-Microsoft Had a Better Overall Conference than Sony
Sony won the E3 press conferences (more on that in a minute) but not because its conference was better. Microsoft hit the ground running with Metal Gear Solid V and never really took the foot off of the accelerator throughout the course of the show. Tons of exclusive games that looked awesome were shown off and even the multiplatform stuff had some exclusive angle (like Battlefield 4's first map pack coming to Xbox One first).
Microsoft also did a good job adding some value to Xbox Live Gold by giving members two free games per month and allowing account sharing with other members of your household. The conference skewed heavily towards games and exclusives like Ryse: Son of Rome, Quantum Break, and Halo were highlights of the show for me.
Even when the conference wasn't at its highest, it never dragged and I had a legitimately fun time watching it. Sony, on the other hand, was a bit of a chore to watch and cover. The conference moved along at a snail's pace as the PlayStation 3 and Vita were hammered into the ground for about 1/4 of the conference.
Even when the PlayStation 4 stuff began, it was slow and boring. Some games looked kind of cool but they were choppy and AC IV totally pooped out at the end of its presentation. Kingdom Hearts III was announced but there was barely anything there. It seems like every time I was about to go "all right, let's get into it" they moved on to the next game.
Sony did a good job of pricing the PlayStation 4 ($100 cheaper than Xbox One) and basically telling Microsoft to "shove it" when Jack Tretton came out and said PlayStation 4 plays used games just like PlayStation 3 and it doesn't need to connect to the internet. But other than that the conference was just boring, and they masterfully slipped in the fact that online multiplayer is now a premium service on PlayStation without much groaning.
Sony's handing of the "hot button topics" for gamers is what won the company E3 but the showing from Sony was lackluster and I didn't enjoy watching it all that much. I was hoping for so much more.
-Quantum Break Blew Me Away
For a game that didn't show a ton of gameplay (the demo was in-engine but it was basically a cut scene) Quantum Break was SO amazing. I'm not sure if it is just bias because I know Remedy is making the game but it seems so interesting and I KNOW the gameplay possibilities will make it a fun experience.
The idea that "time" has been messed up and these weird "rifts" seem to be making certain people move slower than others (or maybe they are going faster) is an intriguing one and I can't wait to see it implemented in the game itself.
NBA Live 14 Might Actually be Really Good
I know many of colleagues at VGU.TV aren't that big into sports games (apologies to those who are) but I personally love sports titles and NBA Live 14 was not one that I was looking forward to.
But EA took the gloves off and really showed a cool mechanic in the new physics-based system to for ballhandling. The game looks like it may rival the NBA 2K series in quality and after having seen what 2K had at the Sony conference, this will be an interesting year for basketball games.
Overall, I think that Microsoft had a solid showing, Sony was lacking in most areas but found a way to beat Microsoft anyway, there were tons of cool games shown, and I think next gen gaming is going to be a lot of fun!
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