Predicting the Returns from E3
Year in and year out there are a few dates that you tend to mark on the calendar. The obvious ones are holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. Then there's tax day, just because you can't escape it. If you've got kids, or are a student yourself, you also mark off the start/end dates of school, and school holidays. Working down the list you then get to sports - start/end of regular season, playoffs, games you might attend, etc.
For gamers and those interested in the gaming industry, June means one thing - E3. It is THE big event of the gaming industry each year. Every few years things get a little more interesting, because the big 3 of the gaming (Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft) industry introduce new hardware.
Well, not always at one E3.
Last year Nintendo started off the new generation of consoles by revealing the Wii U.... and it has barely gone anywhere. It's not all that much better than the Wii in terms of performance, but it is an improvement. They also gave it a new controller, though part of the problem seems to be that few people have an interest in utilizing it. Furthermore, the system seems to be facing the same problem the Wii suffered from in the latter half of its lifetime - a lack of consistent release of quality titles. That's not to say there are no good titles for the system, only that with the amount of time between releases of the AAA titles, with the console not even a year old yet, there isn't going to be a lot in the console sales area for Nintendo until their library gets a bit more depth to it.
Sony took a slightly different tact from the norm in that they chose not to announce their console at E3, but at their own little event back in February dedicated to talking about the upcoming system. They didn't actually show the console, the PS4, itself, but they talked about details including the CPU/GPU powering the system, and showed off a relatively small redesign of the controller. They also teased some of the games planned. But, E3 will be the stage where we'll learn more details such as services and online, see what the actual console looks like, and see more of what games are on the way.
Microsoft followed suit with a reveal of their Xbox One last month. Arguably it has been the subject of more rumors than the PS4, but now most of those questions have been answered. Spec wise it is more powerful than the 360, but will be not quite at the level of the PS4 which looks to be positioned to claim the performance title. So far announced games are about as expected - no real surprises. They redesigned the look of the console (I say it looks like an old Magnavox piece of A/V equipment) and did a bit of reworking on the controller too. There isn't much left unknown about the console right now - except for the games. There was so much other stuff they had to talk about that they hardly mentioned the games during their May reveal event.
So, who will have the best returns at E3? Who will leave with the most excited, anticipatory buzz?
Right now it's likely that Microsoft will bet the most attention - but not likely in a good way. They certainly added a ton of stuff - Blu-Ray player, set-top features, DVR. But they also added some features that have raised a lot of ire. Essentially locking games to the console they are first played on has added a good deal of complication to the idea of simply lending your game to a friend, let alone selling your used game. I tend not to sell my games, but I do tend to buy a good number of used games, so personally I don't like the route they're trying to go. All games have to be installed. They also have a requirement that you have your Xbox One on and connected to the internet at least once every 24-hours so that it can do a check of the system, essentially to confirm that you haven't pirated anything - again an added nuisance. Apparently if that check doesn't happen you can't play any of your games. There are a lot of things about the system that will be very hard for console gamers to swallow, so there will be a lot of discussion about it.
Sony on the other hand has some Wow left to deliver. They will reveal the console itself, which could help generate some buzz, though a question of negative or positive depends on the actual look. There is still a lot of questions on whether Sony will replicate any similar DRM features like those Microsoft has. If they do they will likely receive a very hefty bit of ire like Microsoft has. If not they will be a very clear favorite this generation.
Finally is the price. We don't know any specifics on the prices yet, but it stands to reason that the PS4 and XBOne will be more expensive than the Wii U, but how high they will go is uncertain. Sony claims the PS4 will be not near as expensive as the PS3 was at launch. $500 seems like a reasonable estimate, though some rumors suggest as low as $350 to $400. The XBOne should be about the same price range, possibly a little more expensive due to all the other services embedded in the console.
Taking this all into account, it would seem that Sony will be E3's winner. Having so many 1st party properties to expand on and the fact that they will have the stronger technological footing, even should they take the terrible step of replicating the very features that are souring Microsoft's potential market, that leave the discussion between price and quality of delivery. With the expectation that prices will be similar, and the understanding that there should be a performance benefit for the PS4, Sony is set to have the better post-E3 review than Microsoft.
Nintendo might have a better turnaround. Despite deciding they wouldn't do the big one-hour press conference usually done by the big-3, they are anticipated to have tons of info and demos on games that should be coming out relatively soon (next six to eight months). With how poorly the Wii U has done the last eight months, Nintendo has the most ground to make up and therefore the most potential upside coming out of E3. Again, however, it depends on how they're able to utilize what opportunities they have.
