E3 press conferences have come a long way since the show first started.

What were small presentations given to only a few dozen people have evolved into live-streamed multimedia showcases — and E3 2016 is the best example of this evolution yet. Hundreds of thousands of fans tuned in to watch the industry's biggest publishers reveal what they've been working on.

Of course, just because someone's hosting an E3 press conference doesn't means that they know what they're doing. Back when E3 was starting to grow, publishers handed their shows over to big-name celebrities and "comedic talent," only for their showcases to crash and burn.

Thankfully, those days seem to be behind us — but that doesn't mean that this year's conferences went perfectly, either.

Now that E3 2016 has officially closed, it's time to look back and see who had the best press conference of the show. Remember, it's not just about the number of games or surprise reveals — having a show that's actually fun to watch is also a big factor.

So, there's only one question left to ask: which E3 press conference came out on top?

DNF: Nintendo

It's obvious that Nintendo is in something of a transitional phase. With the Wii U pretty much dead in the water at this point, the publisher is rethinking its strategies. Part of that included Nintendo's E3 plans, where the traditional Nintendo direct was eschewed in favor of a day-long live stream.

The only problem with this approach is that the stream was unwatchable. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild looks great, but there are only so many times you can watch the same basic demo before it gets old. Between that and the poorly-planned stream itself (it should not take eight minutes to switch between demos), and fans found themselves struggling to make it through the Big N's showcase.

Hopefully, Nintendo will go back to something more traditional next year.

#5: Electronic Arts

Let's ignore the fact that, from a purely statistical standpoint, Sony had more games than anyone else at E3. We can skip the part about the huge PlayStation VR reveal, the reveal of several new exclusives and the return of Hideo Kojima.

More so than any other conference this year, Sony's E3 2016 press conference was a performance. This is a company that was once known for putting on some of the driest, blandest shows in the industry — and this time, Sony's E3 press conference was something that the average person could sit through.

Sony has realized that E3 has changed. The Electronic Entertainment Expo isn't just some industry-only event that only a few people will ever see: hundreds of thousands of people tuned in this year, and Sony is the only publisher that seemed to truly understand that. For that reason alone, Sony's press conference is the king of E3 2016.

... God of War was pretty cool, too.

All in all, E3 2016 was pretty top-notch: regardless of which platform you have, there are plenty of reasons for gamers to be excited this year and beyond!

If you happened to miss any of the above press conferences, don't worry: we've got all of the big reveals and surprise debuts over at our E3 2016 coverage hub!