My first E3. Still have the Panzer Dragoon Orta pin. Legit bummed E3 might be gone.

I'm gonna miss the old days of E3 so much. E3 was like Christmas for gamers, and even though we're getting the same number of announcements nowadays, it just isn't the same when everyone is doing their own events at differing times of the year.

Never got to attend a single convention, but the gaming magazines that came around that month were the next best thing

2001-2005 was the perfect balance of huge AAA games being cutting edge while also being reasonable to create in a quick timeframe.

Still playing UT2004 to this day. At high resolutions and framerates it's still amazing looking *and* playing. Glad to see some love for it here!

I started working at PlayStation in 2003. I got to be at the PS3 announcement E3 and be on the floor with my lead showing our game called SOCOM Fireteam Bravo. Love this!

I can't believe John got the budget to stage and film a period-accurate recreation of E3 2002 for April's Fools Day! :p

Bless you for doing a proper 60p conversion of the footage.

I love when John just recites an entire company's history and ends it with what engine the Tron game on PS2 ran on.

Game development was so fast then! Imagine gta 1,2,3, vice city and San Andreas. Launched between 1997 and 2004. 5 games in 7 years. Gta 5 came out in 2013. Yet here, we are 10yrs later without even an announcement! It's crazy!

Man even the sound of the tape going in the VCR is nostalgic.

Despite never getting to experience E3 in person, I always looked forward to watching it on tv and reading about it through gaming magazines. We can always hope that it gets revived in one way or another.

Man, when I was a kid in Honduras the E3 seemed like the most magical thing ever, I would see mini clips here and there and see all these games I didn’t even knew about, it all seemed magical.

Being a teen back then kicked ass. The rise of gaming in the mainstream and the excitement of what games were becoming. Damn, what a time capsule!

Man this was such a joy to watch, I'd love to see you boys tackle other editions of E3 this way again.

Do you plan to do anymore of these time capsules? I have hours of Hi8 footage from 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006 E3 including the full Microsoft and Sony press conference introducing the Xbox 360 and PlayStation Triple. Lots of floor and cosplay coverage along with nearly every major booth, attraction, and sizzle reels plus most big titles. Just found them in storage and in process of creating table of contents and digitizing. Happy to share.

I was 17 at the end of my junior year of highschool. What a trip down memory lane! Thanks DF+MLiG.

This brings back so many great memories. I was at this show, writing for a small gaming site at the time. Neon lighting, extravagant displays, booth babes...truly the halcyon days of gaming. I'm sad that this doesn't exist any more, but so grateful I was able to experience it in all its glory!

I completely related to Try's rant about not using component cables on compatible TV during that era. In 2002 I bought a nice 32 inch JVC I'art CRT with component and s video inputs, yet still ran all my systems through composite. I just didn't know any better at the time. No one really talked about or made a big deal of how huge on an upgrade switching cables was. This was well before the days of DF and MLiG 😅. Here in 2023, I still have and use that same CRT to do all my retro gaming today. And of course i now use high quality component cables on everything and it really does look amazing. I kick myself now looking back that I never took "full advantage" of that TV at the time I first bought it. It wasn't till several years later that I realized the errors of my ways.

I attended a few E3s, 2001-2004 as a student (university permit) for a few years and once for work, and there were tons of games even with flashy marketing. Games were also just as expensive to make back then, dare I say more adjusted for inflation. Tools have massively evolved, so back then they were just as complex with much smaller teams. Now budgets have shifted to aggressively market recurring microtransaction scam models through streamers, youtubers, and other influencers - not game development. I'm also still firmly convinced new found wealth in microtransactions (EA, R*, Activision, etc) and chopped full games sold as DLC (like Destiny) gaining popularity at the beginning at Gen 8 are what have ruined E3 and high quality AAA output in general. Now marketing budgets ultimately failed without any new products to show for it. No need to make new games when games like GTAO are raking in billions. All AAA fell to this greed which is why we saw the rise of live service garbage.

we need more content like this. John and his sick burns on peoples fashion sense and self reflection of his younger years was hilarious.

1998-2008 was definitely the golden decade for gaming.

