No one answered.
Although for these dia professionals, who had been in the ga industry for years, the answer wasn't certain, the business people in the room knew the answer in their hearts.
The lunch provided for the exhibitors was more elaborate.
The IDSA had reserved a lounge on the second floor for the exhibitors, complete with hot als, fruit, and decent coffee.
However, most of the executives didn't go there. Instead, they gathered in the backstage areas of their respective booths, eating while holding impromptu etings.
Takuya Nakayama stood in the backstage corridor of the Sega booth, holding a cup of black coffee. Hisao Oguchi was briefing him on the morning's dia feedback.
"So far, the dia have asked most about the content of our afternoon press conference. The second most frequent question is when the MGS2 demo area will open."
"The demo area will open as planned after the press conference," Nakayama said, taking a sip of coffee. "What's your take on the morning's events?"
Oguchi flipped through his notebook. "Sony's WipEout really made a splash."
"But they only showcased two gas, which shows their first-party developnt capacity still hasn't caught up. Namco is really carrying the weight for Sony."
"Namco is tied to Sony even more tightly than I expected."
anwhile, in Sony's backstage area, Ken Kutaragi was leaning back in a folding chair, his legs crossed over a equipnt case in front of him. His assistant handed him a summary of real-ti dia feedback just collected from the press area.
"[ WipEout ] is ntioned most frequently," the assistant reported. "Next is Namco's [ Tekken ]. Most dia outlets are discussing these two together when talking about the PS's 3D performance."
Kutaragi glanced at the summary and casually set it aside.
"What ti is Sega's presentation this afternoon?"
"3:15 PM."
"What are they showing?"
"Confird to include an [ MGS2 ] demo and a batch of trailers. The specific list hasn't been released."
Kutaragi asked nothing further.
He pulled his legs off the equipnt case and stood up, stretching his shoulders.
The two morning gas had achieved the desired effect.
No matter what Sega brought out in the afternoon, the PS's technical image had already been firmly planted in the minds of every journalist present.
The rest depended on whether Sega could overwrite that impression.
At 12:50 PM, the crowd began to flow back toward the Central Plaza Exhibition Hall.
So reporters took advantage of their lunch break to visit the exhibition area in South Hall.
Konami's booth was crowded with people, and a line had ford for the Tokiki morial demo machines, composed entirely of Japanese dia outlets and a few curious Arican journalists.
Sega's booth hadn't yet opened its demo area, but people were already taking photos in front of the massive Sonic mural.
Several display screens showed montage clips of ga trailers, drawing the attention of passersby.
At 1:00 PM, the lights in the Central Plaza Exhibition Hall dimd again.
The afternoon session belonged to Atari.
By 1995, the na Atari carried complex connotations.
Ten years prior, it had been the industry's dominant force; now, its market share was barely a fraction of what it once was.
Yet, as one of the co-founders of the IDSA, Atari had been granted an official press conference slot at E3.
The presenter was Atari's product manager.
He wore a black t-shirt emblazoned with the Jaguar logo—a choice that exuded a frank, almost defiant attitude.
"Today, we're introducing the Atari Jaguar CD."
A black CD drive accessory appeared on the screen, its design language echoing the Jaguar console itself—sharp angles and a heavy industrial feel.
This was the Jaguar CD-ROM drive expansion for the Jaguar console, allowing the cartridge-based machine to also read CD-ROMs.
The audience's reaction was lukewarm.
Not hostile, but sothing more brutal—indifference.
Since its release in 1993, the Jaguar had sold fewer than 150,000 units in North Arica. Launching a CD-ROM expansion for such a small installed base made little comrcial sense.
Yet Atari's team earnestly demonstrated several Jaguar CD gas.
HoverStrike, a first-person shooter, featured graphics that were barely acceptable given the Jaguar's hardware limitations.
AtariKarts, a kart racing ga, was clearly aid at Mario Kart, but it fell short by leagues in track design and character charm.
Attack of the Mutant Penguins, an action ga with a bizarre penguin the and a peculiar art style.
Finally, they showcased a ga for the Atari Lynx handheld console—Super Asteroids & Missile Command.
The Lynx, launched by Atari in 1989, was already a comrcial corpse by 1995, yet Atari still brought it to the event.
The entire press conference lasted eight minutes.
The applause from the audience was sparse and polite.
"A tribute to the pioneers," the GaPro editor wrote in his notebook, then turned to the next page.
A colleague beside him lowered his voice. "How long do you think Jaguar can hold on?"
"If there's no miracle before Christmas, this machine will be in a museum."
"What a sha. The Atari na deserved a better ending."
"Did it? The mont they decided to release that E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ga, its fate was sealed. As long as these greedy bastards are at the helm, Atari will always end up like this." A journalist wearing a Donkey Kong t-shirt scoffed.
After Atari's presentation, the atmosphere in the room needed a jolt of energy.
Fortunately, the next company to take the stage was exactly the one to provide it.
1:30 PM. Enix.
The blue shield logo appeared on the screen, stirring a ripple of excitent among the Japanese journalists in the audience. The Famitsu editor imdiately flipped to a pre-prepared page in his notebook—it already contained several questions, all about Dragon Quest.
The producer from Enix took the stage for a brief introduction.
"Today, we're showcasing three titles."
The first was Mystic Ark.
"This Super Famicom action RPG features a Western fantasy art style. While not widely known in Japan, we specifically designed it for the overseas market."
The Arican journalists in the audience remained largely indifferent. Enix's Japanese RPGs hadn't truly broken through in North Arica, and the company's na was still unfamiliar to most Arican players.
The second was Terranigma, also for the Super Famicom.
This ga's graphics were a significant improvent. The lighting effects during scene transitions were remarkably refined for a 16-bit console.
The producer demonstrated a transition from an underground world to the surface, with the color palette smoothly shifting from a dark blue-purple to a bright golden yellow—a visually pleasing effect.
"Developed by Quintet?" a Japanese reporter in the back asked his neighbor.
"Most likely. The art style is unmistakably theirs."
Then ca the main event.
The screen changed.
A majestic orchestral prelude filled the air, its solemn lody bearing the unmistakable classical arrangent style of Koichi Sugiyama.
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