After the surprisingly overwhelming success of the first E3 in 1995, it saw 500 exhibitors showing 1,700 games on a total space of 445,000 square feet in 1996.
The show was dominated by the Nintendo 64, hardly anything new was shown for the Virtual Boy. Only two new games were on the show: “Dragon Hopper” and “Bound High”, which were both announced for a simultaneous release in Japan and the United States on August, 26. At least the Virtual Boy got a fairly big area, where both new games could be played at about 15 displays. While people were playing, other visitors could watch the game on television screens.
The price of the Virtual Boy system was also lowered to $99 and the games’ prices were reduced to $30 – $40.