E3 Thoughts

I was at a conference for work, so I didn't get to see any of the big presentations - mostly, I just read up on articles when able.  It reminds me of the Luna song, Slide - "noho's got the boots, soho's got the crack, new england has the foliage but I'm not going back".

Xbox One had better games, but a disasterous PR effort.

Nintendo had nothing to even convince me to think about entertaining the notion of possibly buying a Wii-U anytime soon.

Sony got a huge lift by catering to the voice of the internet and taking some well played shots against Microsoft.

I went ahead and preordered both the XBone and the PS4.  I feel there is still much information that will come out between now and then - and a proper decision cannot be made at this point.  With that, I intend to cancel both, cancel one or maybe even keep both, who knows.  In the end, I just wanted to take a precaution to be able to ensure that I don't get caught in a manufactured shortage to drive demand (ie, the 360 launch).  Sony's talking a big game, with their Amazon launch systems (the ones guaranteed for release day delivery) already being exhausted.  I didn't see that option when I ordered mine, so I guess there's a chance I'll get caught in a backorder situation.

The used game talk doesn't bother me.  However, it clearly bothers others a great deal.  My main worry is that while the publishers seem to be friendly to the XBone, it certainly has a lot of work to do to sway public opinion.  To that end, will publishers abandon the platform 12-24 months in, leaving the PS4 as the de facto console?  Could be.

I have a sneaking feeling that Microsoft is going to do a large campaign soon basically saying "you spoke, we listened" and address the concerns or FUD that is swirling around.  I mean, that would be the logical approach to take.   It just seems that Microsoft is making it more difficult for gamers.  Even if we bought into the used game system, having to go to a participating retailer to then have them do their voodoo is very inconvenient - and most likely will lead to artificially high prices of both new and used titles.  Meanwhile, I can take the same game on PS4, list it on EBay, get my paypal and mail it out that day.   That just translates into a very lopsided customer experience and one that Microsoft will need to even out if they have any hope of success this generation.