Something went wrong. Try again later

Giant Bomb News

70 Comments

Ghosts Of E3 Past: The Reggie Cometh

With next week's conference looming, let's start looking back at some of the highlights of yesteryear.

I think I can speak for everyone at Giant Bomb in saying next week's E3 is the most exciting E3 in years. That's not only because the show is purportedly returning to the ludicrous, larger-than-life spectacle it used to be, but also because it's again early enough in the year--and thus, early enough in the annual marketing cycle--for companies to hold announcements of some of their biggest products until E3 itself. The best E3s are the ones where mindblowing news is breaking faster than you can keep up with it.

Now that E3 may once again be more than a rote exercise, I started thinking back to some of the most exciting things that have happened at the show in past years, and I figured I'd show you (or remind you of) them off and on this week as they come to mind. I can't start with the one I really had in mind, because I left its corresponding DVD at my house today. So there's your hint: It's the only E3 moment I can think of that had an entire retail DVD release devoted to it.

In the meantime, here's what is possibly my second-favorite E3 moment ever: The momentous coming of Reginald Fils-Aime. For a long time, Nintendo's front-facing executive image got by on the quiet, grandfatherly charm of Howard Lincoln. But once Lincoln left the company, Nintendo lost its public spokesman--and followup Peter Main didn't stick around very long to fill the necessary shoes either. And George Harrison, bless his soul, was not quite the stage presence the company needed. (Nor the Beatle, either.)

So E3 2004, Nintendo press conference. Minute one, enter this unknown but towering, imposing guy who seizes control of the Nintendo juggernaut with that one unforgettable phrase.

  


Five years later, the company seems to be doing pretty well for itself. And while we're on the subject of Nintendo's E3 2004 press conference, remember this madness? Zelda fans sure know how to scream. This one also ranks somewhere in the pantheon of crazy E3 moments.

  


Aside from Spirit Tracks, think we'll get any other news on the Zelda front this year?

Brad Shoemaker on Google+

70 Comments

Avatar image for brad
Brad

6955

Forum Posts

9601

Wiki Points

174766

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By Brad
I think I can speak for everyone at Giant Bomb in saying next week's E3 is the most exciting E3 in years. That's not only because the show is purportedly returning to the ludicrous, larger-than-life spectacle it used to be, but also because it's again early enough in the year--and thus, early enough in the annual marketing cycle--for companies to hold announcements of some of their biggest products until E3 itself. The best E3s are the ones where mindblowing news is breaking faster than you can keep up with it.

Now that E3 may once again be more than a rote exercise, I started thinking back to some of the most exciting things that have happened at the show in past years, and I figured I'd show you (or remind you of) them off and on this week as they come to mind. I can't start with the one I really had in mind, because I left its corresponding DVD at my house today. So there's your hint: It's the only E3 moment I can think of that had an entire retail DVD release devoted to it.

In the meantime, here's what is possibly my second-favorite E3 moment ever: The momentous coming of Reginald Fils-Aime. For a long time, Nintendo's front-facing executive image got by on the quiet, grandfatherly charm of Howard Lincoln. But once Lincoln left the company, Nintendo lost its public spokesman--and followup Peter Main didn't stick around very long to fill the necessary shoes either. And George Harrison, bless his soul, was not quite the stage presence the company needed. (Nor the Beatle, either.)

So E3 2004, Nintendo press conference. Minute one, enter this unknown but towering, imposing guy who seizes control of the Nintendo juggernaut with that one unforgettable phrase.

  


Five years later, the company seems to be doing pretty well for itself. And while we're on the subject of Nintendo's E3 2004 press conference, remember this madness? Zelda fans sure know how to scream. This one also ranks somewhere in the pantheon of crazy E3 moments.

  


Aside from Spirit Tracks, think we'll get any other news on the Zelda front this year?

Avatar image for richied0
richied0

166

Forum Posts

1305

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

Edited By richied0

Doubt it. Maybe another Mario, but I don't see them blithering about 2 Zelda games in one go.

Avatar image for backpackkat
BackpackKat

520

Forum Posts

120

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 8

Edited By BackpackKat

Cant wait for E3 this is going to be a good one.

Avatar image for toma
TomA

2787

Forum Posts

188

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 11

Edited By TomA

lol Nintendo fans are fucking crazy.

Avatar image for jakob187
jakob187

22970

Forum Posts

10045

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 8

User Lists: 9

Edited By jakob187

Man, Miyamoto is fucking hilarious...and goddamn bonkers!!!  I never know whether to be disturbed or joyful about him.


Yeah, I remember the E3 2004 press conference.  Man, those were good times.
Avatar image for spencer
Spencer

338

Forum Posts

1847

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 19

Edited By Spencer

Watching that Zelda video just makes me sad.  The music in Twilight Princess wasn't even close to the selections used in the trailers.

Avatar image for jackel2072
Jackel2072

2510

Forum Posts

370

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 11

Edited By Jackel2072

Man that makes me miss Zelda. Note to self buy DSI.

