If games are your number one deciding factor, it's tough to argue with the advantage Sony has -- not just with the edge in exclusives down the road, but the amount of early beta access and unique "only on PS4" content deals they were able to secure with a smattering of multi-platform games.
Sony's messaging this year was that games play better on PS4. And while that first might hit you as marketing spin, I can't say much that would refute that claim judging from the amount of multi-platform game comparisons I've done with Xbox One and PS4. I'll be updating the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 reviews in the coming weeks to better reflect this post-E3 2014 landscape.
Gamers in both camps will have plenty to be excited about in 2014 and 2015 but according to one industry watcher, E3 2014 painted the same picture we’ve seen since the PS4 and Xbox One were first unveiled: Sony is winning.
Sony built on its dominant E3 2013 in 2014 and it suggests the Xbox One will have a tough time catching up the ground it has already lost to the PS4. Many have written that Sony outdid Microsoft again this year and while I’d argue it was closer to a tie (especially with the price and performance improvements to the Xbox One), it does suggest Sony has done enough to maintain the PS4′s lead for the foreseeable future. Right now buying a PS4 means backing the favourite.
Yes, as we see in the thread, MS probably won the conference, but at the end of the day, they did not win E3. For me personally, it's in the small things. For instance, if they had announced a Fable proper that looks like Fable Legends, that would have helped a lot, but this is not really what I am interested in. Forza Horizon is still multi-platform and it shows imho. The Ring is nice, but late, and I would have preferred them showing a day-night cycle, or announce Logitech wheel support or whatever.
I've had all Xboxen so far and I may still get the One, but I am still waiting for a good excuse.
Yeah, I think Sony gets a certain bump from the fact that even the games they showed CGI trailers for at their press conference were being shown in a playable form behind closed doors. The same cannot be said for Crackdown 3 or Scalebound, arguably the two biggest announcements for Microsoft. Bloodborne and No Man's Sky have also been the talk of the show in a lot of ways. So MS may have put on the better show Monday, but Sony had a better week.
Yeah, I think Sony gets a certain bump from the fact that even the games they showed CGI trailers for at their press conference were being shown in a playable form behind closed doors. The same cannot be said for Crackdown 3 or Scalebound, arguably the two biggest announcements for Microsoft. Bloodborne and No Man's Sky have also been the talk of the show in a lot of ways. So MS may have put on the better show Monday, but Sony had a better week.
Did you see the trailer for Uncharted 4? I imagine that is a game where a lot of this "performance boost" will come into play. Thuway had apparently mentioned that these boosts will be on the SDK side and focus on GPGPU improvements. If any team is working on an updated SDK I imagine it's Naughty Dog.
Did you see the trailer for Uncharted 4? I imagine that is a game where a lot of this "performance boost" will come into play. Thuway had apparently mentioned that these boosts will be on the SDK side and focus on GPGPU improvements. If any team is working on an updated SDK I imagine it's Naughty Dog.
After that trailer was revealed... Corrinne Yu, mentioned in a tweet thanking ND and ICE Team on making her job wonderful (something along those lines).
I'll come in with a sideways comment.
I primarily play games on PC (Witcher 3! Yay!), so my perspective on consoles is always about the exclusives. Multiplatform games, to be honest, do better with the graphical fidelity/ability to make your own trade-offs/scalability over time, that the PC platform offers.
And for me, Nintendo did a great job.
The treehouse presentation format, that allowed more in-depth explanations of their new and upcoming titles was great, and the material was also good. Stuff like including Bayonetta 1 with Bayonetta 2 (which should give us some good material for comparisons with PS360, two years after it's relevant), introducing Splatoon as an alternate take on what a team based shooter can be, the Zelda demo, Smash Brothers, plus of course the cheerful platformers (Kirby/Yoshi/Captain Toad) for those that like that genre (not my cup of tea), JRPG evolved in the new Xenoblade joining the already released MK8 and the early takes on StarFox + 30 odd other titles. All in their typical game-play and enjoyment centered attitude. (Devils Third not being that cheerful, admittedly . It's presence emphatically demonstrating the out-of-placeness of gory violence on the platform.)
They basically demonstrated that there will be a worthwhile supply of unique games for the platform going forward, and that wasn't necessarily a given before.
Thus Nintendo did the most to alter my perception of their position and the value of what they are offering going forward in a positive way. I'm not sure that counts as "winning", but "most positive change" is a valid category in itself.
Doesn't quite fit here, but didn't want to start a new thread.
Activision may not have "won E3" but it appears they are doing a good job of balancing support on both consoles.
Arguably what is probably going to be the best selling game of 2014, COD, is tied to the Xbox One with timed exclusive DLC and was featured at the Microsoft conference.
Arguably one of the most anticipated titles of 2014, Destiny, is tied to the PS4 with exclusive alpha access and was featured at the Sony conference.
While they may not have "won E3," I have a feeling Activision is going to win Holiday 2014 quite handily.
Did you see the trailer for Uncharted 4? I imagine that is a game where a lot of this "performance boost" will come into play. Thuway had apparently mentioned that these boosts will be on the SDK side and focus on GPGPU improvements. If any team is working on an updated SDK I imagine it's Naughty Dog.
After that trailer was revealed... Corrinne Yu, mentioned in a tweet thanking ND and ICE Team on making her job wonderful (something along those lines).