E3 watch parties with friends were so special growing up

more E3 time capsule shows like this pls 💯👌

The German video game magazine Gamepro had very detailed booth tours on DVD since E3 2003, which I enjoyed watching. I have few memories of E3 2002 because I only read PC magazines at the time.

Man, John is a fountain of knowledge. I'd love to see him together with Jeff Gerstmann, going through the history of games.

Man I am terrible at shooting film. Was a good call to edit in footage of the games.

Great to see Linneman and the guys reflect upon what was an exciting period for the in-person gaming showcases.

E3 was my favourite time of the year rivaling holidays when I was younger. I understand why it's gone but I honestly think it helped having everyone do events together like this because the hype of the event itself helped hype for all the games etc

Holy crap this is some rare footage 😮

Thanks for sharing this, I was at the show and see a lot of memories here in the footage. No shots of me passing the camera though, haha

I miss the days before the internet where you needed to host actual physical shows and events to advertise your products, these days the internet has made things so simple that it has become mundane and lost its magic.

My buddy wanted to go to a field trip on the second day of this E3 so he lent me his pass. Biggest standouts of this event were definitely seeing Tony Hawk walking around the crowd, playing Steel Battalion and an early World of Warcraft, and seeing Adema play Immortal to promote Mortal Kombat. Wish I could go back to these times, in my mind these games are still and will always be the cutting edge in graphics!

I attended this E3 and I’m definitely seeing if there’s any chance I can spot myself 😅

Man i love these time capsules. Takes me back to the hype we used to have for E3. It was like christmas for video games.

Smugglers Run!!! There was some amazing multiplayer modes hidden within that game. On top of that, there were some cheat codes that enhanced the gameplay and graphics. You could turn up the game speed and suddenly you had a gorgeous 60fps and responsive multiplayer car game with fun mechanics.

I was there in 2002. I'm old.

I remember switching from composite to a SCART full RGB connection for the PS2 and was completely blown away! It was an amazing upgrade for very little money. Oh and I was 18 at this time and was really into the Playstation World (PSW) magazines with the free DVD showing E3 footage! I still remember E3 with the announcement for MGS2 - with the VHS cassette of the demo, I must have replayed that until the video wore out!

I was so hoping this wasent a April fools joke, and I'm so glad it wasent. Please do more like these guys. I have/can binge you guys watching this stuff all day long. I love old conference videos.

I attended E3 in 2015 it was a amazing dream fulfilled as a gamer. I’m sad to see E3 gone.

Digital Foundry and the MLiG men… what a crew. What a collab. What a time!

Crazy how many timeless classics were all on display for a single year of E3.

The Old E3 from 1995 until the mid 2000s was really something special. I have always dreamed of visiting one but never made it there. I am living on another continent after all. Thanks a lot for showing these footage. I am really into watching stuff from these old trade shows.

Awesome video. I was only able to attend E3 1999 n 2000 before leaving the LA for about 10 years. Those shows were something else, I attended once more when it opened up to the public in 2017 and it was nothing like my memory of the old shows

I miss the 2000s, I also miss E3, it was like the super bowl of gaming

What a great time for games. I was already into retro at the time, but I had no idea I would look back on the early 2000's with such nostalgia. Wish I could go back to Costco with my grandparents in the year 2000.

E3 lost its way once it let the unwashed masses in. It should've just been predominately for the press. But then they let anyone with 2000 youtube subs in, then anyone who would pay and it changed the attitude of the people at the event. Pre ~2011 E3 was a completely different beast to the period that came after - devs were actually likely to be on the floor and directly talk to you instead of just it being PR and basically retail staff. I used to work for the Australian PS2 Magazine and was part of a group that got flown out every year from 04 to 08 and later go to go back in 2012-14 via freelance work. Getting anything done interview or anything work wise was hell in 14 which is why I stopped going and eventually changed careers (also saw how the winds were flowing with the whole streaming/influencer thing making reviews near obsolete). In 05 I could hit basically every target I was asked for and get a bunch of bonus stuff you'd only get by running into people actually on the floor with free time. In 14 I spent 80% of my time in queues, waiting for people because for some reason it was now a family event in some cases with kids everywhere that dad had dragged the family to and he wanted to try and talk to Konami PR about how they should remake SOTN or some other nostalgia fuelled conversation directed at someone who didn't care, couldn't do anything about it but couldn't tell them to go away. The only way you get real dev interviews now are with things like noclip or maybe when stories leak to twitter "journos". There is literally no point in going to a physical space anymore when online exists. People already have proven they don't need to wait for reviews or try a game before buying - they'll just pre order off a trailer and complain that they got burnt. Companies know this - so E3 is irrelevant and a stupidly big cost/time waste that they can cut.

