E3 1995 was a strange beast compared to its modern day siblings. Saturn and Playstation were launched there, but the show also included appearances by hardware guest stars Virtual Boy, 3DO, and Jaguar. It was the first year of transition from CES, and nobody quite knew what the rules were.

In 1995, Sony and Sega both presented new hardware at their E3 press conferences. Sony’s Playstation and Sega’s Saturn were natural next-gen rivals. Sony had a lot to prove, as their previous visible involvement in the games industry amounted to a series of lackluster-to-bad Sony Imagesoft titles. Sega, on the other hand, was an established brand and the creator of one of the most popular consoles in American history, the venerable Genesis.

Sega swung first, announcing that their Saturn was available on store shelves at that very moment for a price of $399, months ahead of their scheduled release date. The audience was taken aback. The surprise announcement was the talk of the show...for a few minutes.

When Sony’s turn came, SCEA President Steve Race was called to the stage to deliver a speech on Sony’s pricing strategy. Race’s speech was short:

“$299”.

With that single number, Sony established a beachhead on the battlefront of a console generation.

Also prominent at E3 was Polygon Man, Sony’s soon-to-be-abandoned 3D mascot.

The Big Games

Battle Arena Toshinden

Ridge Racer