E3 Day One (17)

Onstage, Maldini took the microphone.

"I'm very glad to be working with Sega. In the game, I saw an extremely realistic football world." His English was mixed with an Italian accent, but his enunciation was clear. "I hope everyone can experience the joy of controlling an entire team in Pro Soccer World PSW."

It was a brief speech, without any long-winded commercial back-patting.

Maldini and Ono Hiroshi shook hands, then walked off the stage side by side.

What they left the media below the stage with was a head full of question marks and shock.

A CG trailer, a high-precision model, plus a world-class superstar appearing in person to endorse it.

There had been no live gameplay demonstration, yet it had pushed expectations to the very peak.

This was the publicity strategy Nakayama Takuya had set.

Use the most direct visual impact and the highest-tier star power to smash open the gates to the European and South American markets.

As for the specific details of the gameplay experience, once the hands-on demo area opened later in the show, there would naturally be people lining up in long queues to try it.

The atmosphere in the venue was pushed to a small climax.

Media people from all sides spoke in low voices, assessing the killing power of this one-two combination.

"This game is definitely going to sell like crazy in Europe." A French reporter heavily drew a circle in his interview notebook.

"Sega really is dead set this time on pinning Sony and Nintendo to the ground and grinding them into the dirt. Even a niche track like sports games is getting covered with heavy firepower."

Before Maldini's departing back had even disappeared behind the curtains, and before the discussion in the venue had subsided, the image on the big screen