Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • SFX
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
View
Trending
  • Summer Game Fest
  • New games for 2025
  • Upcoming Switch 2 games
  • Switch 2 stock
Recommended reading
Summer Game Fest logo for Summer Game Fest 2025
Events & Conferences Predicting the games of Summer Game Fest 2025: What we expect to see from each of the 20 major publishers in attendance
Summer Game Fest logo for Summer Game Fest 2025
Events & Conferences Everything announced at Summer Game Fest 2025
A player looking out at an alien planet during The Outer Worlds 2.
Adventure Games Xbox Games Showcase 2025 needs to build on Microsoft's momentum, but it may need to go beyond The Outer Worlds 2 to pull it off
Best Xbox 360 games: a screenshot of an Xbox 360 console next to a controller and a collection of games.
Games 25 Best Xbox 360 games of all time
Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2025 logo
Games Everything announced at the Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2025
Ghost of Yotei art with protagonist sitting surrounded by swords
PS5 Everything announced at the PlayStation State of Play June 2025
The Witcher 4
Games Wildcard Wishlist: These are the games we've pinned our hopes and dreams on turning up at Summer Game Fest 2025

The Top 7... Biggest, best, and most shocking E3 surprises

Features
By Hollander Cooper published 28 May 2012

We count down the convention's most jaw-dropping moments

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

The biggest and best E3 surprises

The biggest and best E3 surprises

Every year there are a few mind-blowing revelations, be it the first showing of a new game or the announcement of an entirely new console. Some surprises, however, are larger than others, and we've pulled together the biggest of the big to get you excited for this year's show.

Page 1 of 9
Page 1 of 9
7. Gabe Newell's appearance at Sony's press conference

7. Gabe Newell's appearance at Sony's press conference

Newell took to the show to admit how much Sony had turned things around over the years, and to reveal that Portal 2 would not only be coming to the system, but that it would be the better of the two console versions. It'd be getting full Steam support, and offer cross-platform play with PC versions. This ended up coming back to bite him when the PSN hacking and outages came to light right as Portal 2 released, raining all over their parade, but it was still an important - and surprising - moment.

Page 2 of 9
Page 2 of 9
6. Team Ninja revealed as Metroid: Other M developer

6. Team Ninja revealed as Metroid: Other M developer

It was the perfect trailer for the reveal, too. It started by showing off the Team Ninja logo, which immediately piqued everyone's interests, and then rolled into clips of Samus - without her suit - talking about her past. It wasn't for some time before we realized that it was, indeed, a Metroid game, at which point the gaming community lost its collective mind. Sure, the game ended up being a disappointment, but at the time it sounded like an awesome idea.

Page 3 of 9
Page 3 of 9
5. The PSX gets a $299 price

5. The PSX gets a $299 price

At Sony's presser, the soon-to-be game giant revealed a $299 price for the PlayStation. Revealing a $100 price gap between the two systems was a huge blow to Sega, and, in a way, set the standard for gaming consoles moving forward. Too bad Sony completely forgot about that when it launched the PlayStation 3 at $599. Oops.

Page 4 of 9
Page 4 of 9
4. EA brings up sports legends to reveal Xbox Live integration

4. EA brings up sports legends to reveal Xbox Live integration

EA would be bringing its games to Xbox Live, meaning you'd be able to play games like Madden, Need for Speed, and FIFA online on Xbox. Online play had, for a short while, been thought to be another element of exclusivity that could be passed back and forth between consoles, but the biggest publisher announcing it would be spreading its web was a symbolic end to this idea. And bringing the sports stars on stage was actually a fairly classy move - game companies love to trot around celebrities for no real reason (like when Activision tapped Jamie Kennedy to host their press conference), but this one actually made sense, and was handled well.

Page 5 of 9
Page 5 of 9
3. Killzone 2 shows the power of the next generation

3. Killzone 2 shows the power of the next generation

It took a little while for Sony to admit that it was projected footage of what it expected the game to look like, so we all just assumed that it was nonsense. That was, until 2007, when Sony, again, showed off footage from the game, and while it wasn't quite up to snuff with the 2005 test footage, it was significantly closer than anyone expected. By the time the game came out it had just about matched the initial test footage, forcing everyone to eat their words in a big, fancy, all-you-can-eat buffet.

Page 6 of 9
Page 6 of 9
2. Final Fantasy XIII revealed for the Xbox 360

2. Final Fantasy XIII revealed for the Xbox 360

Seriously no one saw this coming. Microsoft had sniped Grand Theft Auto's (timed) exclusivity a few E3s prior, but this was Final Fantasy - it was holy ground, and Microsoft treading on it meant that the age of exclusives was, for all intents and purposes, dead.

