thought of probably and most likely was made. When games actually came out on a relatively decent schedule as FINISHED PRODUCTS. When online gaming was both fun and weird and communities would just BE communities. And graphics tech still felt "pushed" but were never the end all be all or got in the way of something that was well designed. its like Linneman said, it doesnt even feel like this gen has even gotten off the ground yet. Most stuff has been cross gen (for good reason). and tbh, most games dont even use the best graphics anyway, since its so expensive and takes forever to make the game in the first place. But yeah, I miss this time in gaming. when it felt "special". when it felt more "pure". or at least pure enough that big publishers wanted to make something worthwhile to sell to you and not just trash and STILL have the gall to ask for $70+ for shit that wouldnt fly even in those days.

[@R17759]

Adjusted for inflation, games are cheaper now than they were back in 2002. Not saying that the price needed to be increased because companies were struggling just pointing it out. I also don’t know if anything was ever “pure.” It was always about money. The perception that every game now is unfinished and broken is not really true either. Some high profile ones have been for sure and it’s unfortunate, but the majority of games that come out I don’t feel are complete disasters.

[@lordxmugen]

@@R17759 games being "adjusted for inflation" is such a joke though considering most sectors of gaming make profit year end and year out. "$70 games" is literally just to prop up lower end quarters and to dupe the masses into paying more "for muh developers" when they barely want to pay them or treat them well anyway. "The perception that every game now is unfinished and broken is not really true either. " Its ABSOLUTELY TRUE for most AAA games made today, as well as for many ports made of them. Indie games to me dont really count because the quality and polish level of them has NEVER BEEN at the level of say a AA game made during the 00s. Usually taking 4-5+ years for something decent to be made. The near death of the AA market has hurt the business a lot more than most people are willing to admit.

[@R17759]

@@lordxmugen That’s true I’m not saying prices needed to go up for any real reason it’s just an unrealistic expectation to want prices to be $60 forever. I can name many AAA games that were not broken though I’m not sure exactly what you are qualifying as being considered broken. I think the doom and gloom over the current state of gaming is often overblown is all. Not to say that there isn’t room for improvement.

[@vincento7129]

Thanks for posting this awesome footage! I feel spoiled being in high school during the ps1/ps2 era. Development was on a continuous fast track. Impatiently waiting every month for the new issue of my favorite game magazine with news and screenshots that weren't yet posted on the internet. Many developers bringing out great and often groundbreaking games every year. Hopefully, these times will come back somewhere in the future. I wish future gamers just as great teenage game years as past me.

[@johnygiant]

finally the MLG guy got more tame, i can actually hear john speak lol

[@jabronichief374]

Thanks for the lookback. I was at this show, in fact, I still have my Mr. T autograph that we waited a while to get at the Rocky booth. I didn't take any video but I have pictures using one of those disposible cameras lol.

[@dnakatomiuk]

I really miss those old days of E3 the PS2/Xbox/Nintendo/Sega eras started it for me my favourite era of gaming in fact. I loved watching them all and reading about up coming releases, no leaks on social media or anything like that. Playing SSX then Tricky, MGS2, Halo 1 and 2, GTA3/Vice City, Skies of Arcadia Legends

[@stealthriot]

I really enjoyed this trip down memory lane, thanks for this!

[@rafdes]

I think I was at this E3 through a friend in the biz. Wow, such a long time ago.

[@ps3inquisition441]

Speaking of component video cables, I bought the PS2 ones at release for my Sharp 27” CRT. I still have the TV and the cables, and the PS2 is still hooked up to it. In TATE mode.

[@fawkkyutuu8851]

This was peak golden age E3 showfloor , to me around 1997 - 2004 was as good as It got for showfloors , back when every booth was truly over the top chaotic and jam packed with demos and trailers and fighting for attention , every area looked and felt so much more stylish and exotic like a theme park , a dark dingy Disneyland for the nerdy hardcore