Pre E3 Xbox One and Playstation 4 Press Conference Review.

Due to some issues with the mailing service between Gamefly and my P.O. box at school I'm pushing back my first game review as well as changing it to Naughty Dog's "The Last of Us" so be on the look out for that. In the mean time with E3 coming up this Monday, I figured I would talk about my opinions on Sony and Microsoft's Press Conferences earlier this year so with that said let's get started.

First up we'll talk about Sony's press conference and the revealing of the Playstation 4.

Playstation 4

What I liked: 

- Interesting features such as having recording and streaming capabilities within the system as well as the social interactivity.
When I saw this I was very excited about because I have always personally been interesting in doing this but lacked the equipment. I also found the concept of having friends help with or being able to help someone during their game as well as the ability to do instant live streaming.

- Saw a good variety of games and some gameplay.
 I was really happy with this aspect of the conference especially with the reveal of Infamous: Second Sons as well as Diablo 3's appearance on the Playstation consoles.

- Implication of backwards compatibility.
 While Sony's method of backwards compatibility isn't the method that we have all grown accustomed to in previous generations I do think that is a very innovative and well thought out system. Allowing people to play games from older consoles like the playstation one. I believe that even if they make us all buy the games again as long as it is at a reduced cost then it has a really good chance to be very well received.

-Demonstration of a game on the console

I very much so appreciated seeing some games being played on the PS4. I'm glad we got to see some of  Knack played live (both on the Ps4 and on the Vita.)

What I didn't like: 

- Didn't see a price range though this is understandable as they were probably waiting for microsoft to hop on that grenade first or waiting until E3 or later before they start talking price.

Other than that though there really isn't anything I didn't like in the conference. I feel like we saw what matters. We saw the games and some gameplay, the controller, and what features they have in mind for the system. Some people would say that they wanted to see the console but personally I don't care what it looks like as long as it's not a clunky microwave of a console and to be honest even then I'd probably still buy it for a decent price. That is not to say that I don't care about the way it will look but in my opinion as long as it plays games I think I'll be find with most likely not care about the appearance of the console.

What I would like to see (at E3 or otherwise.)

- Some more games, not cinematic trailers but actual gameplay trailers or gameplay for some of the games already talked about for the console.

I say the cinematic trailer thing because this is just something that has always bothered me about game advertising. They show us a game with a really cool cinematic trailer and then I get excited for it and when it is released I find out the gameplay for the game is not really anything like I saw or in Bioshock Infinite's case, it puts more emphasis on things or enemies that aren't that prevalent in the actual game. This isn't to say I don't enjoy a cinematic trailer or two but the trailer I really want to see at a game conference is a gameplay trailer. Show me what I'm getting.

-Price

 I would really like for both Sony and Microsoft to go ahead and announce a general price range of some sorts for the consoles so I can get my wallet ready to take that hit in the Fall.

- Show the console

I know I said above that I don't really care what it looks like but I am still curious about the look of it.

So with that out of the way now let's go ahead and talk about Microsoft's Conference.

Xbox One

What I liked: 

-Saw the console

Again while appearance isn't the thing I'm most worried about with a console I do have to say the Xbox One's design to me was pretty nice. I've seen and heard a lot of people say that it looks like a VCR but thought it looked pretty slick and slim and I liked the overall appearance of it.

-Interesting Features

Say what you want to about the conference's lack of games but you have to admit the features they did show were a bit interesting. They've been introducing a more Windows like look to the Xbox Dashboard for a while now so I found it interesting to see how they are implementing the Windows 8 features into the Xbox One. The Cable and Skype features were also a bit interesting to see as well.

What I didn't like:

- The Conference

Now with E3 around the corner from Microsoft's conference the direction they choose to take is an understandable one but with the day and time that they set the conference for I feel that only hardcore gamers, people will be looking into getting this console when it comes out,  would be the people who would try to watch a video game conference on a Tuesday in the middle of a work day. I felt it leaned too much towards the direction of being more of a pitch for the system rather than them trying to sell me it. 

- Lack of games shown

For me showing me a game doesn't mean showing me a cinematic trailer. (look above at the "What I didn't like section of PS4) Cinematic Trailers should serve the purpose of announcing of a series and even then I really just overall prefer to see more gameplay trailers. But either way Microsoft had a significant lack of games shown with only Forza, Call of Duty and Quantum Break having shown. Even though this goes in a later section I am looking forward to seeing more of the 15 exclusive titles, that they said they have coming for the Xbox One, at E3.

- Used games policy

This was talked about not at the conference but was news that came out afterwards. I think that this is kind of a dumb thing that they are implementing even though I do understand a bit where it is coming from but I still do not like the idea of it though later on in the "What I hope for" section I will talk a bit more about this.

- Lack of backwards compatibility

I don't like this because a lot of people do end up trading in new consoles in order to have the money to upgrade to the next one. I feel like the new console should be everything to do the older console could do and more thereby making the upgrade seem more feasible rather than having to have my 360 and the  Xbox One all plugged in so I can play my games. It also makes me wonder if the only purpose of the 360 will be to play old games and the One will be what they support with all future titles after it's release or if we'll see Microsoft do something similar to Sony with titles being available on both systems for a while. This may be likely as Watch Dogs and Destiny have been said to be on the 360 and the One. 

What I would like to see (at E3 or otherwise):

- Actual gameplay for some games and Microsoft just focusing on games in general

I'm really hoping that Microsoft will really bring their A-game to E3 because after that first press conference I (and I'm sure a lot of people were also) disheartened by the general lack of games. I know a lot of people said they were just trying to get the features and stuff out of the way and that it was "part  one of their conference and E3 is part two." But for a reveal of your next generation console you want to leave people wanting more not make them wonder where the rest of it is at. So at E3 I'm really hoping Microsoft will show me what the One has to offer. 

- Price range

Same thing as with Sony. I just really want to get a feel for the hit that my wallet will take. This could also help decide which one my wallet will take the hit for first. 

- Post E3 feature I would like to see or hear about

Now I have looked into this a bit more and I found somethings I saw as speculation, (I even speculated that I saw the button for it on the controller during the conference) but I would really like to see if the One is going to have the same streaming and recording features as the Playstation. I plan on trying to make video reviews soon and this being implemented into the system so that I don't have to get specialized equipment would be very helpful so for me this will also factor in the decision of my first purchase. 

- Exclusive partnerships 

Sony's partnership with Blizzard caught me by surprise and I was genuinely excited by this. So in response to this I would definitely like to see Microsoft come out and announce a partnership with another company. (although come on it's kind of hard to top Blizzard.) 

In conclusion though there things that got me excited for both systems and conferences and there are things that I would love to see for them both. I'll be writing down more of my opinions on both Sony and Microsoft's (maybe Nintendo if I find out that they are bringing something non-Wii related to the table) after E3. Until then I would love to see some comments pop up on here in the next couple of days with some feedback on the review (or coverage if you prefer.) Thank you for reading.