Industry pins hopes on E3

Global games giants reckon E3 2010 will pull the market out of the doldrums.

Throughout the year all three major territories – Japan, Europe and the US – suffered a decline in sales.

So as the world’s media watches on, industry execs are convinced that next week’s blockbuster line-up of new hardware and software can help encourage a turnaround.

The industry has been beaten up,” MTV Games chief Scott Guthrie told MCV.

We are down year over year, and so E3 is about reinvention and showing consumers why they should spend more money with us. It is going to be a very important show for games.”

Xbox Europe boss Chris Lewis added: E3 is a chance to show the world where the industry is going – it’s more important than ever. We’ve seen stellar growth over the last five years and I don’t see that trending downwards for long as we look to new technologies.”

Last year E3 was reinstated as a key event on the calendar. SCEE president Andrew House says the event’s return to form gives the industry a chance to prove its worth.

We have very few opportunities in the year to capture the full media attention and for us to be taken seriously,” he told us.

We need to show where industry growth is going to come from. It will be critical, when attention is focused on us, to prove ourselves.”

New hardware and software will provide a real boost to the trade, added Sega West president Mike Hayes.

I am anxious to get to E3 and see what is going to be new from the major platform holders,” he said. It’s going to be special. There is so much new going to be shown that for those that have suffered in the doldrums, I think E3 will lift us and we will be excited by the new technology.”