E3 2021 is scheduled to happen later this year, and Nintendo is one of the many big names in gaming that will have a presence at the virtual event. Virtual E3 presentations aren't new to the gaming giant, as they have been using Nintendo Directs as their preferred method of communication at the event since 2013. Despite the move to virtual presentations, Nintendo has still managed to maintain a large presence at E3 thanks to Nintendo Treehouse Live events and yearly invitationals for several of their biggest titles like Splatoon and Super Smash Bros.
But before all of that, Nintendo held traditional in-person press conferences like everyone else. These events had their fair share of iconic moments, both for better and worse. When trying to find what might be Nintendo's greatest E3 moment, look no further than Nintendo's 2004 presentation.
Game reveals are always a major event at E3, but rarely have any been able to match the hype surrounding the reveal of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. After a fairly standard presentation, Nintendo decided to end the event with the first trailer for Link's adventure into the Twilight realm, only a year after the release of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. With a new Zelda game that finally adopts a more mature aesthetic, in contrast to The Wind Waker's cel-shaded design, fans were ecstatic over the new title as soon as Link jumped onto the screen.
What made the reveal even better was the appearance of Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto, triumphantly wielding the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield. Miyamoto's exuberant energy combined with the audience's rapturous applause made the reveal one of Nintendo's finest moments.
On the flip side, Nintendo's 2008 presentation was memorable for all the wrong reasons. During the presentation, Nintendo showcased Wii Music, a rhythm game that used the Wii Remote, Nunchuk, and Wii Balance Board to simulate playing musical instruments. Unlike most music games, Wii Music was designed for a casual audience. The game featured no scoring system, and its soundtrack was a mixture of classical music, a handful of licensed pop songs, and Nintendo theme songs. Gameplay revolved around taking those songs and using motion controls, along with a large selection of instruments from various cultures and music styles, to create custom mixes and music videos.
The game was already a hard sell, but it wasn't helped when Shigeru Miyamoto and a bunch of Nintendo employees came onto the stage to play the Mario theme song. The performance was off-key and cringeworthy and simply made Miyamoto and everyone else look foolish pretending to play instruments that weren't there.
Nintendo's shift from live presentations to scripted, pre-recorded Nintendo Directs means that moments like the Twilight Princess reveal and the Wii Music fiasco will probably never happen again. This shift has been very beneficial to Nintendo, as the lack of another cringeworthy Wii Music moment means the company won't embarrass themselves as badly as other companies tend to do during the event, even if those embarrassing moments are very memorable.
However, losing a live audience means that epic reveals on the same level as Twilight Princess can no longer happen. A reveal trailer can still be great to watch even if you see it on a computer screen, but nothing can compare to seeing and hearing a crowd of excited gamers enthusiastically cheer as a new entry in their favorite series is announced.