This is the pinnacle of old dudes being old dudes

I have many E3 DVDs when GameSpot were selling them and also some from Next Gen Video called E3 Access, and an obscure one from Planet GameCube E3 2002 DVD.🎮

I finished high school in '97. I remember this time very well. I don't think we'll ever seen trade shows like this again unfortunately. But a lot of that momentum has transferred to conventions instead, eliminating the gap between industry and consumer, professional and fan. The growth of PAX is an example of this. But that being said, I'm a huge fan of things like E3 and CES back in the day.

Industry is EASLY 10 times bigger than back then and look at the shows we had 20 years ago and compare them to nowdays... Companies became LAZY AND VERY GREED.

it's interesting how big events like these were, back when we lived in a world of "information drought", punctuated by great "information harvests" (like E3). There where often many months were I didn't get any video game magazine or other media, either due to money concerns; Or I juts forgot about games all together. When there was no 'social media hype waves', local constellations filled that role. Midnight releases, movies and concerts would be hyped up by friend groups, sometimes the entire schools or my city block would basically go to something. Now we each live with a private stream of information, and everyone has their silo and watch TV shows, listen to music, play games all on their own schedule. Mostly asynchronously from others. It's uncanny how the world population, the games industry (and the world economy) is larger now: and because we live in our silos, it all feels so much smaller.

So many great games in just one event. Insane.

I'll miss that magical summer week when It was tradition to stay up all night with friends watching the conferences and speculating on the announcements. Yes, we have conferences now too, but back then those were all within the same short period.

For years, E3 was the Super Bowl for the video game industry. Watching this old footage of the show floor was very cool, E3 will be definitely be missed.

Rygar on the NES is one of my favorite game memories of all time. It felt like an open world game a generation before. The music was perfect too.

Such a fun watch, I'm really going to miss E3. Thanks for sharing this!

I remember playing GTA3 for the first time. What an experience. Games just don't have the same impact these days.

About upgrading cables, many people didn't even know, my friend had s-video on his TV and didn't even knew about it. He was astounded when I gave him one for the PS2.

Thanks for the lookback. I was at this show, in fact, I still have my Mr. T autograph that we waited a while to get at the Rocky booth. I didn't take any video but I have pictures using one of those disposible cameras lol.

I hope you guys will cover Gran Turismo 7’s newly added 120fps mode. I’d love to know the particulars of what is actually going on with it. And Digital Foundry is my go to source for that kind of stuff.

This was back when the greenlight for many projects were firing on all cylinders. We got great sequels to games not even less than two years before the first. Good times.

Such a shame E3 is cancelled this year, i really hope it’s not the last time we see it. Console & game reveals are not the same without a live audience reaction.

I have dreamed of going to E3 but didn't think I would ever attend because I struggled to find a job in the gaming industry. Then, in 2010, I got in the industry and didn't waste anytime. I took the whole week off along with a few other colleagues and it was a blast! E3 turned into my summer vacation: the free t-shirts and other weird and fun stuff, game samples, photos with booth babes, evening parties where majority of attendees were gamers, and staying in the hotel/motel watching the 3 game companies present their upcoming projects/games were just an epic experience! I went for 4 years straight until work got very busy wouldn't be able to take time off near E3 time. Sadly, I don't think E3 will ever return. Maybe in 10 years but I doubt it.

So sad that this went public now and we hear Matt keep referencing E3 like it's still alive

Totally miss E3. I would take days off work to watch it all online. It was my superbowl of video games.

Even though E3 is all but dead at this point, it did provide us some amazing memories. Whilst I never got to go myself, I could still appreciate the magic that was classic E3.

