Let me be perfectly clear: No one entity, person, or game can truly “win” E3. You cannot win a convention that isn’t a real competition or match or contest. The silly idea that every year us gamers chronicle, in magazines or on the internet, a “winner” to a trade show is preposterous.

However, there is some credence to the idea that one press conference can stand out from the others, but it’s usually presented in that toxic way in which fanboys pit conglomerates against each other like sports teams. Yes, capitalism breeds companies to compete, but it’s not a war.

It’s actually just rich companies doing their damnedest to get richer by promoting their marketing materials directly to their loyal diehard customers. The whole thing is revolting, and yet, somehow, hype. It’s like a train wreck of Christmas catalogs exploding everywhere , but it’s still a spectacle you can’t take your eyes off of for one second.

And now we have Summer Game Fest, which (former?) journalist Geoff Keighley put together for some fun reveal trailers we can all obsess over every June. It’s not quite the same thing as it was before, but I’ll take it.

So let’s wind the clocks back and comb over gaming history once again, in this three part series, broken down by decade. I’ll be talking supposed “winners” here, but we all know the real winners are shareholders.

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Who won E3 1995?

Sony, with one single sentence.

This is the greatest moment in E3 history; it killed an entire console in one fell swoop. The Saturn ostensibly died at this very moment, and while Sega didn’t know it until 2001, its place in the console market also died that exact same day. The $399 Saturn couldn’t compete with the PS1, the Dreamcast couldn’t compete with the PS2, and pretty much nobody has seriously challenged the PS4 or PS5.

Sony’s lead is so far beyond comprehension in terms of sales it’s hard to imagine anyone knocking off Sony from their throne, hasn’t happened all that often since 1995. And it all started its gaming dominance at the very first E3 ever.

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Who won E3 1996?

Nintendo, and the “Ultra 64” deserves the credit. Did you know you could now control Mario in 3D using a stick?

And that’s not even including the following line-up: the Game Boy Pocket, “Pilotwings 64,” “Wave Race 64,” “Shadows of the Empire,” “Donkey Kong Country 3,” “Kirby Super Star,” and “Super Mario RPG.”

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Who won E3 1997?

PC first-person shooters! And shooters in general, to a certain extent, I guess. Look at this list and tell me it’s not world-class stuff for reveal trailers and new gameplay footage: “Half-Life,” “Unreal,” “Quake II,” “Star Wars Jedi Knight Dark Forces II,” “SiN,” “Daikatana,” “Thief,” “SWAT 2,” “Duke Nukem Forever,” and “Prey.” Were half of those games good? No! Was “Daikatana” cool as fuck back in ’97?

But I might want to say “gamers” won this year, because if you look at the list of games that don’t include shooting, it’s bananas: “Banjo-Kazooie,” “Star Fox 64,” “F-Zero 64,” “Oddworld,” “Conker’s Bad Fur Day,” and fucking “Final Fantasy VII.” Come on! This year is insane.

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Won Won E3 1998?

Nintendo, because of the (possibly) greatest game ever made being shown off.

This is not the first time “Ocarina of Time” was shown off at an E3, but it would be its best. Plus, Nintendo showed off the Game Boy Color, the Game Boy Camera, the Game Boy Printer, and at least mentioned the N64DD add-on, so a blend of both lightspeed software and hardware. Futuristic, man. Far out, dude.

Look at big-boy Nintendo, with the cutting edge tech; that would be the last time, of course, but at least they also had “Pokemon Red and Blue,” “Perfect Dark,” “Super Mario RPG,” “F-Zero X,” “Bomberman Hero,” and “Banjo-Kazooie.”

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Who Won E3 1999?

Sega did, for the first and only time in their corporate lives! Good for them. Their company would only crank out shitty Sonic games for other consoles for the next few decades (Shhhhh! Don’t tell them that yet).

Without a doubt, the biggest news of the show was the Dreamcast and its 9/9/99 release date. That thing was being trotted around like a technological marvel, the hydrogen bomb of its day, ready to obliterate the competition. It really needed DVD playback though. Can you imagine being so short-sighted as to not include that?

But Sega had a few hits under their belts to bolster their reputation, like “Sonic Adventure,” “Ready 2 Rumble,” “Seaman,” “Ecco the Dolphin,” “Shenmue,” “Virtua Fighter 3,” “Sega Rally 2,” NBA and NFL 2K, “Soul Caliber,” “Bass Fishing,” and “The House of the Dead 2.”

