E3: The good stuff

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A look back at the 12 showcases that shaped gaming

A dream of the future

Despite announcing the existence of its Saturn successor well ahead of the show, Sega was only showing its new Dreamcast console to select members of the press behind closed doors and at its pre-show press conference. However, anyone who saw the new 128-bit powerhouse in action was mighty impressed and predicted that Sega had a world-beating console on its hands.

However, with Saturn on its last legs and Dreamcast completely absent from the show floor, Sega had another tepid E3, which left Sony and Nintendo to go head-to-head.

The PlayStation maker's next big thing came in the shape of Spyro the Dragon, which it confidently touted as a Mario -beater and was heralded as one of the most polished titles at the show. Metal Gear Solid was the outstanding game of the show - again - and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto was even spotted taking time out from the Nintendo stand to play it.

The announcements of Syphon Filter and Silent Hill helped to bolster the appeal of PlayStation even more, but Nintendo had a few gems of its own on parade. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which was being talked up by Nintendo as "the biggest game release in history", wowed anyone that battled the congregated hordes hoping to play Miyamoto's masterpiece-in-the-making.

Matt Cundy
Matt Cundy
I don't have the energy to really hate anything properly. Most things I think are OK or inoffensively average. I do love quite a lot of stuff as well, though.