Avatar image for sdauz
sdauz

432

Forum Posts

331

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By sdauz

reggie is on his way to world domination

Avatar image for infamous91
InFamous91

936

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Edited By InFamous91

CAN'T WAIT

Avatar image for lucidforest
Lucidforest

160

Forum Posts

269

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 13

Edited By Lucidforest

Zelda just hasn't been the same as of late. They've been good games but the LTTP and OOT parts of my brain are where the fond memories lie.

What I'm waiting on is.......F-ZERO!

A new F-Zero would make me smile muchly.

Avatar image for deactivated-5ffc9b0923f9f
deactivated-5ffc9b0923f9f

2527

Forum Posts

4764

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Lol.

Avatar image for kenzo287
kenzo287

798

Forum Posts

718

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 6

Edited By kenzo287

NOW I REMEMBER why I bought a Wii first

Avatar image for death_burnout
Death_Burnout

3847

Forum Posts

1617

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 6

Edited By Death_Burnout

Genuinely most necessary article ever. Oh Reggie...you da' man.

The screams in the second video still make me cringe...like...dude, it's only Zelda.

I cant wait for this years conferences...here is to hoping at least one of them is embarrasing and or ridiculous...like Ravi Drums!

Avatar image for cooldrmoney
CoolDrMoney

2042

Forum Posts

8064

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 14

User Lists: 11

Edited By CoolDrMoney

After watching the terrible conferences Nintendo brought to the table in 07/08, it's sad remembering how awesome their 04 and 06 conferences were. (05 was a pretty disappointing E3 overall, it was too early for Nintendo/Sony to show anything major off, besides those classic pre-rendered videos by Sony, and Microsoft deflated the 360 hype with that lame MTV unveiling weeks prior to E3)

Avatar image for chrisincali
ChrisInCali

151

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By ChrisInCali

Man, that makes me remember a time when I thought the Wii was going to be amazing.... lol.

Avatar image for marzy
Marzy

689

Forum Posts

207

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 2

Edited By Marzy

I'll never forget the that moment when Zelda was shown at E3 2004, it still sends shivers up my spine. Easily my favourite E3 moment ever.

I always look forward to seeing Reggie every year. I'm not sure what it is about him, but I always enjoy his stage presence.

Avatar image for scooper
Scooper

7920

Forum Posts

1107

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By Scooper

What the hell, I've only realised E3 is less then a week away. Cool!

Avatar image for babylonian
babylonian

883

Forum Posts

289

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 6

Edited By babylonian

the "OHH SHIT" at 0:21 in the Zelda video is hilarious.

Avatar image for twoonefive
TwoOneFive

9793

Forum Posts

203

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By TwoOneFive

"ZEEELLDDAAA, OOOHHH SHIIIITT!!! AHAHA!!!!"

biggest dork ever. 
Avatar image for zmilla
ZmillA

2519

Forum Posts

195

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By ZmillA

ravi drums?

Avatar image for giyanks22
giyanks22

2950

Forum Posts

816

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 17

User Lists: 5

Edited By giyanks22

Wow that Reggie dude is funny....

It seems like just yesterday I was watching Giantbomb's first ever video, and they were on E3 2009

Avatar image for grady
Grady

211

Forum Posts

953

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 6

User Lists: 9

Edited By Grady

I love at :26 the guys hands go up in the air and block the screen

Avatar image for natetodamax
natetodamax

19464

Forum Posts

65390

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 32

User Lists: 5

Edited By natetodamax

E3 2009 should be amazing. Can't wait for it to start

Avatar image for bwast
Bwast

1376

Forum Posts

95

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

Edited By Bwast

 @Babylonian said:

Babylonian said:
the "OHH SHIT" at 0:21 in the Zelda video is hilarious.
I choked on the banana bread I was eating when I heard that. Thank you Brad for posting this.
Avatar image for atomic_tangerine
Atomic_Tangerine

360

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Atomic_Tangerine

I love the guy screaming, "OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOD!"  over and over in that video.  Seeing how that game turned out, that was ESPECIALLY ridiculous.

Avatar image for bartholomew999
bartholomew999

181

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 2

Edited By bartholomew999

A current-gen Zelda might be an idea.  TP does NOT count.  Great game, but a great Gamecube game.

Avatar image for afroman269
Afroman269

7440

Forum Posts

103

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 6

Edited By Afroman269

No highlights from last years? Oh right it was just for the casual last year......

Avatar image for equal_opportunity_destroyer497
Equal_Opportunity_Destroyer497

578

Forum Posts

181

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 15

Kinda reminds me of when Nintendo was still cool. Sigh....

Avatar image for aska
Aska

544

Forum Posts

569

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Edited By Aska

Man that video gives me chills.  Love watching fan reactions to awesome games!

Avatar image for theht
TheHT

15998

Forum Posts

1562

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 9

Edited By TheHT

"OH MY GODDD, OH SHITTTTT, AHHHHHH, WHO'S THE MAN?!?!"

Avatar image for rvone
RVonE

5027

Forum Posts

8740

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 6

Edited By RVonE

RIIIIIIIIDGE RAACEEERRRRR!!

