The E3 Keynote Address

by Mistress Nightshadow 

Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo. Keynote Address.

Robert J. Bach
Senior Vice President, Games Division
Microsoft Corporation

Peter T. Main
Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Nintendo of America Inc.

Kazuo Hirai
President and Chief Operating Officer
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Reading from the top order: The E3 Keynote Address.

This is where E3 starts, and it was quite interesting to hear what some of the biggest figures have to say concerning the console conflicts. The panel consisted of Robert Bach, Senior Vice President of Microsoft's games division, Kazuo Hirai, President of Sony Computer Entertainment, and Peter Main, Executive Vice President for Nintendo of America.

This particular panel proved to be quite interesting since several things came to light. Although not the be-all and end-all, it may be a helpful resource for predicting just how the console wars will end, as the words and reactions of these executives do carry a great deal of weight.

Although this panel was focused mainly on three things-- online marketing strategy, hardware specifications, and their plans for the future-- information arose from mainly the last.

It was somewhat curious that Mr Hirai was seated in between the other two executives, as this reflected the tension of the resulting session.

Mr Main, in many of his responses to questions from the media, showed that he quite firmly believed in the GameCube as a console, although he did hesitate when he was asked questions concerning Nintendo's GameCube strategy, as it was revealed that there was currently little online support. However, he generally seemed to be quite smug, and he also clearly believed that the GameCube would indeed have the most quality games.

Mr Bach, contrary to expectations, seemed undaunted and was quite gracious. His responses were clear, he was sure of himself, and he showed that he had quite a bit of confidence in the X-Box, even though it was Microsoft's first entry into the console fray. Mr Bain was quite eager and willing to discuss issues facing the industry, and he was interested in advancing the industry as a whole, which was an odd surprise.

Mr Harai, in contrast to the other two guests, was not too crash-hot. It was curious that he focused mainly on the Playstation, since this panel was about the future of console gaming and not the past. He seemed to feel threatened, though he tried not to show it. His attempts to sound confident in his answers, playing up what he thought to be the PS2 dominance with what seemed to be cockiness, did not conceal his nervousness. He seemed to be the most cutthroat of the three representatives, although the panel was generally very friendly.

Of course, this does not necessarily reflect the corporations' attitudes. Two of the panelists were native English speakers and Sony had a Japanese delegate, which could explain Mr Hirai's nervousness, but... Well, shouldn't the directors of a company have full confidence in their products? Nintendo and Microsoft were very sure that they would do very well, but Sony wasn't. Is this a sign of things to come, or just an off day for the representatives? Does Sony have any doubts concerning the PS2 success, or are Nintendo and Microsoft reckless in their estimates? We'll see during E3, so watch RPGamer for information to determine just which side the penny will land on.

Thanks to Doug "Stom" Hill and Andrew "AegisFlash" Bilyk for allowing me to interview them about the panel, which was for invited guests at the start of E3.