-Sony Won E3
Gamers love to decide who "won" each E3 and this year it seems like the core gaming audience is vehemently for the PlayStation 4 over the Xbox One or the Wii U. Sony's PR team did a fantastic job of spinning Microsoft's willingness to speak out first against it. Microsoft repeatedly came out and explained the way that things were going to be on the Xbox One and Sony just let them speak until they dug a hole. Sony then made that hole even bigger by jabbing its own "policies" (which are the exact same as the system in place right now) at its press conference.
Sony deserves a lot of credit for swaying gamers' opinion in its favor and I think that right now, the PlayStation 4 is receiving quite a boost from that favorable opinion among gamers. Gamers determine the winner of E3 and it seems like Sony has won over the vast majority of hardcore gamers (you know, the ones who actually pay attention to E3)
-Microsoft Is Not Really in That Much Trouble
As much as the internet and Sony fanboys would like to make you believe that Microsoft has somehow already lost the next generation, that really isn't the case. The Xbox One might be in a bit of a PR nightmare coming out of E3 but lets be honest, most people who buy the Xbox aren't really watching E3 anyway. Parents of young children and casual gamers have flocked to the Xbox 360 and are most likely not watching the coverage of E3.
The price point for the Xbox One is going to be a bit of a hurdle and that might hurt sales. The used game policies and the "always-online" (I put that in quotes for a reason) will definitely sway some gamers away from buying the console. But overall, the Xbox One is still going to sell well and we have a lot of time before these consoles actually ship.
Used game fees are up to the publishers on both consoles (though Microsoft has created a convoluted system that Sony does not have in place) so you have to think that each publisher will do the same thing across all consoles. The Xbox One needs to connect to the internet every 24 hours but for most people who are willing to shell out $500+ for a video game system they probably can manage a two second connection once a day. Even spotty internet works some of the time.
Policies aside, Microsoft has a Kinect that might actually do something useful (more on that later) and a plethora of exclusive titles that will entice gamers. Overall, the package is going to be impressive and I can see plenty of people choosing the Xbox One once we better understand some of these policies.
Will the Xbox One beat the PlayStation 4? No one can say but right now it appears that Sony has jumped out to a bit of an early lead. But this race hasn't really begun so it's kind of useless to call it one way or the other.
-Nintendo Had a Quietly Solid E3
Nintendo has become a bit of in enigma in the gaming world because of how the niche the audience for its games seems to be. "Hardcore" gamers usually don't even seen Nintendo as a viable competitor to Sony and Microsoft so the company tends to be ignored a lot. But Nintendo seems to be doing well by its fans and it could seriously help them out in this console cycle.
The Wii U has never been the graphics powerhouse of the generation (even before the other consoles are out we can say that) but Nintendo doesn't necessarily need that raw power as much. Nintendo has survived for a very long time with more cartoony and stylistic game franchises that look at art direction in games in a way other than "it needs to look real."
This has turned off many gamers but for Nintendo's franchises the system works well and leads to some really nice looking games. Nintendo's E3 showing was full of games from Super Mario 3D Land to the next incarnation in the wildly popular Smash series. And for the gamers who prefer the more realistic games, the Wii U has proven that it can handle third party titles like Assassin's Creed IV and Watch Dogs pretty well.
Many people at E3 have remarked that Nintendo's booth seemed to be buzzing the most as many people in attendance wanted to try out the new games and regardless of the fact that "hardcore" gamers might have left Nintendo behind, there are still a ton of people who care and are probably going to be thrilled with Nintendo in the coming months.
-Kinect 2.0 Might Actually Be Cool
The Kinect for the Xbox 360 was a gimmicky device that promised to immerse players in their games more and instead had them flailing their arms around and jumping up and down to play silly games. The implementation of the Kinect into more "mature" experiences (like shooters or RPGs) has not gone so well and it caused a rift with many gamers who were upset with Microsoft's insistence on using the device.
This was exacerbated by the fact that the Xbox One comes packaged with the new version of the Kinect and it has to be connected in order for the console to work. This also seems to have affected the price point, most likely being the reason that the Xbox One is $100 more than the PlayStation 4.
