E3 flashback (photos)
Pics from the previous decade of the E3 video game trade show.
Dan Ackerman
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications.
"Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
The Los Angeles Convention Center during E3's mid-2000s heyday.
Crash Bandicoot caught red-handed eating an E3 attendee.
What's odder, this guy in a full-body Stormtrooper costume or that hat I'm wearing?
Microsoft's Project Natal...oh wait, that's the Sony EyeToy.
Our first look at the Sony PSP.
The packed halls of E3, circa 2004.
Whatever happened to Starcraft Ghost? This Blizzard game has been sitting in development limbo for years, despite never being officially canceled.
The Nintendo Game Boy Micro seemed like a really good idea at the time, but it never caught on.
Whatever happened to Pac-Man? Seems like an intellectual property ready for a big comeback (and not just as a retro iPad app).
A giant Katamari ball, 'nuff said.
One would have thought that The Nightmare Before Christmas would have made a great idea for a video game.
A show highlight: the cavalcade of costumed characters.
Doom 3 blew our collective minds when it was first unveiled in 2003.
Sorry, Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, you've got to stay locked in hermetically sealed display cases until you can learn to play nice together.
The early days of the World of Warcraft juggernaut.
Whatever game this giant stuffed animal represented has been lost to the sands of time...
Giant anthropomorphized dog, plus armor.
Spongebob in the flesh...uh, sponge...
Military guys, promoting some kind of military game, no doubt.
I'm shocked that the gaming floor mat never took off.
Music soothes the savage beast...
Your guess is as good as mine.
Who knew there was a Jolly Green Giant game?
Someone got lost on the way to the renaissance fair.
Big creepy house, might have been from Luigi's Mansion for GameCube.
How do you promote a Castlevania game? Build a huge castle on the show floor, of course.
Back when the original PlayStation was the dominant force in gaming.
Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime intros the first version of the DS handheld.
Another look at the original Nintendo DS.
A huge display for Spider-Man 2.
An underrated RPG from 2004.
A helicopter is exactly the kind of big-budget item rarely seen at E3 these days.
Giant inflatable superhero. No convention is complete without one.
Being a vegetarian, I've never had one of these allegedly delicious-looking bacon-wrapped hot dogs frequently sold outside the show.
Yes, there was a Playboy game. No, it wasn't very good.
Katamari's little prince inspired a green fashion trend.
There was apparently a Dukes of Hazard game, as someone bothered to lug the General Lee to E3 one year.
Leisure Suit Larry: proof that not every classic game needs to be revived.
In a dark time before the Nintendo Wii, this is what motion-controlled gaming meant.
I've got one of these in my living room right now.
A classic Computer Space arcade machine, from a vintage arcade exhibit at E3 in 2004.
Another vintage game; I'm pretty sure this one didn't really take off.
Another look at motion gaming in the pre-Wii, pre-Natal era.
Who knew Disney plus Square was actually a good idea?
Years before anyone thought of doing a movie sequel, Tron 2.0 was a forgettable first-person shooter.
There was a reason for all these beach balls to be in the pool of the Figueroa Hotel, but it escapes me now.
One of the costumed actors at the show breaks character for a moment (they're usually pretty unflappable).
The excellent "Batman Begins" film deserved a better game. At least we got to see a full-size Batmobile at E3 in 2005.
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