E3 2013 was an interesting one this year. Since I work a desk job a lot of I enjoyed what my friend Cokedroid likes to call Geek Christmas on a monitor at work. This year’s event was an exciting. It was great for some, not so great for others. Specifically in the case of the Xbox One and the PS4. But lets not forget there are also games galore. So let’s get on with it.
Xbox One vs Playstation 4
The last few E3′s were a bit more quiet, but this year the gloves were off. If you’ve been following what exactly is happening with the Xbox One from the previous conference where the negative backlash was felt online then the one two punch they got from Sony’s announcement was sure to leave a mark on Microsoft. Their earlier press conference to announce the Xbox One was mostly to show off the features of the Xbox One in order to allow them to focus on video games during E3 2013 and get people interested in their new console. It should have gone well but instead they just weren’t well informed on all fronts when asked questions by the press and the end result was a console that made people feel they wouldn’t own their games, have features they aren’t interested in (because it’s not for video games), and have the possibility of being spied on via the Kinect. Also having to check in online every 24 hours to continue being able to play your games. If the system can’t check in you have a nice DVD/Blu-Ray player to entertain yourself with at least because the games can’t be played. The talk about Smartglass which in all honesty was weak to me. I would rather hear it works on any tablet and phone rather than exclusive devices.
Then comes E3 and they hope that video games will remind people what the Xbox One is really about. They had great games to show like Titanfall, Star Wars Battlefront, a new Halo. But then there games like Minecraft Xbox One Edition. That one had me thinking “People have to buy that again?” And to be honest people don’t have to buy anything they don’t want to but still, why release that again and charge again to those that own it? On the plus side they are taking a page from Playstation Plus and allowing gold members a free game each month. That was a good choice on their part. But then the price was announced. The Xbox One will be $499.99. People were expecting something in the $400 range not $500. In all the Xbox One presentation was solid despite it marred by bad press and bad policies that are having Xbox fans considering the competition.
Then comes Sony. They had games and exclusives though not nearly as heavy as Microsoft. Some stood out like Bungie’s Destiny. Their inclusion of indie games was very well done introducing some of the groups they are working with a developer playing the game on the screen behind them. Octodad looked so weird and the first thought in my head was “I must have that!” Then there was the announcement of a new Kingdom Hearts game. People went nuts for it. Sony briefly talked about their vast music and movies library and their plans to offer services for it, but didn’t get nearly as into it as Microsoft did with their cable television integration. I got a feeling they are still working on it. We finally see what the console looks like. It looks nice and slim with an interesting shape. I liked it.
Here is where it gets good. Sony announces they are not supporting DRM policies on their games. If you want to trade, sell or loan your game you are free to do so. There is also no online check in. You can play offline all you want. Then they also added the console will only cost $399.99. If the crowd went nuts for Kingdom Hearts then they went batshit crazy for this set of news. The camera is a separate optional purchase. There is this though, they will be charging for you to play online multiplayer via Playstation Plus. But the good news is that your Netflix and Internet wont require the fee. Neither will Free to Play MMO’s. So you don’t need to be a Playstation Plus subscriber to enjoy your console. To add salt to the would they even released a comical video showing you how to share a game.
In the end I felt Sony beat out Microsoft in terms of what people wanted. They seemed to talk to you and said, we know you and we are giving you what you want. Microsoft gave off the opposite feeling. These companies obviously are a business and they don’t have to like us or really care about us personally. But they do care about our money so showing that they pay attention to the consumer and are willing to give us something special goes a long way. It certainly does’t help when guys like Don Mattrick, the president of Interactive Entertainment at Microsoft says things like this. I actually don’t hate some of the features the Xbox One has. There will be some really nice things it can do and Microsoft is sure to surprise us with what it can accomplish. But their policies and the whole Kinect being on and potentially spying on you following the whole NSA craziness has people on edge. I want to play my games down the road and not worry about an internet check in. I want to loan my brother or cousin a game if they come by and interested in something. If they like it enough they buy their own copies usually. This will limit that. In the end Sony won me over. It will definitely be the first console I buy. I’d like an Xbox One but I’ll have to wait and see if anything changes. There is still time for them to make it work. I’m hopeful that they do. The last thing we need is one console maker to dominate because then we all lose.
The Games
Many games stood out. One was the Xbox One and PC exclusive Titanfall by Respawn Entertainment. This is the product brought to you by the creators of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2. It looks incredible. A mix of combat suit and mecha first person shooter. Looks awesome and fun.
Many of the games shown were racing games. But The Crew really stood out for me. It was more objective based and vehicle modifications. The game allows for getting together with other players online in an open world to accomplish the missions. Very interesting set up. Definitely something to look forward to.
As mentioned above but there are indy games coming our way and Octodad looks made me pause and had me fascinated by its weirdness.
Nintendo also had games to show such as Legend of Zelda Windwaker HD Edition but what I really got a kick out of was Super Smash Bros for the 3DS and the Wii U. I loved the fact that it’s coming for the 3DS. I’ve been using my handheld system a lot more lately and the game library is great. This will bring lots of fun times. Added bonus to me was that they are bringing in Mega Man. Wii Fit Trainer was the oddest character but hey, just adds to the weirdness. I’m okay with that.
That’s just a small taste of what’s coming. I’m looking forward to what people do with these new consoles coming up. Initially my first thought was this feels like more of the same but prettier, but as time gets near I’m definitely excited for the new generation. What I didn’t hear anything about but would love to see supported is the Oculus Rift. This is a direction I’d love to see games go in.