E3 2019 Belongs To Ikumi Nakamura; She Is The Winner Of It

E3 2019 has been weird. In the lead-up, a grey cloud hung over the show, threatening to rain on everyone’s parade. Dour discussions around companies like Activision and Sony having either a reduced or no presence dulled some of the show’s luster, and an avalanche of leaks just days before the press conferences kicked off stole some a lot of thunder. With most of the cats out of the bag, all eyes turned to Microsoft’s press conference.

And in some regards, Microsoft’s press conference was definitely exciting. Most notably because Keanu Reeves, the undisputed perfect human being, was revealed to be in Cyberpunk 2077. But still, we all wanted to see the new Xbox Scarlett, and instead, we got Microsoft telling everyone that hard drives are cool and RAM is fast.

The grey clouds seemed ready to unleash a wet and warm shower of disappointment on E3 2019. And then the Bethesda press conference happened. Ikumi Nakamura took to the stage, and like a beam of light from the sun, she cut through the miasma to energize and uplift us all. Nakamura arrived on stage to introduced Ghostwire Tokyo, a new game developed by Tango Gameworks, the studio behind The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2.

Nakamura casually strolled onto the stage with an enthusiastic, “Yayyyyyyy.” Followed immediately by, “Wow, wow, wow, so many people.” Obviously, Nakamura was feeling overwhelmed by the amount of eyes that were on her, but at the same time, she stayed cool, calm, and collected.

Nakamura’s minor case of stage fright belies her experience in game design and development. Though she may not be a familiar name or face to the greater video game fanbase as a whole, she has been involved in the creation of some of the most beloved games of all time, including Okami and Bayonetta, and of course The Evil Within.

Over the course of a few minutes, Nakamura’s earnestness and excitement won hearts and minds. She admitted her nervousness, said she’s give speaking English–which she is doing for our benefit–a solid shot, and then delivered a charismatic pitch for her new “spooooooky” game. People are vanishing in Tokyo, and we the player must find out why, unraveling conspiracies and delving into the occult along the way. She promised we’d meet spirits that were [ominous voice] “dangerous” and [playful voice] “peaceful.” We’ll need to ask ourselves what’s normal and paranormal.

“I ask myself this every time I go to the office,” she added, looking slightly dejected, before following up with, “Just kidding.” And at this point, the internet was sold: Ikumi Nakamura became our new queen.

Ikumi’s time on stage ended with her striking an energetic pose and asking everyone to check out the trailer for her new game, which 1) Wasn’t leaked before the show 2) Looked intriguing. And with that, Ikumi became the undisputed star of E3 2019. Sorry Keanu!

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/e3-2019-belongs-to-ikumi-nakamura-she-is-the-winne/1100-6467615/