Page 7 of 9
Page 7 of 9
1. Sega releases the Saturn during E3

1. Sega releases the Saturn during E3

"Many Americans have gone to the extent of paying $800 and more for Sega Saturn units from Japan," Kalinske said during the show. "We've decided to bring the product to market earlier than scheduled to meet the high consumer demand, to refine our marketing strategy over the summer, prior to the important fall season, and to get a headstart on the competition."

Never mind the fact that many of the launch games weren't... ready, or that retailers weren't exactly prepared. It was awesome at the time!

Page 8 of 9
Page 8 of 9
What about this year?

What about this year?

Be sure to let us know what E3 shockers you're hoping to hear this year in the comments below, too!

And if you want to read about more E3 goodness to get pumped for the show, check out our E3 rumor roundup and check out our top 100 games of all time to get yourself ready for new game announcements.

Page 9 of 9
Page 9 of 9
Hollander Cooper
Hollander Cooper
Social Links Navigation

Hollander Cooper was the Lead Features Editor of GamesRadar+ between 2011 and 2014. After that lengthy stint managing GR's editorial calendar he moved behind the curtain and into the video game industry itself, working as social media manager for EA and as a communications lead at Riot Games. Hollander is currently stationed at Apple as an organic social lead for the App Store and Apple Arcade. 

Read more
Summer Game Fest logo for Summer Game Fest 2025
Predicting the games of Summer Game Fest 2025: What we expect to see from each of the 20 major publishers in attendance
Summer Game Fest logo for Summer Game Fest 2025
Everything announced at Summer Game Fest 2025
A player looking out at an alien planet during The Outer Worlds 2.
Xbox Games Showcase 2025 needs to build on Microsoft's momentum, but it may need to go beyond The Outer Worlds 2 to pull it off
Best Xbox 360 games: a screenshot of an Xbox 360 console next to a controller and a collection of games.
25 Best Xbox 360 games of all time
Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2025 logo
Everything announced at the Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2025
Ghost of Yotei art with protagonist sitting surrounded by swords
Everything announced at the PlayStation State of Play June 2025
Latest in
A hulk with glowing red eyes and its flamethrower lit and ready to burn
Helldivers 2 makes a highly requested change: the Warbond Token, a new item that fills a hole in the game's special editions and stops people from buying things twice
Neuromancer teaser
Upcoming sci-fi show based on the legendary novel that inspired The Matrix is finally in production at Apple TV Plus
Manor Lords
Manor Lords' new update is "overhauling a lot of systems at once," and it should be worth the 6-month wait as "we'll be able to shift to smaller, more frequent updates going forward"
Chainsaw Man
Anime Expo 2025 schedule: times and dates for all major panels, including Frieren: Beyond Journey's End and Chainsaw Man
Frieren in water in still from Frieren: Beyond Journey's End anime
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End actor is taking a health-related break, but it shouldn't affect season 2: "I hope everyone stays well and takes care too"
Hytale
Reviving Hytale is such a risky proposition, its founder kind of "wants Riot to say no" to his offer for the Minecraft rival because it "makes no business sense"
Latest in Features
María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer
James Gunn's Superman may be setting up The Authority movie with its enigmatic villain The Engineer
Sam sits in a bike looking across at a city in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
70 hours in, Death Stranding 2 is one of few open world games that justifies having such a huge map
Nintendo Switch 2
I can't use the Switch 2's handheld mode, so I'm hoping a Lite is on the horizon
Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, and Mister Miracle as the Justice Gang in Superman
The Justice Gang explained - The non-Justice League in James Gunn's Superman may be influenced by team of classic DC supervillains
Team Fortress 2 characters looking at a map
I have 464 games on my Steam wishlist, 23 games in my Steam Summer Sale shopping cart, and I can feel my already overstuffed library giving me the side-eye
Heavy Metal Death Can demo screenshot
I got a nicotine rush and set zombies on fire in this PS1-style survival horror demo, and it's basically Resident Evil on a submarine
  1. Sam fires at the ghost mech squid boss in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
    1
    Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse"
  2. 2
    Rematch review: "As with Rocket League, the just-one-more-game pull is magnetic"
  3. 3
    Tron: Catalyst review: "Disc slinging is a thrill in this gorgeous rendition of the series, but I'm let down by a time-loop story that falls flat"
  4. 4
    FBC: Firebreak review: "A disappointingly bland multiplayer FPS that's missing far too much of what made Control special"
  5. 5
    Dune: Awakening review: "Both extremely compelling and extraordinarily boring, sometimes at the same time – yet still a true Dune love letter"
  1. A T-rex in Jurassic World Rebirth
    1
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  2. 2
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  3. 3
    28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy”
  4. 4
    Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation"
  5. 5
    From the World of John Wick: Ballerina review: "Brilliant action, even if the plot gives you a sense of déjà vu"
  1. Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
    1
    Squid Game season 3 review: "A staggeringly excellent final season wraps up one of the greatest Netflix shows ever"
  2. 2
    Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
  3. 3
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date"
  4. 4
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling"
  5. 5
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...