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This Generation's E3 Oddities
Every summer, the E3 convention descends upon Los Angeles and gives gamers plenty to talk about for the next year. These talking points usually revolve around new game announcements or console reveals, but there are usually a handful of embarrassing or odd moments in the mix as well. Below, you'll find some of the odder and more embarrassing demonstrations in the recent years of E3.
Mr. Caffeine
In 2011, Ubisoft made the baffling decision to let their conference be hosted by some unfunny uncle you met at a friend's wedding reception. From "Tom Ca-lancy" to a repeated Wayne's World reference from 1992, a never-ending stream of unfunny and annoying sayings spewed from Mr. Caffeine's mouth during the conference.
Nintendo's 2008 Press Conference
If hardcore gamers were wary about the Wii in its first couple of years on the market, the 2008 press conference made it clear that they were no longer the Japanese publisher's intended audience. Between Cammie Dunaway's awkward rapport with snowboarder Shaun White, some goober named Ravi Drums flailing around like a moron, Nintendo's insistence that 2008 would be the "year of MotionPlus," the introduction of the WiiSpeak peripheral that went nowhere, and industry icon Shigeru Miyamoto prancing around pretending to play a flute, there was no shortage of awful moments from Nintendo's 2008 presser.
Jamie Kennedy Isn't Funny
Before launching into a series of tired "gamers are lame virgins" jokes, Jamie seems confused and asks a stagehand "Where are my jokes?" We were wondering the same thing, Jamie.
Kobe Plays NBA 2K12
From the moment Kobe Bryant walks on stage and says "Give me the remote. Give me the thing," everyone watching this conference knew that we were in for a useless celebrity cameo. A seemingly bored Bryant offers such insightful comments as "This is crazy" and "This game looks a little too real," and the presentation did little to get anyone excited about NBA 2K12's Move functionality.
The Boomerang
In 2005, Sony revealed the conceptual design for the Playstation 3's controller. Shaped like some kind of metallic boomerang, it was met with near universal derision. By 2006, they had gone back to the drawing board and introduced the familiar-looking SixAxis to the relief of Playstation fans.
Sony's 2006 Press Conference
Like Nintendo in 2008, Sony's '06 presser was full of rough moments. The price was set ridiculously high, unexciting titles like Afrika, Eye of Judgment, and Genji 2 were shown off, and Sony tried to steal some thunder from Nintendo by introducing motion controller to the PS3's controller.
Rock Revolution Crash and Burn
Here's a tip: If you're going to show your game off to the press and public at E3, maybe you should know how to play it (or pick a more appropriate difficulty setting).
Konami's Insane 2010 Conference
I had the misfortune of attending this event live, and I spent most of it wondering if the convention center's water fountains had been spiked. Wacky dance numbers took up plenty of time, N3 designer Tak Fujii kept awkwardly milking the crowd, heads fell off their shoulders, and the room was invaded by masked luchadores at one point.
Keep an eye on the site next week, as we'll be sure to update you with the best (and worst) moments of E3 2013.
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