The Conference War

On 06/12/2013 at 09:16 PM by Keegs79

I been on duty so I couldn’t blog but been thinking about the announcements Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo has made and there is a whole lot I am impressed with. My list have must have games has instantly grown. I watched both Sony and Microsoft’s press conferences and this is what I thought. Microsoft came away with an impressive better line-up of exclusives. Dead Rising 3 is a pretty big deal I consider. The last two games are great and its taking great advantage of the hardware for massive amount of zombies. I came away surprised that Insomanic had something exclusive to the Xbox One. Sunset Overdrive looks great and I love the premise. The hits just keep coming. I was very impressed with Titanfall. I would believe this would be just a timed exclusive since its published by EA. It looks fun and addicting. Now I have to say they did a lot right, especially by showcasing Metal Gear Solid V by basically saying its here too. They have secured that, the Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts. That is pretty huge. I was the letdown by Ryse which looks too centered around QTE. The gameplay looks so cheap. I was expecting something more from it and was excited about Killer Instinct but I came away unimpressed by what I saw.

Now as for Sony, I don’t feel it was a free flowing but they had some major things I liked. I loved how they had indie developers there. That was a huge thing. I came away really impressed how a few of those games like Outlast will be free for PS+ users. I wanted that already and also topping it off with Driveclub is pretty cool. Sony I didn’t feel showed much overall. The only new game I really came away impressed with was Order 1886. I am excited to see more about it. They showcased Final Fantasy Versus 13 and how the rumor is true that it is actually 15 now. The footage was great but puzzling how different it is. The announcement of Kingdom Hearts 3 was incredible too. The announcement of those two games are incredible but I come away less impressed since they are on the Xbox One too. The same goes for Destiny which is easily one of my most anticipated titles. That game looked stunning. It too though is a multiplatform game. Its like they did what Microsoft did and showcase a lot of third party games…

..but why? I think its because they can. They won everyone over and the knew they would by saying you can do what you want with the games you buy and you will never have to be connected online to play your games. That was huge and to top it off, it is 100 dollars cheaper than the Xbox One. This is the only time were games really didn’t have to matter. It was set up in an incredible way. Sony didn’t show too much and didn’t have to. They still have The Last Guardian to show, Media Molecule is probably working on LittleBIGPlanet 3, and like they said, they have many new IPs yet to show. They have more new IPs than Microsoft who already shown a big portion of their hand. Speaking of LittleBIGPlanet, Microsoft seemed to have its own unique title to compete against it called Spark Unlimited. It had a more impressive toolkit but it lacked the charm of LittleBIGPlanet. Its interesting to see Microsoft go after it basically how they did against Gran Turismo with Forza. Lastly I will add that while Sony didn't showcase any major IPs, Microsoft did with a tease of Halo but in this day in age, its like Mario to me. I can't get excited with something I expect. I was actually a bit disappointed that the trailer wasn't something different.

That is it from me. As for the other conferences, I will say that both Ubisoft and EA had a pretty impressive showing. Knowing and seeing something of Mirror's Edge 2 is pretty incredible as is The Division from Ubisoft which is easily one of my favorite titles of E3. That game is going to be incredible. There is a lot I like but I spoke enough for now. I hope you all got some excitement from me. I sure as hell did. I hope to get your impressions in my comments!

SanAndreas

06/12/2013 at 09:46 PM

My wife preordered a PS4 for me after Sony's conference. I am excited about the PS4. The Xbox One, not so much. My favorite games of the show were FFXV, KH3, Tales of Xillia, Sony's The Order: 1886, and Supergiant Games' Transistor.

Keegs79

06/12/2013 at 10:39 PM

Nice. I got launch versions of both, not that you get anything special with the PS4 version. I badly want to see footage of 1886: The Order. I was impressed that Sony got Transistor. I was expecting that to be Xbox only considering Bastion was. Hey you have an awesome wife to pre-order it for you! The only reason I could get both is I put my portion of my tax return for goodies on my Amazon account and waited to be able to pre-order it.

Super Step Contributing Writer

06/12/2013 at 10:05 PM

I definitely agree that the Xbox One has more and more impressive exclusives, but because of console policy it simply does not matter to me as an informed consumer. However, we will see how this all plays out with the general public, who may not be as put off as I am by Xbox One, and simply see that it has more exclusives. While every nerd with access to internet is on PS4's side, myself included (which is ironic, considering how big a deal always-online is, even to me), Xbox One does have better exclusives in my opinion, several are new IPs to boot, and how many in the mainstream will do their research or care about DRM and always-online is a question I don't feel can be answered by the internet.

But then it won't matter if people are put off enough they don't buy the One, failing to provide a large enough userbase, and those games are forced to stop being exclusives. And when the holiday news stories crop up, this could become a factor easily.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to watch more trailers for things I may or may not be able to afford this holiday season.

06/12/2013 at 10:44 PM

I think we pretty much agree on most things. Ryse did look really dumb. I actually had hope that it could be a decent Kinect game but then I caught a rumor that it used controller inputs but wow, does it use inputs. I can't believe how cheap the combat seems. I think the main character looks bland as well.

