Highlights
- An HD remaster of Sony's iconic E3 2010 press conference featuring PlayStation 3 spokesperson Kevin Butler has been released.
- Kevin Butler's comical antics were beloved by PlayStation players and helped boost the PS3's popularity against competitors like the Wii and Xbox 360.
- The future of E3 is uncertain, with recent cancellations and the rise of individual livestream events by publishers. Looking back at past E3 moments, like Kevin Butler's appearance in 2010, provides nostalgia and insight into gaming a decade ago.
An HD remaster of Sony’s iconic E3 2010 press conference has surfaced online, reminding gamers of the beloved PlayStation 3 spokesperson Kevin Butler. During the seventh console generation, Sony promoted its latest system with the help of actor Jerry Lambert, who played the company’s fictional Vice President of basically everything named Kevin Butler. As part of the Sony’s “It Does Everything” ad campaign, Butler would answer questions from gamers about the PlayStation 3 and its many first-party exclusives while performing a variety of impressive and outlandish feats.
Kevin Butler’s comical antics proved quite popular with PlayStation players and helped propel the PS3 in its competition with the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360. Sadly, Kevin Butler’s time as the PS3’s zany representative would come to an end in the winter of 2011, and in October 2012 Sony would file a lawsuit against Jerry Lambert and Bridgestone Tires for “ripping off” the character in an ad featuring a Wii. Sony would settle with Lambert the following January, but the fallout of this legal battle has made it unlikely that Kevin Butler will ever return, much to the disappointment of gamers who enjoyed his wacky PS3 commercials.
Noclip Game History Archive, a YouTube channel devoted to gaming conferences and showcases of old like Sony’s equally unforgettable E3 2006 outing, recently posted an HD-upscaled version of Sony’s E3 2010 press conference, featuring Kevin Butler during the apex of his time as the PS3’s spokesperson. Toward the middle of the presentation, Butler famously took to the stage to give a rousing speech about the nature of gaming while promoting the PlayStation Move, Sony’s answer to the Wii at the time. Butler also appeared in a pair of pre-taped ads for the Move and the PlayStation Portable.
Butler and the PlayStation Move aren’t the only seemingly bygone aspects shown in this nostalgic Sony presentation, as E3 itself has arguably waned in the years since 2010. Once the defining showcase for upcoming video games, the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo has grown increasingly less relevant following the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused various publishers to host their own livestream events like Xbox Showcase and PlayStation State of Play. Both the previously planned 2022 and 2023 E3 shows were ultimately canceled, and it isn’t clear if the show will ever return.
E3’s future may be up in the air as of this writing, but fans can still look back on the many memorable moments from the once-annual event, including Kevin Butler's appearance at Sony’s E3 2010 conference. Looking back at this almost 13-year-old showcase provides an interesting look at the state of gaming a decade ago, as well as a nostalgic reminder of the former Vice President of virtually all things PlayStation.