Not direct confirmation. It could be "just" better optimization of launch SDK.
If there's no specific new API details, need to see live demoes and those run-time charts showing data and control flow; CPU, GPU, memory utilization and efficiency improvement stats. They used to do a lot of those for PS3 because they had to prove their/our Cell investments.
U4 is intriguing but it's one-off so far. If we see more scenarios performing at that level, then holy sh*t.
All three major platform owners held fine press conferences, although conventional wisdom would suggest Microsoft "won" the battle this year. The publisher ran a lean, super-focused briefing showcasing games and nothing else; a much-needed move after the lifestyle-focused shows of the last couple of years. An emphasis on the series that made Microsoft a heavy-hitter in the games space didn't hurt, either.
MS had a great showing, plus the best conference outside of Ubisoft. But in terms of the content they actually showed, I would say that there was less to engender real excitement in the mainstream gamers. There was alot for Xbox fans, but not much to convince anyone else that the XB1 is a must have console as yet.
I'd say that although Sony's conference had too many pacing issues, they showed more stuff to be excited about as a gamer.
Regardless though, Nintendos announcementsbeat them both. So out of the big three, I'd give it to Nintendo easily.
Out of all the conferences though, including third party pubs, Ubisoft won for me.
MS had a great showing, plus the best conference outside of Ubisoft. But in terms of the content they actually showed, I would say that there was less to engender real excitement in the mainstream gamers. There was alot for Xbox fans, but not much to convince anyone else that the XB1 is a must have console as yet.
I'd say that although Sony's conference had too many pacing issues, they showed more stuff to be excited about as a gamer.
Regardless though, Nintendos announcementsbeat them both. So out of the big three, I'd give it to Nintendo easily.
Out of all the conferences though, including third party pubs, Ubisoft won for me.
I dont know. The only reason I see people excited for MS conference is the huge contrast between their last craptastic ones and the new which was normal by taking out the annoying staged Kinect excitement and TV crap. It was refreshing by going back to the "games" route. But this is what everyone else was doing before them.
We saw nothing unpredictable or exciting in general. Who didnt expect another Halo and Forza? We get sequels and spin offs almost every year or 2 at the most
Sony needs to get their act together in terms of structure and presentation. They have great content to show but there is always an unnecessary bla blah and random footage of games and hardware stiched together with some random annoying dubstep like or whatever music that kill any kind of attraction.
And I agree about Nintendo. They showed them how its done with less "fireworks" and more substance
I dont know. The only reason I see people excited for MS conference is the huge contrast between their last craptastic ones and the new which was normal by taking out the annoying staged Kinect excitement and TV crap. It was refreshing by going back to the "games" route. But this is what everyone else was doing before them.
We saw nothing unpredictable or exciting in general. Who didnt expect another Halo and Forza? We get sequels and spin offs almost every year or 2 at the most
Sony needs to get their act together in terms of structure and presentation. They have great content to show but there is always an unnecessary bla blah and random footage of games and hardware stiched together with some random annoying dubstep like or whatever music that kill any kind of attraction.
And I agree about Nintendo. They showed them how its done with less "fireworks" and more substance
Oh I dunno Nesh. I don't think you give MS enough credit here.
Crackdown, Phantom Dust and the new Platinum game (scaleform?
lol
were genuine surprises. Although not much of a showing since they were merely CGI teasers, at least they gave the MS/Xbox fans something to latch onto for coming year. They also have Quantum Break coming whic looks legitimately interesting, but of course should have been featured in their conference.
It wasn't an amazing conference, but in comparison to their previous ones (not even just last year), it wasn't bad at all. Sony's was only slightly better in my mind, and given the quality of Sony's studios and first party output, Sony really had a chance to destroy MS this E3, but they simply didn't (granted their big hitters just aren't ready).
I think the differences in conferences and game showings are a function of where each is in terms of their platform life cycle. The WiiU is into it's.. what.. 2nd? 3rd year now? And so Nintendo has had time to build it's list of exclusive games to bring to the platform. Whereas Sony and MS (and third parties) are still trying to build confidence in the consumerbase that their new systems will have all the same favourites as the old, in order to drive adoption of the new systems with the tried and true big sellers.
It's just unfortunate, as I think from what I see of gamers expressing their views online, as well as in the media, the prevailing sense of being underwhelmed by this year's E3 most likely comes from the distinct lack of new IP from all parties; MS, Sony, EA and Ubisoft etc.
I must admit though, that I'm also intrigued by the fact that all the other industry console game AAA pubs seem to have skipped on major game announcements this E3. Where was Sleeping Dogs: Triad Wars or any of the other anticipated big releases from Square Enix? Where were the new Sega, Capcom, Konami, Activision or Namco games?
It really feels to me like the number of published console games on the whole this E3 is far less than at this period last gen. That does feel somewhat worrying to me, particularly with the Japanese pubs, as they are often the ones I'd be most encumbent on to bring the wacky innovation in AAA games (aside from Indies of course). But I guess I'm getting OT now...
This. For me Microsoft had a very simple message: games, games, games and thats what they showed although very little game play - an increasing trend all over.
Sony showed more games but the pacing was, predictably, shit. Microsoft aimed their conference at consumers (to be fair, they needed too), Sony aimed their conference half at consumers and half at investors. Sony only "won" E3 last year because Microsoft were so terrible and Nintendo were in Lalaland (no offence to Lalaland!)