It will be interesting to see what comes out of E3 this year. There could be some shockers, but hopefully we'll get a lot of good news. E3 kicks off Tuesday, June 13.
For gamers and those interested in the gaming industry, June means one thing - E3. It is THE big event of the gaming industry each year. Every few years things get a little more interesting, because the big 3 of the gaming (Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft) industry introduce new hardware.
Well, not always at one E3.
Last year Nintendo started off the new generation of consoles by revealing the Wii U.... and it has barely gone anywhere. It's not all that much better than the Wii in terms of performance, but it is an improvement. They also gave it a new controller, though part of the problem seems to be that few people have an interest in utilizing it. Furthermore, the system seems to be facing the same problem the Wii suffered from in the latter half of its lifetime - a lack of consistent release of quality titles. That's not to say there are no good titles for the system, only that with the amount of time between releases of the AAA titles, with the console not even a year old yet, there isn't going to be a lot in the console sales area for Nintendo until their library gets a bit more depth to it.
Sony took a slightly different tact from the norm in that they chose not to announce their console at E3, but at their own little event back in February dedicated to talking about the upcoming system. They didn't actually show the console, the PS4, itself, but they talked about details including the CPU/GPU powering the system, and showed off a relatively small redesign of the controller. They also teased some of the games planned. But, E3 will be the stage where we'll learn more details such as services and online, see what the actual console looks like, and see more of what games are on the way.
Microsoft followed suit with a reveal of their Xbox One last month. Arguably it has been the subject of more rumors than the PS4, but now most of those questions have been answered. Spec wise it is more powerful than the 360, but will be not quite at the level of the PS4 which looks to be positioned to claim the performance title. So far announced games are about as expected - no real surprises. They redesigned the look of the console (I say it looks like an old Magnavox piece of A/V equipment) and did a bit of reworking on the controller too. There isn't much left unknown about the console right now - except for the games. There was so much other stuff they had to talk about that they hardly mentioned the games during their May reveal event.
So, who will have the best returns at E3? Who will leave with the most excited, anticipatory buzz?
Right now it's likely that Microsoft will bet the most attention - but not likely in a good way. They certainly added a ton of stuff - Blu-Ray player, set-top features, DVR. But they also added some features that have raised a lot of ire. Essentially locking games to the console they are first played on has added a good deal of complication to the idea of simply lending your game to a friend, let alone selling your used game. I tend not to sell my games, but I do tend to buy a good number of used games, so personally I don't like the route they're trying to go. All games have to be installed. They also have a requirement that you have your Xbox One on and connected to the internet at least once every 24-hours so that it can do a check of the system, essentially to confirm that you haven't pirated anything - again an added nuisance. Apparently if that check doesn't happen you can't play any of your games. There are a lot of things about the system that will be very hard for console gamers to swallow, so there will be a lot of discussion about it.
Sony on the other hand has some Wow left to deliver. They will reveal the console itself, which could help generate some buzz, though a question of negative or positive depends on the actual look. There is still a lot of questions on whether Sony will replicate any similar DRM features like those Microsoft has. If they do they will likely receive a very hefty bit of ire like Microsoft has. If not they will be a very clear favorite this generation.
Finally is the price. We don't know any specifics on the prices yet, but it stands to reason that the PS4 and XBOne will be more expensive than the Wii U, but how high they will go is uncertain. Sony claims the PS4 will be not near as expensive as the PS3 was at launch. $500 seems like a reasonable estimate, though some rumors suggest as low as $350 to $400. The XBOne should be about the same price range, possibly a little more expensive due to all the other services embedded in the console.
Taking this all into account, it would seem that Sony will be E3's winner. Having so many 1st party properties to expand on and the fact that they will have the stronger technological footing, even should they take the terrible step of replicating the very features that are souring Microsoft's potential market, that leave the discussion between price and quality of delivery. With the expectation that prices will be similar, and the understanding that there should be a performance benefit for the PS4, Sony is set to have the better post-E3 review than Microsoft.
Nintendo might have a better turnaround. Despite deciding they wouldn't do the big one-hour press conference usually done by the big-3, they are anticipated to have tons of info and demos on games that should be coming out relatively soon (next six to eight months). With how poorly the Wii U has done the last eight months, Nintendo has the most ground to make up and therefore the most potential upside coming out of E3. Again, however, it depends on how they're able to utilize what opportunities they have.
It will be interesting to see what comes out of E3 this year. There could be some shockers, but hopefully we'll get a lot of good news. E3 kicks off Tuesday, June 13.
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