Today's scans come from issue 87 of Game Players (left) and volume 4, issue 7 of GameFan (center and right). This was part of the unfortunate period when every article in Game Players had to have a weird, nauseating background that interfered with the text. Not shown in GameFan's collection are titles like Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Blast Corps, Buggie Boogie, Turok, and Wayne Gretzky's Hockey.

E3 1996 was a mascot battleground of sorts, with Mario, Crash Bandicoot and NiGHTS representing their respective companies in a fight for the minds of attendees. Lara Croft was there too, representing the third party contingent, I suppose. And while it was close for some, most (even some of the people at Sega) agreed that Mario had taken the show. This year, we could possibly see the same war for mindshare come from Mario and Master Chief (if the Halo 3 trailer rumors prove true), but Sony doesn't seem to have much to show for themselves. Warhawk doesn't really strike me as a system seller, and "that one dude from Killzone" doesn't have that ring to it.

You can't have an E3 conference without numbers and rumors of numbers, and this was no exception. The system eventually met its promised launch date and price of September 30 at $249, but the games were a slightly different story. First lesson of E3: The games are always a different story.

Launch titles promised at E3: 8, including Mario 64, Pilotwings 64, Waverace 64, Body Harvest, Tetrisphere, Shadow of the Empire and Cruis'n USA.
Titles launched with the N64 in North America: 2. Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64. As for the rest:

Waverace 64: November 6, 1996
Body Harvest: October 20, 1998
Tetrisphere: August 11, 1997
Shadow of the Empire: December 3, 1996
Cruis'n USA: December 3, 1996

Titles said to come between October and December 1996: Buggie Boogie, Ken Griffey Jr, Blast Corps, Goldeneye 007, Super Mario Kart R and Killer Instinct 64.
Actual release dates for those titles in North America:

Killer Instinct 64: Released as Killer Instinct Gold on November 26, 1996
Blast Corps: March 26, 1997
Ken Griffey Jr.: Released as Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr. on May 25, 1998
Goldeneye 007: August 25, 1997
Super Mario Kart R: Released as Mario Kart 64 on February 10, 1997
Buggie Boogie: Underwent radical style change, announced N64 DD version, then uncerimoniously cancelled

Games announced for release sometime in 1997: Robotech: Crystal Dreams, Kirby's Air Ride, Mission Impossible, Doom, Star Fox 64, Wayne Gretzky Hockey.
Actual release dates for those titles:

Doom 64: April 2, 1997
Star Fox 64: July 1, 1997
Mission: Impossible: July 18, 1998
Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey: November 14, 1996
Robotech: Crystal Dreams: Delayed repeatedly, then cancelled when GameTek filed for Chapter 11
Kirby's Air Ride: Delayed, then cancelled for the N64; resurfaced on the Gamecube as Kirby Air Ride

I'm not pointing this out to say it's some kind of foretelling of the future. I'd like to believe Nintendo has honestly learned from its mistakes the past two generations about how a weak launch selection can hurt a system. But at the same time, it's important to remember that everything you hear at E3 doesn't necessarily turn out the way the way you expect. In some cases, it doesn't turn out at all. Don't take launch numbers and dates as gospel. Be very leery when someone says they have an "Internet strategy" but won't elaborate. Perhaps most importantly, stop throwing around rumors of a new Kid Icarus. It's been going on for at least ten damned years.

Finally, let's all hope Reggie comes up with a better line than "it's show and tell time" when the big moment arrives. Preferably something about asses, perhaps in the process of being kicked or having just been kicked.