Avatar image for toowalrus
toowalrus

13408

Forum Posts

29

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Edited By toowalrus

Zelda trailer almost made me cry... until I remembered that that game was already out, and was average

Avatar image for player1
Player1

4180

Forum Posts

6263

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 2

Edited By Player1

My name is Reggie. 


I'm about kicking ass.

I'm about taking names.

And were about making games.

... Gotta love the video game world. 
Avatar image for arbitrarywater
ArbitraryWater

16103

Forum Posts

5585

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 8

User Lists: 66

Edited By ArbitraryWater

Oh yeah, remember when Nintendo was about the games? Instead of now, when they are about lame casual minigame collections?

Avatar image for cynic04
Cynic04

132

Forum Posts

32

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By Cynic04

Personally I would have gone with, 'I'm here to chew gum and make games, and I'm all out of gum'.

Avatar image for joshlarson
JoshLarson

68

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By JoshLarson

This year Reggie is going to saunter onto the stage at E3 and slowly roll up one sleeve to reveal a tattoo of Fox McCloud. After the cheers die down a bit he is going to roll up his other sleeve and reveal a permanent tattoo that simply states "Will sellout for grannies."

Avatar image for bigboss1911
BigBoss1911

2956

Forum Posts

488

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 3

Edited By BigBoss1911

THHEEEEEE REGGGGIIINAAAATOORRRRR

No Caption Provided


Avatar image for mattysen
mattysen

926

Forum Posts

1177

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

Edited By mattysen
@TooWalrus:  Twlight Princess was a great game, there never going to be as good as the N64 Zelda though....Never ever ever again.......*Stares at "hang in there kitty" poster *
Avatar image for blazer74
Blazer74

189

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Blazer74

Like to see, new Kid Icarus,....hmm,...too early for Mario and Zelda for me, besides they already have a new Zelda coming to DS. How about a new Metroid, after all isn't the Prime series now over? Be nicew to see the series take a new direction. Return to 2D even would be cool. Even remakes of the old game would hot.

Avatar image for samaritan
Samaritan

1730

Forum Posts

575

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 4

Edited By Samaritan

STUPID PANTS OPERATION, GO!

Avatar image for nick
Nick

1153

Forum Posts

13

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Edited By Nick
Spencer said:
Watching that Zelda video just makes me sad.  The music in Twilight Princess wasn't even close to the selections used ... [more]

I think the music in that trailer came from the old 80's Conan movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Avatar image for mrklorox
MrKlorox

11220

Forum Posts

1071

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By MrKlorox

I remember getting goose bumps when that Zelda trailer ended and Shiggy walked out with sword and shield.

I'm not anticipating any big new announcements to my favorite Nintendo series this year. Unless they're bringing back Wave Race with a Jet Ski and Wave Pool peripheral. But since there's a wave race minigame in Wii Sports 2, I'd be surprised if we saw a new full Wave Race ever again. And frankly I would rather have some of the open world ATV racing devs give the PWC genre a go. Jet Moto was an embarrassment.

Avatar image for aaron_g
Aaron_G

1694

Forum Posts

3259

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 8

User Lists: 6

Edited By Aaron_G

Oh jeez, pricelss E3 moment with the Zelda unveiling in 2004. 

Avatar image for jackijinx
JackiJinx

3255

Forum Posts

23588

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 34

Edited By JackiJinx

I would be somewhat surprised if they announced another Zelda next week. I'm thinking that there'll be more show on Pikmin than anything else.

I use to love Nintendo, but after the huge let down at last year's show, I can't say I expect much from them anymore.

No more Wii Music. No more Wii Fit. Hell, if I see anyone mimic anything in relation to frisbee throwing at the press conference, I think I'll be forced into brain aneurysm mode. I need CREATIVE fun. FANTASY fun. Not LET'S DO WHAT WE COULD NORMALLY DO BUT CHOOSE NOT TO fun.

Avatar image for smugdarkloser
SmugDarkLoser

5040

Forum Posts

114

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Edited By SmugDarkLoser

Just curious since I never saw an e3 from before it went formal and press but since E3's back to the old format, do the companies have conferences more intended for gamers?  Meaning more of a show than a presentation?

Avatar image for death_unicorn
Death_Unicorn

2879

Forum Posts

12136

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 6

Edited By Death_Unicorn

roflberrypwncakes

Avatar image for deactivated-6406b1cb85b6d
deactivated-6406b1cb85b6d

271

Forum Posts

1517

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 11

No one should be that excited about anything, unless it's Bruce Willis deflecting a asteroid from Earth.

Avatar image for cyrax
cyrax

211

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

Edited By cyrax

I still have that dvd plastic box set. Unfortunately, I misplaced some of the dvds. :(
The main reason I got it was at the time I didn't have high speed yet. That was a great E3 though.

Avatar image for claude
Claude

16672

Forum Posts

1047

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 18

Edited By Claude

The Wii was born, behind Reggie... two years earlier. Funny looking back, is it not.