But if articles like this one on the Verge are to be believed, developers may have finally found a cool way to use the Kinect. Instead of replacing the controller with your voice and body, developers seem to be using your voice and body to enhance your experience while keeping the controller the main input method. Hearing about the voice commands in Ryse: Son of Rome or the Kinect interactivity in Dead Rising 3 have made me feel that it may be more than gimmick.
Will the Kinect revolutionize every game that we play? Most likely not, but the ability for it to enhance our experience in ways that are only limited by a developer's imagination is pretty cool and definitely something to keep an eye on.
-Connected Experiences Are the Way of the Future
As much as it pains me to say this seeing as I am usually a single player only kind of person, connected worlds and multiplayer experiences seem to be the way of the future for games. While many games at E3 2013 were either single player experiences or multiplayer experiences (or both), a good amount of the titles that generated a lot of interest were the always-evolving connected worlds.
Look at Tom Clancy's The Division, or Bungie's Destiny, or Titanfall, or Need for Speed: Rivals. These are just some examples of games that are basically grand multiplayer experiences that will call for a lot of interactivity between players and an almost "always online" component to function at full force.
While some games can be played completely solo (Need for Speed: Rivals doesn't require multiplayer interaction) many of these games are not meant to be tackled solo and some can't even be tackled solo at all. Titanfall is a multiplayer game, even Respawn confirmed that focus. Destiny is basically an MMO. The Division is also a completely connected experience that will depend greatly on the online community.
Game developers have been trying to find ways to make the internet work for the benefit of games as a whole for quite some time now and it seems like we are beginning the push towards a highly connected future. Does this mean all single player games are gone? Of course not, plenty of games at E3 were shown off as single player experiences and they will continue to make them in the future.
However, the fact remains that the huge titles of E3 were mostly centered around some form of connectivity and that seems to be the big way forward for developers to push the gaming experience and make the medium more mature.
-Murdered: Soul Suspect Deserves Our Attention
While there have been several new titles that have caught my eye at E3 (Ryse, The Division, etc) Murdered: Soul Suspect might be more of a surprise to many gamers who decide to take a look. The game begins with the murder of the main character (a detective named Ronan O'Connor) and you will need to solve this murder as Ronan.
Ronan now lives in a place called "The Dusk," a limbo-like stage where ghosts with unfinished business roam after they die. While you cannot directly interact with the environment, you can possess people to ascertain information and put the pieces together to solve the mystery of your murder.
But "The Dusk" is not exactly the friendliest place; certain spirits who never resolved their issues turn into demons who will try to attack Ronan and eat his soul (yikes). Ronan can fight back against these spirits but only by sneaking up on them and tearing them to pieces.
The non-traditional gameplay and the intrigue of a murder mystery could easily meld well with the supernatural elements to create a really fun game. Definitely check this game out if you are into supernatural games or action adventure mysteries.
-Mad Max Might Be Able to Tide Over Fallout Fans
Fallout 4 has been on every single Fallout fan's mind since Fallout 3 was released. Even after New Vegas hit store shelves, the next installment from Bethesda proper (New Vegas was developed by Obsidian) has been the talk of fans worldwide. When Mad Max was unveiled at the Sony conference, I'm sure every Fallout fan was praying it was Fallout 4.
But now that we know it isn't, Mad Max might actually help make that wait for Fallout 4 more bearable. While Mad Max is set in a different universe with a different mythos, the basic premise of a post apocalyptic open world is there. Vehicle combat looks to be an important part of the game (possibly similar to RAGE) and the team that is making it is known for the massive open world playground of Just Cause 2.
Regardless of whether or not the game is phenomenal, we pretty much know that is will be an enormous open world to explore and that might help tide over Fallout fans while still providing a springboard for a new type of experience.
That's about all I have to say for now but I'm sure I will think of a ton of other things to comment on. If you would like to know my take on anything I haven't spoken about or if you would just like to sound off with your opinion, feel free to do so in the comments or tweet @jamespungello
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