E3 Keynote Address
Speaking of E3, this year's opening keynote will be given by Bob Pitman, President of AOL.  I've written about this before, but I will write about it again: What happened to the gaming personalities giving keynote addresses?  During the first few years of E3 we saw names like Tom Kalinske (Sega) unveil the Sega Saturn and Trip Hawkins demo the 3DO M2.  The opening keynote was actually a newsworthy event for gamers.  Unfortunately these past few years have been filled with entertainment-oriented speakers (Tom Brokaw, Don Tapscott, Bob Pitman) who are powerhouses in their own right, but really have little to say about gaming.  While I have no doubt that Pittman will address online gaming (although I doubt Starsiege: Tribes is going to be mentioned!), it seems these keynotes are designed to just pitch mass market media on the interactive industry.   Today the keynote is a non-issue for most game press.  

As a result, all the major news from the console manufacturers comes out on  Wednesday (the day before E3 starts) in a string of press conferences.  Look for most of the information on the PlayStation 2 launch to arrive then, with the opening day of E3 merely being reserved for the official press release to hit the wire.   While the organizers of E3 no doubt received heat over highlighting one company in past keynotes (i.e. the first E3 was Sega's keynote), I think this year's show is the perfect opportunity for someone from Sony to take center stage an unveil the PlayStation 2 to the world.  That's what the opening keynote should have been.

  Next, a discussion of the new Sega.com >>>

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