E3 2014: Seven Greatest Memes Of E3 History

Gamers enter the E3 fray with hope in their hearts and often come out the other side with tears in their eyes.

Like any kind of fandom, getting carried away is part of the passion that makes us fans in the first place. But while disappointment is part and parcel of the E3 experience, the very worst of the show are often ripe for parody and meme-ification.

Over the years there have been some corkers. Botched pricing announcements, real time weapon changes and farcical stage demos. Oh the stage demos, it just wouldn't be E3 without an awkward stooge sweating nervously or flailing their limbs wildly to show off the latest motion controls.

Here are some of the best memes born from E3.

The Reaction Guys

Two photos, one taken at Nintendo's 2003 press conference and one at their conference a year later, show off the highs and lows of video game fandom. Those perfect expressions belong to IGN writers Matt Casamassina, Craig Harris, Chadd Chamers and Peer Schneider.

On the left, a photo taken when Nintendo announced Pacman Vs, a multiplayer GameCube title. On the right is their reaction to the famous announcement trailer of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a moment regarded as the best in E3's history.

The pictures were often used in web comics as panels two and four, with panels one and three showing something not awesome and then very awesome – provoking the reaction. A short-lived and early meme.

Giant Enemy Crab / Massive Damage / Sony 2006

Even the most amazing E3 press conference would never be remembered as fondly as the worst. In 2006 Sony took their PlayStation 3 to E3 – a console meant to assert their dominance but which initially flopped.

The reason was the price. "599 US dollars" said Kaz Hirai to an audience in utter disbelief. That would become a meme of its own, however there was one particular game that inspired most derision.

"Genji 2 is an action game based on Japanese history. The stages of the game will also be based on famous battles that actually took place in ancient Japan..."

"... so here's this giant enemy crab."

Ah yes, those well-known giant crabs of feudal Japan. That wasn't all Genji 2 had to offer however, soon it was explained that to defeat the giant enemy crab, you have to flip it over and "attack its weak point for massive damage". Gamers were in tears of laughter and despair.

My Body Is Ready

It may be seven years old now, but "My body is ready" is still an oft-used phrase among gamers. it is typically said with a picture of Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime, who originally said the phrase at Nintendo's 2007 press conference is he demoed Wii Fit. Little did he know what he had just created.

Five years later Reggie would make reference to the phrase, saying it while introducing Wii Fit on the Wii U, but here's the original video...

BAM! There it is.

In 2009 Microsoft revealed their motion control camera Project Natal (now the pretty much dead Kinect) with a multitude of stage demos including this one from Kudo Tsunoda.

Showing off the possibilities of this "awesome" technology, Tsunoda turned around in front of the camera to show us what the bottom of an avatar's shoe looks like, contorting the on-screen character into inhuman shapes. "Bam!" he said. "There it is."

Remember Me?

At Nintendo's E3 2009 conference the Japanese gaming giant introduced a new console Metroid game called Metroid: Other M. The trailer was pawed over by the fans and everyone was pretty excited, but what caught the eye most was a character lifting his visor to say: "Remember me?"

Erm, well no. The character was later revealed to be a character called Anthony Higgs, but when he first appeared no one had ever seen him before. The moment's meme-status was confirmed with the great visual of Mysterious Black Dude (as he was known) with his visor up - many remixes and photoshops were born.

Iwata's Bananas

This genuine image of Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata from his company's 2012 conference speaks for itself...

Smash Bros Villager

At their 2013 conference Nintendo revealed new characters for their forthcoming all-star fighter Super Smash Bros, including the villager from their cutesy life-sim Animal Crossing (sadly not KK Slider).

The villager wasn't even the weirdest inclusion (hello there Wii Fit instructor) but did win over the internet with his facial expression, which could be construed as a simple display of happiness, or in the context of violence, the cold smirk of a psychopathic killer.

It's not far away from Luigi's death stare, a current meme born out of Nintendo's recently-released Mario Kart 8.