E3 Keynote Reaction: Microsoft and Sony Both Win, I Lose

I currently own an Xbox 360. After the Xbox One reveal, I wrote my thoughts on why Microsoft was talking about all of the boring bits. It turns out I was right. Microsoft's entire E3 keynote was focused on the games. And there were a lot of them. The item that stood out to me the most was the cloud controlled AI in Forza 5. I liked that concept, it adds a level of "newness" to the normally monotonous racing that comes with that type of game. The thing that captured my imagination the most though, was The Division. That game looked rad.

The console was eventually slated for November of 2013, and available with a $499 price tag. I thought that was really fair, considering the new Kinect was bundled in and a I was thinking the new generation would cost closer to $600, like the Playstation 3 launched at. Obviously Microsoft is focusing on being an all-in-one system for your entertainment center.

Then came the Sony keynote. The only thing that I thought was interesting was Destiny, the game that Bungie is working on.

 I was bored for 95% of the Sony keynote. And this was my reaction to the final 5%.

A $399 price point and no DRM (always-on, or connectivity checking) was absolutely a slap across the face of Microsoft. Sony even released this video:

Them's fighting words! I was 100% going to buy an Xbox One after it's announcement and E3 keynote, having already made peace with the fact that it would require an internet connection at least once every 24 hours to play video games. Sony made it clear that it was focusing on games. After Sony took the stage, I was indeed bored up until the very end. Then they stole all of Microsoft's thunder. 

These announcements are likely going to result in me having two consoles for the first time in my life. Both Microsoft and Sony win in that scenario. But unfortunately I, and my wallet, lose. Something I wasn't expecting going in to today.

What do you think?

Xbox One Reveal (My Thoughts)

The Microsoft Xbox One announcement landed with a resounding “huh?” from many folks in my social sphere. It seemed like confusion ran rampant after the announcement and console reveal. Was it going to be always-on? Did every SKU come with a Kinect sensor? Why are they talking about ESPN? Used games?  Is that dog in the Call of Duty: Ghosts reveal trailer going to die? Spoilers: most likely (did you hear how many times they used the words “feeling”? That dog is a goner).  Will it even play games? Why didn’t they talk more about games? You know what’s great? Games…

Xbox One with the new Xbox controller and Kinect sensor.

Even though the press conference started off with a mention of games, it quickly devolved in to television, Kinect gestures, publisher partnerships, and Steven Spielberg. The Spielberg Halo TV show reveal was a bit weird. Halo was a flagship of the original Xbox and arguably helped that console launch somewhat successfully. The Xbox 360 had Halo 3 to help propel sales after that console launched. And the Xbox One will have…a TV show produced by 343 Industries and Steven Spielberg. Weird. Even though Halo 4 launched last year, I’m a little bit bummed out that the new shiny Xbox won’t launch with Master Chief helping it along. A TV show can be announced at any time and get decent press, and although you’ll likely gain access to it directly through Xbox Live regardless of your cable subscription (at least that’s the only thing that would make sense to me), the TV  show announcement felt out of place.

Even though the launch felt a bit disjointed, I think it was the right move for the Xbox team to make. As Microsoft mentioned over and over again, E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) is right around the corner. Traditionally E3 is where the games companies and publishers come to play. What Microsoft did here was get the boring bits out of the way. Why do that when debuting the new hotness? I’m pretty sure if the Xbox team came out on stage at E3 and started talking about fantasy football and NFL/ESPN partnerships, the whole place would erupt in a steady stream of boos. 

This was a calculated risk. Show the system (something that Sony has yet to do with the Playstation 4); talk about the specifications a little bit; show a demonstration of the new Kinect and how it works with the dashboard and UI; and then give a taste of what the next generation games can do. Then, in two weeks get on stage at E3, breeze through the lingering questions that folks had after the original reveal, and then smother them with games.

I expect to see quite a few games and release titles announced at E3 for both the PS4 and the Xbox One (I like calling it the Xbone) and I can’t wait to see what some of the biggest game developers have been working on for the last year or so. Remedy showed off a smidge of Quantum Break, which looked pretty damn interesting, and gorgeous. I’m hoping that Bethesda announces a new edition to the Fallout series as well. The E3 conference should be all about games, I’m glad the boring stuff got out of the way early.