To say that Microsoft had a solid showing at E3 2015 would be something of an understatement. After some previous efforts which became P.R. disasters and 101 courses on how not to hold a press conference, Microsoft put the focus on what they do well and focused on their two core gaming franchises.
The promise of the HoloLense is something that has fans intrigued and the announcement that they will have the ability in the fall to play over 100 Xbox 360 titles is a grand step in the right direction to address something that fans have wanted even before the Xbox One launched.
On the gaming side, a solid list of third party games and a remastered Gears of War showed that games are still a priority for Microsoft. This was further underscored by the pending Halo 5: Guardians and the announcement of a new chapter in the Gears of War series.
So yes, Microsoft had a solid and impressive show that was the talk of the pre-convention, until Sony had their show.
Sony opened with The Last Guardian and followed with an impressive list of exclusives and third party announcements, such as Call of Duty now making the Playstation the console of choice for ads and new DLC. That had to hit like a punch to the gut for Microsoft although I am sure they knew it was coming and the fact that Sony was so confident in their lineup that they limited Project Morpheus to a brief cameo seemed to indicate that Sony has the swagger of a champ with their opponent on the ropes.
When the Xbox One was announced I said they are going to have to show my exclusives other than Gears of War and Halo games for me to get excited over the system, as while they have had quality exclusives, the ones that interest me the most can be played on the PC which is my system of choice.
I am glad that Microsoft is offering players the chance to play their older games, but Sony did this already with Playstation Now.
Once the hype and sizzle faded, it was clear to me that Microsoft while making strides forward is still playing catch up, and while their lineup is impressive, it is not in the same league as Sony when it comes to exclusives.
With the show floor at E3 dominated by PS4 and PC systems to demo new games on, it seems clear that developers have already made their choice, and now it is up to Microsoft to continue to fight back at what has become a juggernaut.
Thankfully with more progress like they showed at E3, Microsoft at least is showing that they are doing all they can to keep gamers enchanted by the Xbox brand.
No offence, Gareth, but are you dumb, deaf, and blind?
Considering I was there, saw the shows, saw the booths, played, the games, and oh yeah, heard what other members of the press as well as what other companies had to say. It is simple, Gears of War, Halo 5, Oh I can play old Xbox 360 games. Sony, The Last Guardian, No Mans Sky, Tons of business deals, Project Morpheus. Special content for Assassins Creed, and other games, and first release deals for Disney Infinity, Call of Duty, and oh yes, there is also the little matter of Street Fighter 5. To me that is far more than anything Microsoft has offered in the last three E3 Shows combined? So again, what am I deaf, dumb, and blind over as it seems clear who had more titles, more exclusives, more deals, and oh yeah has more sales.
That’s funny because according to Amazon data Microsoft won E3. You know seeing as the xbox actually has exclusives coming out this year like it did last year and the year before. But I guess all those pretty trailers of games with no release dates on ps4 did it for you
And that is why Sony still has a 2-1 advantage. They do not do things short term but long term. Sony has a much larger and more comprehensive strategy for their games and do not feel forced to release them at Xmas like MS does. SOny showed last year that they do not need a major release at the holidays to still outsell MS.
It’s no mistake that all of the Xbox games are going to be on PC. This appears to be Microsoft’s whole strategy with gaming…make the difference between a PC and the XBox One nil. Xbox will run apps…and indeed Windows…and the PC will play all of the games from the console…either natively or through streaming. With Gears Remaster going there, there is little doubt that Gears 4 will eventually follow. At this point, the ONLY game series (that really matters) that HASN’T been announced for PC is Halo…and Spencer himself said “don’t be surprised to see more Halo coming to Windows”. Sooooo…where does that leave the console? It leaves it as a cheap gaming PC. Which is really what it is. So for the people who game on PCs and consoles, there will be very little reason to own an Xbox One.