Microsoft really impressed me with its exclusives. I think Titanfall will be addicting online. I think Sunset Overdrive will redeem Insomanic after Fuse. Dead Rising 3 looks awesome but I am annoyed that it seems so serious now.

I am tired of Nintendo playing it so safe! I mean geez! They didn't even let Retro do something different. That talent getting wasted on another Donkey Kong Country game? Granted, I am sure its going to be awesome but I would like to see them work on a different Nintendo property or a new IP.

asrealasitgets

06/12/2013 at 10:27 PM

I was really shocked to see the first major game announced from Microsoft to be the new Metal Gear game. I had always associated it with playstation, even though the game has been ported in the past, it typically stays as a timed exclusive to Sony, so it felt kind of weird and uncomfortable to see Kojima not at sony. Finding out that FF15 and KH were also coming to XBO had a similar effect. It wasn't an unexpected surprise, I knew it could happen, but then it did and I was shocked.

As for MS games, they looked pretty cool. I particularly liked Dead Rising 3 and that mech-shooter game which may end up being multiplatform. Ryse looks kind of dumb. It was a kinect game that was altered for a controller. I don't think MS has a lot for me I suppose.

Sony. Aside from the games we already knew were coming out like Infamous and Killzone, I can't say that I was surprised by anything. I liked seeing KH and FF15, but I was expecting most of what I saw. I would say the DRM policiy and price at the end was surprising.

Nintendo. Same old games really. Mario world sounds cool, as does bayonetta 2 and mario kart, but these are all safe games as most journalists have pointed out. Not much in surprise department.

The Division. I really liked Ghost Recon so I was surprised to see a different take on that franchise. I was mostly impressed with the graphcis in the game, looks so real.

I don't know that I saw enough to make me buy day 1 anything. I've mostly waited out beyond release dates in the past. If I had to choose, I would go with PS4 though. I will be playing a lot of FF14 online when I do.

I posted a blog with pics of the games I was mostly excited about if you want to check out.

http://www.pixlbit.com/blog/2647/e3_2013_day_1_lets_discuss_games

BrokenH

06/12/2013 at 10:35 PM

Xbone has nice game exclusives. I'm a huge Killer Instinct fan from back in the day! Still, I will not hand over my freedom as a consumer. Perhaps if microsoft changes most of its' policies I'll get an Xbone down the road but I'll definitely be getting a new PC and PS4 before then.

06/12/2013 at 10:45 PM

I feel you about the Xbox One. I just have terrible will power. I want some of those games pretty bad. Killer Instinct though I feel could look better. I think they did a bad job with the designs. The developer is pretty shady as well so it could turn out bad anyway.

06/12/2013 at 10:48 PM

On Killer Instinct. You have to pay to unlock the characters. Yeah...that.

06/13/2013 at 09:23 PM

You can buy the whole thing at once for retail price. I am going to skip the thing altogether though.

Halochief90

06/13/2013 at 02:00 AM

Now that you mention it, you're right Xbox One does have better exclusives. Ryse also looks like it has potential. Sony is likely holding on to a few trump cards for later. Last Guardian is likely moving to PS4 and Uncharted 4 will probably be announced once Last of Us has had its time in the spotlight. That said, the games I am most looking forward to are all multiplatform and PS4 is definitely looking like the platform I want to play them on.

06/13/2013 at 09:16 PM

Ryse has potential but I am more disappointed in it. I expected more. I am impressed more from Sunset Overdrive, Titanfall, and Dead Rising 3. What is crazy is that Sony has many other studios that haven't announced anything. I am excited to hear about them and what will be in store at Tokyo Game Show. I am 100% confident we will see The Last Guardian there and yeah, I think it will be on the PS4 too.

Chris Yarger Community Manager

06/13/2013 at 07:26 AM

While the X1 has some decent looking exclusives, I just can't sacrifice any potential privacy concerns for it. I'd prefer to nab a PS4 and be able to do what I want to do on it; play games without worry of who's watching me.

06/13/2013 at 09:18 PM

I think the whole privacy thing is over exaggerated. I think the whole having to be online once every 24 hours is the really stupid thing. PS4 I think is the best way to go ;)

jgusw

06/13/2013 at 05:22 PM

I try not to bank too much on exclusives. I recall a few exclusives MS had non the 360 and they weren't that great. These new exclusives and ips could go the same route. The same can be said with Sony too. Only time will tell which consoles have better games. I don't plan to get an XBO anyway. I'm planning to buy a PS4, Wii U, 3DS, and Vita.

06/13/2013 at 09:22 PM

I am sure what they have in store this around will at the very least be mildly better. I consider Titanfall a sure hit. I think Insomanic might end up redeeming themselves after Fuse. Dead Rising hasn't been a disappointment yet and Remedy had been impressive with Alan Wake. I am expecting good things but yeah, things could turn surprisingly bad but its hard for me to be cynical when it comes to video games.

PixlBit