Attended two E3s back when I was still in college. Both times I just stood outside the convention hall and just waited for attendees that were done and I would ask for their badge and lanyard. Both times I got it and managed to go to the floor. Back when it was still PC to have booth babes. Ah...memories

This commentary and footage is great. I was a little kid at the time and only played a couple of the games mentioned, but I have heard of almost all these. I DO remember learning what E3 was in 2003 when I heard Halo 2 would be shown there.

This video is giving me such a warm feeling of nostalgia. I love this era of video games.

Loved seeing this! Early 2000’s E3 looked so exciting! As you said, so many games coming out so fast back then!

I think I was at this E3 through a friend in the biz. Wow, such a long time ago.

I remember italian magazines at the time taking for granted that Doom 3 and HL2 would come out on Xbox even then.

Man I was 21 then. I was just starting my new engineering job. I got my PS2 for my 21st Birthday in October 2001 and couldn't really afford any games. Come May 2002 I started my new job and went on to buy 50 games for my PS2 over the next 4yrs. They used to pump out so many good games back then. Now they barely make anything, nothing that I'm interested in anyway. These were much better days man.

Those beautiful days now completely ruined by digital distribution. Things are about to get boring

loved watching e3 as a kid in the 2010s, had such a great time coming home from school and tuning in to youtube and wherever, watching the streams and developer interviews and demos

finally the MLG guy got more tame, i can actually hear john speak lol

I like that for everyone else this is a walk down memory lane for games and the industry at the time, for John its all about the TV's 😄

My name is Archer. Cate Archer. We desperatly need a NOLF3.

Man this makes me feel old because I'm looking at the clothes and hair styles and it reminds me of how long ago this really was and how much the world has changed since then.

That Konami Era of glory... So much incredible games.

Speaking of component video cables, I bought the PS2 ones at release for my Sharp 27” CRT. I still have the TV and the cables, and the PS2 is still hooked up to it. In TATE mode.

I remember when Nintendo World Report, formerly Planet GameCube at this point in time, was selling a DVD of their trip to E3 in 2002. They were selling it for years. Glad to see you had footage as well!

Now this is a great video. Every second of this is just pure joy.

I feel old watching this, back when I had unlimited time and gamed way more than I do now

Love this era, mgs 2, half life 2, doom 3, agp graphics cards, direct x 9 ahhh simpler times

A series that I've been waiting for, the timing has never been more appropriate too, RIP E3. Great video, guys.

There HAS TO BE more footage from previous E3 event out there in the wild somewhere. Is there a Reddit subreddit for past E3 footage like this? One for every year? That would be awesome. RIP E3.

I ain't even been in a single E3 yet somehow I feel nostalgic seeing those footages, it reminded me of the old G4TV gaming shows

Only saying it because someday I'll be the oldhead - this took place around my 6th birthday. It's just crazy how little I really knew back then just with the internet being so much more simple and less connected back then. Growing up in this time has given me such a love and joy for video games

Would be amazing if you guys did an E3 capsule/look back special every year starting from June I.e 2003, next year on 2004

The best 5 years of gaming in my opinion was 1998-2003. A mix of the mastering of the old technologies like 2D/isometric RPGs, early detailed 3D like Metal Gear Solid, and then the huge jump into what I would still consider, convincing and slick 3D graphics, with all sorts of post-processing effects that give that era an amazing style of its own.

Gaming was awesome during this time period. Some of the best games ever made and what was on the game disc was the finished game, no patches or microtransactions.

Starbreeze developed Escape from Butcher Bay

Ah those golden days...

This was peak golden age E3 showfloor , to me around 1997 - 2004 was as good as It got for showfloors , back when every booth was truly over the top chaotic and jam packed with demos and trailers and fighting for attention , every area looked and felt so much more stylish and exotic like a theme park , a dark dingy Disneyland for the nerdy hardcore

I wasn’t there, but I’m old enough to have read the magazines about it. I was there man! Video games were my world and still are. One of the only pleasures in life.

holy shit that half pipe!

I love that everyone has an outburst when Bruce Campbell is seen 😂💘

I love this sort of stuff. Really takes me back. There are some "remember year-x" videos on YT that provide a nice look back too. Remember 1998 is my favorite for maximum nostalgia reasons.