Este es el caso de esta entrevista con Chris Gilbert, con motivo del lanzamiento de la Dreamcast en los USA.
Chris era en aquel momento el EVP, Sales & Marketing de Sega of America. De hecho, creo que ocupó el cargo justo despúes de que Bernie Stolar fuese despedido (edito, ahora la releo y efectivamente es así).
La entrevista es bastante interesante y nos puede recordar como se veían las cosas en aquellos tiempos. Viene de la web elecplay, que esta offline desde hace años, así que aprovecho para recuperarla:
Citar:An Interview with Chris Gilbert: Senior VP of Sales-SEGA of America
Chris Gilbert started working at SEGA in October of 1998. With a great deal of experience in the Interactive Entertainment industry, Chris was brought in to develop a sales strategy for Dreamcast. I had a chance to chat with Chris via telephone, and here is what he had to say!
Zoe: So what exactly does your job entail?
Chris: My prime responsibility is to build sales, and organize the sales strategy for Dreamcast in North America, including Mexico and Canada. So far it is proceeding nicely with well over 200,000 pre-sales. Simultaneously, Canadian pre-sales, which started later than the US, have shown surprising acceleration well beyond our expectations.
Zoe: Do you think these pre-sales foretell the future sales of Dreamcast?
Chris: I think its a good indication of the consumer response to the Dreamcast opportunity. The powerful hardware is one thing, but its the games that really interest people. We have Sonic Adventure, NFL2K, Soul Calibur from Namco, Ready 2 Rumble from Midway, and Powerstone from Capcom to mention a few.
Zoe: How many games will be available at launch? And after?
Chris: There will be a guaranteed minimum of 16 titles at launch with 35 to 40 by Christmas and over 100 by Christmas of 2000.
Zoe: What have been the key elements to getting developers to make games for Dreamcast?
Chris: Well that started about 2 years ago. We really reached out to Third Party developers and provided the tools to develop for Dreamcast. The tools are easy to work with and there isn't as much investment necessary to make a great game. We developed strong third party support, actually helping developers understand the power of the system. Next generation platfoms can be challenging to take on in terms of hardware capabilites.
Zoe: How has using Windows CE benefited development?
Chris: Its been an advantage to some degree. However there is a fine line there. We still want games developed specifically for Dreamcast. But it is a nice feature to port certain titles from the PC.
Zoe: How has Bernie Stolar's sudden departure effected the company and your job?
Chris: Well its definitely been an interesting few days! I'm spending alot more quality time in the office now (laughs). But it doesn't effect the Dreamcast launch. We have a 4-5 month strategy that Bernie was integral in developing. Now its all about execution. I talked to all the retailers within 24 hours after Bernie left and they are still all on board and ready to go.
Zoe:Can you tell us why he left?
Chris: I can't say anything other than what is in the press release.
Zoe: What would you say are the key elements to selling Dreamcast to consumers?
Chris: Well everything is important. Marketing is important for communication, also retailer and developer relations, but at the end of the day, and its been this way for the last ten years, it comes down to "how good are the games?". If you have great games, you have a system that is in demand. Whether it is first or third party. And that is what Dreamcast has. Great games.
Zoe: How many units will be on the shelves on September 9th and how many do you expect to sell?
Chris: We can't disclose the exact number that will be available, but I can tell you that we expect to sell through 400,000 units in the first 30 days, and 1.2 million by December 31st, 1999. And we expect to sell through 1.5 million by the end of our fiscal year which is March 31st, 2000. Based on pre-sell, and retailer indications, we fully expect to accomplish this.
Zoe: When can gamers expect to get on to Sega's online network?
Chris: On September 9th, gamers will be able to get online, surf the web, go to sega.com, chat and email. However, the online gaming network won't be ready until sometime next year.
Zoe: Does this mean there will be a Dreamcast keyboard ready for launch?
Chris:Yes there will. And when you do get online you can access us via our U.S. preferred ISP which is AT&T Worldnet, or our Canadian ISP, which hasn't been announced yet.
Zoe: What other peripherals will be available at launch?
Chris: A variety of controllers and then there is the VMU, the Visual Memory Unit. Its hard to explain but its a bit like a Tamagotchi which plugs into the back of a Dreamcast controller and you can save games, download characters, and there's a separate video screen where you can plan secret strategies which your opponents can't see, unlike traditional games. Also, you can plug the VMU into another person's Dreamcast and access the information you saved.
Zoe: And this feature will also be integrated into some of the Naomi games as well?
