Bethesda kicked off the first of three days of press conferences at E3 last night with a stellar showcase thats going to be hard to follow. But through the years, the biggest press events of the show have always been from the console manufacturers, not the game publishers, and for the last decade or so, that means Microsoft MSFT -1.05%, Sony and Nintendo .
With Nintendo bowing out of the stage show game, and turning E3 into a carnival of sorts from their Treehouse to the Nintendo World Championships, that leaves Sony and Microsoft going head to head, year after year. Today, both companies have their press events, and two years into this new gen console war that pits the PS4 against the Xbox One, both have a lot to prove.
Microsoft is up first, and though the Xbox One has always been decently far behind the PS4 in terms of sales since launch, the console has come a long way since its (rather disastrous) launch, and the mistakes of E3 2013. Heres what Microsoft needs to do this morning to best Sony, and ensure the Xbox One continues its years-long comeback.
Master Chief to the Rescue
Microsoft has an ace in their pocket this fall in the form of Halo 5: Guardians, a huge exclusive that has remained on the calendar while Sony has delayed Uncharted 4 and Nintendo has pushed back The Legend of Zelda. Its without question their biggest exclusive since launch, and will likely be their biggest exclusive since well, the next Halo game.
Microsoft needs to show an absolute ton of footage from Halo 5 today, which they undoubtedly will, but they also have to reassure consumers that the days of Halo: The Master Chief Collection are behind them, meaning, this game will actually work at launch. Another lengthy beta ahead of the launch is a great idea, and is absolutely necessary both to show off the game and to stress test it. The single most important thing Microsoft and 343 need to do is ensure the game works on launch day. No matter how good it may end up being, everything will be pointless if they drop the ball again. The Master Chief Collection should have been one of their greatest assets in fall 2014, but it ended up being one of the worst launches in all of gaming history. That cannot repeat itself this year.
Rise of the Marcus Fenix
Microsoft famously paid Epic Games a boatload of money to retain the rights to the Gears of War series as an Xbox exclusive. Its been long enough now where fans are starting to get antsy about when a new game in the series will actually debut, and E3 2015 seems as good a time as ever to announce a new Gears of War game.
Gears of War was the series that pushed the Xbox 360 to its graphical limit with each new installment, and Gears 4 could hopefully do the same for the Xbox One which could help break its long-running narrative of being underpowered. And after watching the gore-soaked DOOM get cheers last night at Bethesdas presser, a gorgeous, gory Gears game would undoubtedly see similar praise at E3. This is essentially Microsofts second-in-command series after Halo, and we shouldnt have to wait three or more years to hear about a new installment coming out. Now that Uncharted 4 has moved to 2016, Microsoft needs a heavy hitter to compete with it, and Gears of War should be that game.
The Bear and the Bird
Im frankly amazed that nothing official has been leaked about a new Banjo-Kazooie game, because its hard to imagine we get through today without one being announced. Microsoft has dropped an absolutely insane amount of hints that a new Banjo-Kazooie game is coming, and the time seems ripe considering most of the original team just broke crowdfunding records for Yooka-Laylee, the spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie.
Of course, Microsoft is Microsoft, and therefore has a mountain of cash to sink into the property, meaning at worst they can compete with Yooka-Laylee and at best, they can crush it completely. But an indie-quasi-reboot isnt their biggest foe. The return of Ratchet and Clank on PS4 should be their main target, and there is so much nostalgia love for Banjo-Kazooie that its all practically gift-wrapped for them. But the fact that much of the original Banjo team is working on Yooka could be a problem, and theyre going to need to deliver the experience, not just the name, for Banjo-Kazooie to return to its former glory.
The King of AR and VR
Microsoft now has the ability to pitch themselves as the company of the future when it comes to both VR and AR, something that Sony will have a harder time boasting. Microsoft has already debuted the HoloLens as a significant new piece of tech that could certainly use many Xbox elements when it finally makes it to market. And just this past week, Microsoft announced a significant partnership with Facebooks Oculus, revealing the Xbox One as a default input for the unit, and pitching the ability to stream Xbox One games to the Rift (albeit in a weird virtual theater).
Both of these things add up to Microsoft having the potential to be competitive in the game-related goggles on face scene thats about to explode in 2016, if not sooner with Valves Vive release in 2015. Theyre hitched to the biggest VR player around, and are the most significant AR game in town. They have to link both of these more strongly to the Xbox One directly, and form a relationship that both are experienced best with the One adding value in your living room. This is especially key given that Sony has the Morpheus in their pocket, which may end up running on the PS4 directly, something likely not to be true about the Oculus/HoloLens and the Xbox One.
A Slimmer Console
After two years, its time to unveil a less overweight Xbox One model. We already know that the original Xbox One is getting a $50 price cut permanently, and the new $400 one is getting a 1TB hard drive, but we havent heard about a slimdown yet.
Since launch, the Xbox One hasnt exactly been the console thats winning any beauty contests, and now is the time to reveal a sleek redesign. I would have like to see a price cut paired with a larger hard drive, but considering where we were two years ago with a $500 system forcibly bundled with Kinect, at least Microsoft is moving in the right direction. A slim system is a logical next step, and I hope to see one today.
Well see how this all plays out in a few hours, and Ill have some keys for how Sony can beat Microsoft later today.
