Final Fantasy at E3 2013: A History of the Franchise's Presence at Gaming's Biggest Show

Square Enix may be one of the companies with the most on the line at this year's E3. The publisher has hit a bit of a rough patch, as Tomb Raider and other games, while a critic and commercial successes, did not sell as many copies as was predicted. Furthermore, many longtime fans of the developer have been critical of their handling of the Final Fantasy series. With recent entries into the series getting spinoffs and sequels that fail to capture the magic of the franchise's seminal entries, many hope for a change in fortune for the series. In honor of that, we look back at the history of the Final Fantasy series at E3.

One of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, Final Fantasy 7, had a strong presence at the 1996 edition of E3. The game had a video shown during the original PlayStation's press conference. At that point, nobody knew that the game would become the benchmark for emotional storytelling that the game is now known as. Final Fantasy 8 would follow at the 1999 E3, and managed to stand out among the announcements for the Dreamcast's North American launch and the PlayStation 2's graphic presentations. Indeed, compared to other big games at that conference, such as Ape Escape and Dino Crisis, Final Fantasy 8 continues to stand head and shoulders above its contemporaries.

Soon after this, Final Fantasy games became a yearly event, as Final Fantasy 8-11 all released between 1999-2002. However, despite the success of those games (Including Final Fantasy 10, whose HD Remake may be shown during this year's E3), other games overshadowed the titles, like Doom 3 and Half Life 2. Final Fantasy 12, with its long development cycle of over five years, caused a down period for the series during the years before its release in 2006. By the time of the game's release, many were already looking forward to the release of the now current generation of titles. Final Fantasy 13 was first shown of the Xbox 360 during the 2009 E3, and garnered lots of attention from conference goers.

With four Final Fantasy titles set for future release (Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13, and A untitled Final Fantasy Title, most likely Final Fantasy 15 A.K.A Final Fantasy Versus 13) This could be the year of Final Fantasy at E3 2013.