Final Thoughts on Microsoft's and Sony's E3 2014 Press Events
First let's get into Microsoft's conference. We all know the horrible fiasco that was Microsoft's press conference at last year's E3. Thankfully things have changed in the office sector at Microsoft and they have taken some big strides and they have definitely paid off. Microsoft did a great job at their press conference. Phil Spencer said they would be focusing on the games which was the smart move. Phil Spencer was not bluffing. They did not make any mentions about Kinect and the only Kinect centered games that were briefly mentioned were Disney Fantasia Music Evolved and Dance Central. No live stage demos (I'm looking at you Ubisoft) or trailers of those games. Just a mention and then moving on. There was no talk of Xbox exclusive television shows. I even thought it was great that they didn't feel the need to re-announce that you can now get the Xbox One for $399 without the Kinect. They needed to show the games, and that's exactly what they did.
Microsoft opened their presentation with Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare which wasn't a surprise. The Call of Duty franchise has had a long "home" setting with Microsoft and they definitely play that up with exclusive first rights to DLC. Next they revealed Foriza Horizon 2 which while it is great looking visually, didn't have me really excited because I'm not a big racing fan. Microsoft then went on to showcase games like Evolve, Assassin's Creed Unity, Dragon Age, Sunset Overdrive, and Fable Legends. All of these games look great and like a lot of fun. Especially the over the top, crazy, and humorous Sunset Overdrive.
A game that grabbed my attention was Ori and the Blind Forest and it was mainly due to the art style. There was something simple yet visually beautiful about it. I'm definitely interested in seeing more of that game. A big game shown off during the Microsoft conference was Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Have I played all of the Halo games? Yes. Do I want to play them again with the original multiplayer maps in tact, remastered and running in 1080p? Hell yes! On top of that the Master Chief Collection includes the digital Halo series Nightfall and access to the Halo 5: Guardians beta in December. To me, the biggest reveal came when the trailer for the new Crackdown started playing and I heard the familiar narrator's voice. It's too bad no game footage was shown though.
Sony had tremendous success at their conference at last year's E3. So did they top it or do just as well this year? Well, in my opinion, no they didn't. Don't get me wrong, they had a good conference. But there were a few more lows than I was expecting. Sony was really heavy on announcing exclusive content on their games (early betas, levels, in game items, etc.) and you cannot blame them. If you have the exclusive deals you're going to want to flaunt it. They opened their conference with Destiny and announced the exclusive alpha, beta (July 17), exclusive content, and the white PS4 bundle. Sony has definitely worked hard with Bungie to make Destiny a special experience on the PS4.
Some footage of The Order 1886 had been show a few weeks back and I was impressed with it then. When Sony showed off more gameplay footage during their conference I was even more impressed. The game looks gorgeous in a dark, gothic kind of way. The seamless blend between gameplay and cinematics is just awesome. Another new PS4 exclusive that was shown was Bloodborne. This game definitely has a dark tone but seems like it could be something really cool. Sony then showcased some more footage of Far Cry 4. This game is looking fantastic! Something that was revealed that is really cool is that if you have Far Cry 4 on the PS4, other people on your PS4 friends list can play multiplayer with you even if they don't own the game! Of course, this little gem is exclusive to the PS4 version. I was a little bummed that there was no mention of The Last Guardian, but Sony did not let me down with a fantastic trailer for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.
And what would a Sony conference be without talking about indie games? Indie games like Bro Force, Hotline Miami, Titan Souls, and several others were shown. Now don't get me wrong, I like indie games and think there have been some fantastic indie games made. That being said, I didn't get my PS4 with indie games as a focus. Sony then went on to spend time talking about the numbers of people who connect their PS4 to PSN, how many hours are spent online, and even how many times gameplay has been shared. I know Sony wanted to brag about these numbers, but to me they just weren't needed.
Sony's comment about offering the PlayStation Camera to gamers as a choice was an obvious punch at Microsoft and the Kinect. I think these kind of comments from Sony and the fanboys are getting very old. Yes, the Xbox One came with Kinect and cost $100 more and people didn't like it. We get it. Move on. Now one thing Sony announced that was great was the adding of YouTube and the ability to upload clips directly to YouTube on the PS4. It's about time! It was also cool to hear that the PS TV will be released this fall in the USA, Canada, and Europe for $99. It's an interesting device even though I'm not sure I'll buy one. However, I felt like Sony spent a little too much time talking about numbers, services, exclusive television series, and peripherals. It's almost like because Sony is on such a high from massive PS4 sales they felt like they could take the time to spend talking about all of that. Still, they showed some great games and exclusive game content.
In the end I was pleased with both Microsoft's and Sony's press conferences. I wasn't left completely blown away or awestruck, but I wasn't disappointed either. So if I had to put a grade on the two conference I would give a slight edge to Microsoft simply because Sony spent a little too much time on the numbers, tv show, and other non-gaming stuff. The final grades are as follows:
Microsoft: A-
Sony: B+
Written by: Alter Ego 83
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