With the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo approaching in a few weeks, gamers and electronics fans across the globe have a lot to look forward to. During this event, industry giants such as Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will have the opportunity to show off all of the great products that they have to offer throughout the year.
E3 has become especially popular within the past few years, thanks to mainstream media attention and visits from high-profile celebrities such as Paul McCartney and Steven Spielberg. Unfortunately, the expo is still prone to some very embarrassing press conferences. Here are a few examples of some E3 events that didn't go they way that they intended.
5. Disney's High School Musical Press Conference Fails Audience Participation
Remember, this is supposed to be a press conference, not a children's dance show. The conference started out with a group of perky cheerleaders shouting “WOOH” after every statement from the host. Next, two volunteers from the audience were asked to come up in front of everybody to perform a dance. Disney must have been really lucky, because these two “volunteers” somehow knew the choreographed dance and and sang along to music perfectly.
However, the level of awkwardness didn't truly begin until the audience just sat there and watched as the on-stage “volunteers” attempted to get everyone to participate in their group dance. You have to hand it to Disney though, they sure try to create a positive and perky environment regardless of how awkward it may be.
]
4. Nintendo's Unveiling of Wii Music
Nintendo has had its share of embarrassing conferences, and surely the unveiling of Wii Music during 2008's E3 ranks somewhere near the top. What began with incoherent drumming from some guy who looks a lot like M. Night Shyamalan, the conference eventually became a performance of middle-age Nintendo employees pretending that their Wii controllers were musical instruments.
3. Konami's Rock Revolution Song Failure
A word of advice: If you're going to demonstrate a game to the media, make sure you use someone who actually knows how to play the game. Lauren Faccidomo, senior product manager on Konami's Rock Revolution, intended to play through the Ramones' “Blitzkrieg Bop” but only made it half way through before the song got cut off due to the high number of mistakes. The clearly embarrassed woman ended the conference immediately after the song.
2. Sony's E3 2006 Press Conference
No other E3 press conference has given birth to more internet memes than Sony's unveiling of the Playstation 3 in 2006. After shocking the audience by announcing the $599.99 price tag of the PS3, Sony's CEO Kazuo “Kaz” Hirai demonstrated some of the PS3's future games.
When he announced the next incarnation of Ridge Racer, the Sony Chief unenthusiastically yelled out, “It's Ridge Racer. Riiiiiiiiiiiidge Racer!. Another game that was shown off was Genji: Days of the Blade, a game that featured “famous battles which actually took place in ancient Japan.” Almost immediately after these words, the demo featured a “giant enemy crab” in which players can attack its weak point for “massive damage.” Godzilla must have had a day off if ancient Japan truly did have those giant enemy crabs.
1. Jamie Kennedy Appears Stoned During Activision's Press Conference
What may be remembered as one of the lowest points in the history of the Electronic Entertainment Expo is Activision's press conference with Jamie Kennedy as the host.
The seemingly stoned comedian walks onto the stage and immediately starts piling on some horrible jokes and one-liners. He even suggested that the audience should “take a minute” in order to understand his jokes. He even thanked the few people who laughed.
When members of Activision and Tony Hawk came on stage to talk about the games that they were promoting, Mr. Kennedy apparently had no knowledge of anything that they were talking about, and instead sidetracked and started talking about Viagra. He even got pissed off at one point when someone from the audience said that he wasn't funny. Hell, someone had to say it!
He continued to condescend the audience after the conference by calling them virgins and unattractive. He may be Malibu's Most Wanted, but it's unlikely that he'll be wanted at E3 anymore.