Chris: Yes, in the future you will be able to go into the arcade and play, say, Virtua Fighter and upload some special moves you designed on your Dreamcast.
Zoe: What do you think will be the most popular launch title?
Chris: I think Sonic Adventure. It has a huge background, tons of awareness and exposure. The pre-sales have been big although there is alot of interest in some of the other games I already mentioned, like NFL2K, Soul Calibur and Ready 2 Rumble.
Zoe: How will SEGA compete with newer consoles like PSX2 and Nintendo's Dolphin?
Chris: Well, I prefer to think of it as how will they compete with us! Dreamcast will be available atleast 12 months before PSX2 and even longer for the Dolphin. Dreamcast games are already vastly superior to what is currently available on Playstation and Nintendo and by next year, Dreamcast will be producing 2nd year software, where developers will have already been using the hardware for a year already. Second year games are always more advanced and Dreamcast will only be competing against first year games from Sony and Nintendo. Also, early Japan indications show that the cost of PSX2 in Canada could be upwards of $500 which is a hefty sum for gamers.
Zoe: How does the Japanese market and launch of Dreamcast effect the North American launch?
Chris: Well there are few similarities between the two, besides the hardware although Japan launched with a 33.6K modem and we are launching with a 56K. Japan had only 4 games available at launch, without Sonic Adventure. They had a limited library for the first 90 days and also had allocation problems due to chip production shortages. In the U.S. we have plenty of games, and a $100 million marketing campaign with specific ad buys in the US and Canada.
Zoe: Can we expect to see a DVD in the future of Dreamcast?
Chris: Well this is one of the advantages of Dreamcast, its scaleability, particularly the scaleable modem. The fact that it's internet capable allows us to take advantage of the future when broadband is common and Dreamcast can use cable. As for DVD, right now Dreamcast uses a GD-ROM which is twice the capacity of a CD-ROM. If DVD is required or has benefits to the system it will be considered, but currently we feel confident that GD-ROM provides the right architecture.
Zoe: Can Dreamcast be linked locally in a network?
Chris: As the backbone of a Local Area Network? No, not at this time. I think its important to stress that Dreamcast is first and foremost the best platform with the best games, with the internet as a strong aspect as online gaming grows.
Zoe: How do the other areas of SEGA benefit from Dreamcast, for example Heat.net's online gaming service?
Chris: SEGA has been identified with online gaming through Heat.net which shows our proficiency in that area. There are definite synergies between Dreamcast and Heat.
Zoe: How do you feel about Sony's announcement not to include a modem in PSX2?
Chris: We feel great! We feel it is a mistake, no doubt about it. The internet will affect all aspects of life so its extremely important! Any system that doesn't take advantage of it isn't looking ahead.
Zoe: Are there any concerns about controlling the amount of traffic on the new SEGA network for Dreamcast?
Chris: I can tell you that we are building the system to be extremely flexible. We have the abililty to add a tremendous amount of people in a short time. By building a system from scratch these days, you have the ablility to scale things very quickly.
Zoe: Do you think Dreamcast will ever replace the desktop computer?
Chris: Not in this format. There is a definite convergence of digital products here but its more of an evolution than a revolution. Its a revolution as far as gameplay and quality goes, but we have a ways to go before that kind of thing happens.
Zoe: What is the future picture for the console market?
Chris: Extremely Bright! Look at the amount of growth we have seen in the past three years. The videogame industry is very close to the kind of numbers we see in the movie industry, and substantially more than other industries. And its all about the games. The new games will be incredible.
Zoe: Any final thoughts?
Chris: I'd like to leave you with a sense of where Dreamcast is going. We have reached over 250,000+ pre-sales versus the 100,000 that Playstation did pre-launch. In all aspects, from software to retailers, Dreamcast will be the most successful launch ever.
Zoe: How often do you get asked for a free Dreamcast?
Chris: Quite a bit. But it's not about getting it for free. Most people just want to know if they can get one! We expect the first few weeks to be quite restricted. We will meet the demand for the first thirty days, but new units will already be allocated coming out of the pipe.
Zoe: Will you be at the Dreamcast launch party at the MTV Video Music Awards on 09.09.99?
Chris: Yes. Yes I will.
Zoe: Thanks for your time and I wish you the best of luck with Dreamcast.
Y eso es todo, ahí os dejo con vuestra reflexiones (a mi así a voz de pronto me llama la atención que no descartasen la inclusión de un DVD).