Going Back to E3's Humble Beginnings

As E3 2012 draws near and I ready to board my flight, I am compelled to look back at the history of the event.  What better way to look back, than to go way back...to the first E3 event which occurred right after I graduated high school in 1995.  With the WiiU being a headliner, and the possibility of a new Microsoft Console, what were the hot new tickets in 1995?  What was revolutionizing the industry?  Below are the highlights of E3 1995, the beginning of the premier gaming expo of the world!

The King is Dead, Long Live the King!

The industry was abuzz with Nintendo's epic oversight.  A new challenger was making a splash this year and we may have never seen the industry's biggest leap if the Big N hadn't reniged on Ken Kutaragi and the Ultra 64's CD ROM.  This machine went on to become the first console to sell 100 million units and would spawn the new household name in gaming, Playstation.

In 1995 Playstation made a big splash at the first E3 with a powerful line up of games.  Among these were new franchises such as the fighting game Battle Arena Toshinden, the survival horror game D and the now classic every-console-launch title Ridge Racer.  Also shown was Capcom's future power house Biohazard! (Resident Evil)

The Mushroom Kingdom Strikes Back

Not to be outdone, Nintendo attended this event with two consoles that in their eyes, would revolutionize the industry.  One would become the benchmark of the stagnating of Nintendo's technical prowess, and one would become one of the biggest commercial failures in gaming since E.T. on the Atari console.
When the big N strolled into E3 1995 with chest puffed and chin held high, it was still thriving on the momentum of it's greatest success, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which was showcasing titles such as Donkey Kong Country 3, Final Fantasy III and Secret of Mana at the show.  Riding high on this success, Nintendo had decided to forego a move that all other console makers were making and decided to ignore the CD ROM format and stick with the cartridge.  The new plastic on plastic contraption would introduce the analog stick as a staple of controllers and be dubbed the Ultra 64, a name which later became the Nintendo 64.

Their other console was a much bolder endeavor.  A revolution to the handheld industry while keeping with the trend in the 90's which was the common thought that Virtual Reality was the next evolution in gaming and interactive media.  Not only would this machine have 3D graphics, it would also be 3D!  This colossal failure was dubbed the Virtual Boy and would introduce thousands of children not only to 3D gaming, but to permanent retinal damage.

As I Lay Dying...

Last on the bill was a dying member of the big three.  A company that was slowly bleeding out due to it's inability to compete in the hardware department and was being carried along solely by it's software.  The former giant SEGA had made some bold moves, but due to early launches, always seemed to be behind the current generation when the others joined the fray with twice as powerful hardware and more amazing graphic capabilities.  Sega's fighter this year was the short lived and doomed Sega Saturn which drew attention with titles like Virtua Fighter and Panzer Dragoon.

The Ones That Got Away

Unlike today where there are three solid consoles making the rounds and no other competition, E3 1995 hosted some other manufacturers that were doomed to failure and crushed into submission only to become a distant memory.  Here are the other fighters in the Royal Rumble that year:

The Panasonic 3DO M2

The SNK NeoGeo 3D

The Atari Jaguar VR Unit and the Atari Jaguar CD

It almost seems incredible to believe that this was seventeen years ago, and how far we've come in that time...as you gander in amazement at what 2012 brings, take a moment to remember what had us in awe at the first ever E3 way back in 1995...