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Who Won E3 2000?

Konami? Wait, no, that can’t be right. They don’t make video games. Are we sure it wasn’t someone else?

Fucking hell. Apparently, it really was just the power of Konami because they had “Metal Gear Solid 2;” good job! From all of my research, this was the hottest game of the show, the most talked-about title, the most-watched trailer, and the most buzzed-about product bar none. Not even other PS2 demos were any good, just this one game!

And it makes sense, looking at Sega and Nintendo’s slate. It just wasn’t the same as how thermonuclear hot that MGS2 demo was at the time. It might be the best demo in gaming history before “P.T.” destroyed Konami’s will to live. The booth was packed to the brim with people watching it over and over. People cried! This was the tulip fever of video games, you didn’t even play as Solid Snake, you fools!

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Who Won E3 2001?

This was a tough one, since apparently Sony had a killer line-up again, but I have to give the edge to Nintendo. Shout outs to Microsoft for showing up and offering a hands-on demo of “Halo” that had frame rate issues, though.

The Xbox, PS2, and the GameCube all had a three-way slugfest at E3, which would begin the 20 year battle between the current console makers. Most of the launch games for the Xbox were here, as well as Sony showing “Devil May Cry,” “Final Fantasy X,” “Jak & Daxter,” and “Grand Theft Auto III” (Which no one gave a shit about because of “State of Emergency?” Yikes).

But Nintendo had its launch window games (“Luigi’s Mansion,” “Pikmin,” “Animal Crossing,” “Melee,” etc.) which all turned out to be quite good. And the reason Nintendo gets the edge over its rivals is they also had a killer slate of GBA games, which was revolutionary at the time. “Advance Wars,” “Golden Sun,” “Castlevania: Circle of the Moon,” and “Mario Kart Super Circuit.”

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Who Won E3 2002?

The terrorists won. No, I kid, it was iD Software and “Doom III.”

“Doom III” was the biggest name, the most anticipated sequel, and sported the most impressive-looking graphics at the time. It was… all the rage, and was easily the game of the show.

Nintendo had an impressive year two line-up of Gamecube games, and traditionally when we discuss who “won” E3 it comes down to a company putting on a press conference.

But at the time there was hesitation about “Super Mario Sunshine,” “Metroid Prime,” and the art style of “Wind Waker.” Controversial then, as silly as it was, but at the time fans were pissed. They were hilariously wrong, but pissed nonetheless.

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Who Won E3 2003?

Gabe Newell, Valve, “Half-Life 2,” and the concept of physics.

Listen, this entire list could easily come down to choosing Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft over and over again. We’ll get to them soon enough, since it was a real horse race for most of the decade. But “Half-Life 2” might be the greatest game ever made and this was the best demo ever shown because it delivered the goods.

No smoke and mirrors, no bullshit, just the most advanced leap in gaming shown off live, and it would go down as the reason the game’s code got stolen and delayed it an entire year.

This isn’t to say the “Big Three” didn’t have good years, they did! Nintendo had a nice list of games (“Double Dash,” “Star Fox”), Xbox had “Halo 2” to blow minds, Peter Molyneux told some creative half-truths about “Fable,” and Sony had the PSP, EyeToy, “Gran Turismo 4,” and “Ratchet & Clank 2.” They easily would have won if not for Valve.

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Who Won E3 2004?

Peter Moore and his massive fucking guns, baby.

“I got your release date… right here.” The most epic thing anyone has done in video games. Still gives me chills. Yeah, sorry, this tattoo of Halo 2’s release date on Moore’s arm is easily the second greatest moment in E3 history after “$299”, even though it crunched Bungie to cut out the ending. But “Halo 2” remains maybe the best FPS ever, so it’s a close call.

In all fairness to Mr. Moore and his tattoo artist, the real winner of E3 2004 was Nintendo. Reggie Fils-Aime’s famous introduction to kicking ass and taking names, Miyamoto’s Master Sword moment, the DS’s introduction to the world, and of course, Link’s re-introduction to the gaming world as a furry.

Has there ever been a moment as hype as this for Nintendo? No, no there hasn’t. This will never be topped again.

Image Credit: Kenny Eliason, prayitnophotography (Edited)