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Top 7 Cringiest Moments of E3 2018

Top 7 Cringiest Moments of E3 2018

Acting is hard, but acting on live television is even harder. So, it makes sense that with all of the live events at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, there would be at least a few moments that just don’t translate well. Most of the presenters for the related conferences are game developers, not public relations people or professional speakers. We have to give them at least a little leeway and understanding. Even still, it doesn’t mean we won’t feel the burn of some good old awkward cringe when the inevitable missteps happen. Here are the top seven moments that stood out for us at E3 2018.

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Juju Smith-Schuster & Young Kiv

Juju Smith-Schuster & Young Kiv

To announce a new gameplay video for Madden NFL 19 , Electronic Arts brought in an actual football player and a champion from the previous year’s game tournament. Juju Smith-Schuster, of the Pittsburgh Steelers, did his best to be charming, while Young Kiv played the part of the gloating champion showing off his belt. While neither of them were terribly cringy on their own, their moment on stage didn’t make much sense. This wasn’t even a big reveal, just some gameplay to tide fans over. While it wasn’t the worst moment at E3 2018, it still left us scratching our heads.

Andrew W.K.’s Performance

Andrew W.K.’s Performance

One of the anticipated titles at the Bethesda E3 conference was Rage 2 . It’d been spoiled by Walmart Canada, and Bethesda did their best to play along. But when it came to introducing the exciting new game at their press conference, they stumbled a little bit. Pete Hines said something akin to, “Let’s take a look at Rage 2 ,” and left the stage, only to have another person reemerge, rather than a video play. It was a very sudden and impromptu performance by Andrew W.K. The song they played and the energy they had was great, but it was super out of place for what otherwise was, and would be, a rather subdued event. Cuts to the audience showed many who were simply baffled, much as those watching at home were.

Drake’s Cakes and Maneater at the PC Gaming Show

Drake’s Cakes and Maneater at the PC Gaming Show

Events like the PC Gaming Show are only able to return every year thanks to their sponsors. Last year it was Loot Crate and AMD, this year it was… Drake’s Cakes? I’d never heard of this company before the event, but they’re apparently like Hostess Cakes. The co-host for the event, Frankie Ward, came on screen before the beginning of the show to do some one-sided trivia with Drake the duck, the company’s mascot. It felt fairly forced, awkward, and altogether out of place for a gaming event.

A second awkward moment happened after a comment from Frankie Ward when Maneater , a new game where you play as a shark, was revealed. “Sounds like a normal weekend for me,” elicited all kinds of laughs, shouts, and groans from the audience.

Andrea Rene at the EA’s Conference

Andrea Rene at the EA’s Conference

Andrea Rene turned out to be an okay host for the Electronic Arts press conference, but even she stumbled at times. Towards the very beginning of the show, when she was announcing what everyone would be seeing that night, she randomly tried to include an audience member for seemingly no reason. She was in the middle of talking about announcements, then suddenly touched his shoulder saying, “You want to do this with me?” The ensuing terrified glances from the man to her and the camera were pretty funny. I couldn’t help feeling bad for him, seeing as how he was just there to enjoy the show and not be thrust into the spotlight.

Jose Sanchez Going to the Show

Jose Sanchez Going to the Show

As I said in my introduction, live events are hard. It’s even harder when you have people shouting in your ear to do things. Jose Sanchez was one of the hosts for EA’s pre-show this year. He had a few short, but sweet, interviews with various people, but then was given the responsibility of leading viewers into the show. He was apparently given notice a little to early, as he said his piece, but then had to quickly back-pedal when he realized he had time left. Sanchez recovered pretty smoothly, but it was still one of the more memorable awkward moments from the show.

Sony’s Intro for Ghost of Tsushima

Sony’s Intro for Ghost of Tsushima

I absolutely adore music. I love all instruments and almost any genre. When someone came on stage to play the flute at the Sony press conference, I was looking forward to hearing it. Sure, the costume was a bit much and that made some viewers uncomfortabl, but how often do you get to see a performance of video game music with the actual instrument?

The music he played was beautiful but then it continued on for far too long. Even though I enjoyed the sounds, I couldn’t help but think there should be some scenes playing on the screen behind him or something else should have been happening on stage. Couple this with the fact that the song’s end was rather anti-climactic, and I was left mostly feeling secondhand awkwardness.

Rage 2’s Introduction Part Two

Rage 2’s Introduction Part Two

I know Bethesda’s introduction to Rage 2 already made it onto our list, but it was so multifaceted in its awkwardness that it needed to be listed again. As soon as Andrew W.K. finished the oddly placed performance, Tim Willits and Magnus Nedfors walked onto the stage. They’re the Studio Director at id Software and Game Director at Avalanche Studios, respectively. Willits gave his little spiel about Rage 2 , and then passed it on to his much taller co-pilot, Nedfors.

At that moment, something odd happened. Nedfors seemed to have forgotten his lines. Maybe he was unable to read the teleprompter or told to stall in his ear piece. The pair just looked back and forth between each other and the audience. Nedfors tried to get the crowd to cheer, both of them looked genuinely uncomfortable, and they kept chuckling awkwardly. It’s hard to say what happened here, but it was without a doubt the most awkward moment at E3 2018.

What were some of the cringiest moments you remember from E3 2018?

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