E3: The good stuff

A look back at the 12 showcases that shaped gaming

Words: Matt Cundy, GamesRadar UK

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Revelations and revolutions

After Nintendo confirmed that it had a new console in development at the previous E3, many people were anticipating PS3 and Xbox 2 announcements, but neither Sony or Microsoft were ready to oblige. Nintendo continued to tease, however, and revealed that its new console would be "revolutionary"...

Even without any next-gen revelations, E3 2004 was still an absolute smash. Sony finally unveiled its sexy-looking PSP and anyone that witnessed its awesome power was truly gobsmacked. The reigning king of the handheld empire, Nintendo, countered Sony's haymaker by revealing that the already-announced DS would have a touch screen. Opinion on which of the new portable devices was divided, although the PSP wow factor gave Sony's device the edge.

The rest of the show was all about killer games. GameCube may have been losing the console war in terms of sales but with a new, grown-up Zelda adventure revealed (by a sword and shield brandishing Miyamoto), Metroid Prime 2, Star Fox, Advance Wars (later known as Battalion Wars) and a fresh E3 trailer of Resident Evil 4, the future looked bright for Nintendo's console.

Above: PSP impressed and many predicted an end to Nintendo's handheld dominance

PS2's armoury was swollen with must-play titles like GTA: San Andreas, which caused a huge stir despite only a few screenshots proving the game's existence, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Gran Turismo 4, God of War and loads of EyeToy stuff (including Chat).

Microsoft had nothing to announce on the same scale as PSP and Zelda, but it still put in a solid performance. It proudly revealed that Xbox had one million online users, unveiled its Live Arcade service and announced that EA was finally supporting Live. All this was topped off nicely with playable Halo 2, which left anyone that sampled the online multiplayer in absolutely no doubt that Live would only go from strength to strength.

Sneaking in the side door was 'the next big thing' for PC, World of Warcraft, while Half-Life 2 promptly blew the socks off anyone that went within a 10 foot radius of it.