Boxing
So without further ado, let's get it on by demonstrating the heavyweight power of Xbox 360 games pipeline. The upcoming blockbuster, EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 is the undisputed champion of boxing videogames. Now, for a game of this quality we need some world class fighters. And since we're in Las Vegas, we really need to do this right. So please welcome Al Bernstein, the host of one of the greatest boxing shows on television, both ESPN and Showtime, and a commentator of the World's Greatest Respect for the past 25 years. Please welcome Al Bernstein. (Applause.)
Click for larger imageAL BERNSTEIN: Well, thank you very, very much. I am delighted to be here this evening. Ironically, just about two weeks ago, I was in New York shooting a whole sequence of shows that had to do with the Ali-Frasier trilogy and interestingly I'm going to get to participate in that very fight and those very fighters here that EA Sports has provided. And trust me, what I viewed in New York and what you're going to see is just as realistic, that's for sure.
Now, I've announced a lot of fighters in my day, but none exactly like the two that I'm going to talk about right now. First of all, in this corner, playing the role of Mohammed Ali, he floats like an MSN butterfly and he stings like a bee, let's welcome back a true heavyweight, Bill Gates. (Applause.) Can't wait to see your style, Bill.
And they're going to be playing this game.
Now, in this corner, playing the role of Joe Frasier, he's the sultan of security, and he's the prince of productivity, the Motor City hit man, Steve Ballmer. (Applause.)
STEVE BALLMER: Yeah, baby!
AL BERNSTEIN: Oh, wow, we've got some fisticuffs already happening, look out here.
All right, you guys are fired up here, I can feel this, I can feel it.
STEVE BALLMER: You've got it, you've got it. C'mon, Bill, 30 years I've been training for this opportunity. (Laughter.)
BILL GATES: You've got the weight on me, I give you that. (Laughter.)
STEVE BALLMER: Heavyweight division!
AL BERNSTEIN: Can we have a heavyweight against a middleweight, is that possible?
STEVE BALLMER: He could be a lightweight with all this weight he's been losing.
AL BERNSTEIN: Oh, ooh, a lot of trash-talking up here.
All right, trash-talking aside, we've had enough of that, guys. I want a clean fight, I want you to touch your controllers and come out boxing. Here we go.
Mohammed Ali and Joe Frasier, this is the kind of rivalry that you see on EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 and Mohammed Ali starting out very, very quickly in this match, using the jab, and keeping Joe Frasier at bay.
This is exactly the kind of action that is so realistic and makes fight announcers like me feel like I'm calling exactly a real fight. Great hand speed by Mohammed Ali. And this is where you see in this game - oh, Joe is punching with some good left hooks as well
. STEVE BALLMER: Yeah, baby!
AL BERNSTEIN: Joe is getting some hooks in there, but as you see, the power of Mohammed Ali starting to take effect, and in this game you can see Joe Frasier slowing down, one of the great features of this game. And Mohammed Ali taunting, as always. Big power punch by Ali. Frasier is slow but as in real life, even this can't stop Joe Frasier, because even being tired he will come on against Mohammed Ali. And look at him, the man knows left hooks.
Steve, you've got the control, except Mohammed Ali's hand speed makes a big difference.
Just the kind of action that you get here with all these great rivalries. Frasier and some huge trouble from the right hand. Did you say lightweight, and Joe Frasier in all kinds of trouble, now getting pelted by Mohammed Ali. Like real life and down goes Frasier. Didn't somebody say that once before? It could be over. He's throwing in his controller.
Ladies and gentlemen, watch these replays, they are so realistic that it's unreal.
Fight Night Round 3 showing you the realism and great work of this game, and it's so much fun to play.
And the champion, Mr. Bill Gates. (Cheers, applause.)
PETER MOORE: Don't throw your controllers at home, please, thank you. (Laughter.)
STEVE BALLMER: You get the heck beat out of you and you throw your controller.
PETER MOORE: Thank you. Well, the sweet science has never looked so good. Well, thank you, gentlemen.
EA's Fight Night Round 3 coming to Xbox 360 on February the 14th, and following tonight's speech, very important, those of you connected to Xbox Live will be immediately able to download that demo directly from Xbox Live marketplace, a playable demo, free for everyone to download and play.
So Xbox 360, as you see I think, is the future of games and entertainment, a system that enables breakthrough digital entertainment experiences, all fueled by a combination of powerful hardware, innovative software, and groundbreaking global services. The HD era has begun and the Xbox 360 is leading the way.
Thank you very much and thank you to the fighters. (Applause.)
2006: The Digital Lifestyle
BILL GATES: All right, good job.
All right, well, we've seen a lot tonight, and I think what it says is that 2006 is going to be a big year for digital lifestyle. There's a few themes that I think really stand out here. One is high definition, Xbox 360 driving high definition, the content partners, Media Center now going to be easily connected up to the sources of high definition, movies going to be much more available there, the screens really catching on, coming down in price, so that's a very, very big thing.
Second I'd say is partners, partners of all kinds, the partners who build the amazing hardware you saw here tonight, the partners who do traditional content now coming in and seeing the opportunity for interactivity, even people who think about advertising are now partners because this platform will let them do new and different things. The software industry is stepping up and doing software that uses the Internet in new ways, reaches out to users, create communities, works across devices, and us building a platform to make that easy for those people to do.
Another theme is that this all has to work across these devices, whether it's calling people, seeing their presence, knowing what they're interested in, making it easy for them to navigate; it's got to be user centric, and that's a big theme that's going to make these things a lot simpler.
Software is providing power, but software has got to provide simplicity. And that's why our investment levels are going up, investments in the toughest problems: security, privacy, speech recognition, video recognition, and all of those things will fold into this platform. The magic of the work that people like Intel does allows us to be more and more ambitious with that software.
And so even though this year is going to be amazing, you'll see acceleration in the future as the power of these systems, the natural ease of use gets better and better with that software centricity. So we're all going to have a lot of fun, a lot of productivity using these systems.
Thank you. (Applause.)
