E3 Impressions: Microsoft and Sony Conferences

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Today is day “zero” of E3 2013. Sony and Microsoft have both given their annual press conferences and, as expected, the focus was on the next generation of hardware. Both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 were given a great deal of attention via new and previously announced titles.

But who did it better? It’s safe to say that Sony’s conference was more entertaining overall, it wasn’t as perfect as some are now holding it up to be. In regards to new games, I felt like Microsoft tried a bit harder although I personally am not enamored with most of what they showcased. They brought a handful of new IPs that were not previously announced. This is always a neat thing because we are seeing new ideas come into play.

Sony revealed very few new games. Almost everything from the indies to Square Enix’s showcase were previously announced. Sure, many have probably never heard of the games they discussed for Vita or PS4 but I did and the showing felt very lackluster in that regard. Yes, it was great to see Final Fantasy come back (albeit renamed) as well as Kingdom Hearts III, but these are titles that have been on the back burner for years. We knew they would arrive sometime – 2013 just happened to be the year they came back.

What Sony did right was to address the controversy surrounding Xbox One and prove themselves to offer superior solutions. Aka – they didn’t change much of anything from the PS3. Used games work as we expect them to as does online “check ins” not existing. The only con here is that PS4 may require PS Plus to play online multiplayer games.

When it comes right down to it, both had good points, but everyone can’t help but be bothered by Microsoft’s corporate-minded rules. Consumers should be wary of this but overall I think both conferences work. Of course, I’d be lying if I didn’t have more fun overall with Sony’s.

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