Alright let's get this out of the way, Sony completely blew Microsoft out of the building with their press conference. There, it's done and there's nothing anyone can do about it. It was completely clear that by the end of the conference Sony is going into the next generation with the most support and favor because they did everything they were suppose to do to gain the trust of the gaming community today. They addressed the issue of used games with full support, that they weren't gonna infringe on game ownership and there no restrictions on the sale of used games. No online access is required and it will stay within the traditional model, so basically everything Microsoft said they want to do with the Xbox One that involves used games and online access, they just said the opposite. It was pretty easy and kind of obvious if you think about, considering Sony released a nice tutorial on how they're gonna handle used games just moments before they even had their press conference. Last but not least, the PS4 is announced to be priced at an affordable $399. Comparing that to Microsoft's $499 will probably help a lot of people narrow down their choice. Now that that's done, let's dive into my favorite thing about the Sony press conference and probably the next most important reason they're ahead of Microsoft, the games. One of the best tactics to get your customers excited about your next gen console is to dangle highly anticipated games that haven't been announced or even mentioned for years in their faces, and that's exactly what Sony did. Sony just reached into their magic hat at the perfect time, just as their about to release their next gen console, and gave gamers a taste of what they've been craving for. Let's go over the biggest announcements that rocked my world and many others during the Sony conference, the new trailer for Final Fantasy XV and the debut trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3. Two highly acclaimed titles that have been in the works for years, but gamers have been kept in the dark about any possible release till now. I grew up on the Final Fantasy series so it will always have a special place in my heart, the announcement of re-emergence of Final Fantasy XV helped revitalized my passion for that franchise and is already making the PS4 a must-buy for me. Not to mention that the insanely detailed character models, immensely beautiful fantasy setting, and high octane cinematography of the trailer can leave you breathless. It's a world full of wonder and mystery that just leaves a lasting impression on my and I can't wait to dive into the world that they've created. The Kingdom Hearts 3 debut trailer was short and bittersweet, to be honest. It's been almost 8 years since the release of the Kingdom Hearts 2 and just the idea that Kingdom Hearts 3 is in the works will get any fan of the series giddy with excitement. Sadly, the actual trailer was lackluster to say the least and only left doubts that the game isn't even close to any reasonable release at this point in time. Honestly though as a fan of the series, I'm just glad that we finally have something to look forward to and I'm hopeful that they'll try to keep us informed on the progress. Now that I'm done showing my love for Square Enix, let's move on to some of the interesting original IPs that were shown. To remind players that awesome games are still coming out soon, Sony showed off a lengthy trailer of Beyond : Two Souls which is set to release October 8th, and it looks great. I'm kind of a sucker for action sequences and this trailer certainly didn't disappoint. Add great voice work to the mix and Ellen Page beating the snot out of people, and I'm sold. Next up on the list of games that contains plenty of fists flying and heart pounding action, we have Infamous : Second Son. It carries on the tradition that having super powers can be pretty fun. Even though the trailer only shows our main character shooting fire and lighting up everyone in sight, I'm sure there'll be more interesting ways to use your powers in the full game so there's something to look forward to. The facial animations in the trailer look really well done and it helps that the overall tone seems pretty laid back thanks to nice voice work from Troy Baker, who seems to be passed around the industry a lot. It's definitely gonna be sleeper hit once the console launches. Something that I appreciated was the short showcase of indie titles that Sony is gonna release on the PS4. Even though some of them were well-known and popular indie hits on PC already, like Don't Starve and Octodad, it was a breath of fresh air to see indie developers in the spotlight at such a mediacentric event like an E3 press conference. I also can't forget Transistor from SuperGiant Games, the creators of Bastion. I really enjoyed the style of Bastion, from the music to the solid gameplay, so I'm hoping they can create a better experience with Transistor. Plenty of other multi-platform titles were showed off like Arkham Origins, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flags, and Destiny but I'm sure you'll hear plenty about those as E3 continues on and their release dates draw closer and closer. Sony was able to end their conference on a high note and from the looks of it, this high might last all the way to holiday season.

It's Day 1 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo and Microsoft gets the opportunity to start off strong with the first press conference of the show. There's been plenty of build up and anticipation for what Microsoft will show off at E3 since their reveal of the Xbox One over 2 weeks ago, and I've been hoping for plenty of news about those games that people have been clamoring for. As far as first impressions go, it definitely was a lackluster affair and not nearly as exciting as I had hoped. Let's dive into the nitty gritty and sift through some the mess that is the Microsoft press conference then. Let's start off with the announcement that a new model of the Xbox 360 is being released as of today that's based off the Xbox One design. They really got that modern cable box look of the Xbox One down, but no announcement of a price change to go with it makes me think that if you haven't gotten an Xbox already, you're not gonna get rush out to get this one either Now if you know anything about the gaming industry, you understand that games are what sells a console and the next generation is no different. Microsoft started off reminding everyone of some of the 360 titles still set to release soon like Dark Souls 2 as a way to keep people interested in the current gen still, but the real meat of the games were on the Xbox One. Right away, I'm gonna have to just mention the Metal Gear Solid 5 : Phantom Pain trailer even though it's not an Xbox exclusive. I've been a Metal Gear fan since the Playstation era so needless to say, I was really excited to see some actual gameplay of Kojima's next blockbuster. The game looks visually stunning running off the new FOX engine with some impressive lighting and weather effects shown through out the trailer while all being done within an open world. The usual Kojima theatrics are there that people have grown to love, highlighting a few corny dialogue, Bond-esque music and storytelling that looks as outrageous as any other Metal Gear Solid title. If only they would give us a release date for it already. If you know anything about Microsoft and the Xbox then you know that there's always something that involves Halo around the corner, and this conference wasn't any different. A short teaser featuring the beloved Master Chief was shown off during the conference and more hype involving their announced live-action series involving Steven Spielberg. With that awe inspiring news aside, I'm gonna get into what I was really interested in, the new games. Let's start with Ryse, a third-person action title that was originally suppose to be released as a Kinect only title but they apparently decided to let you use a controller now. I couldn't possibly imagine how painstakingly awkward this game would have turned out as Kinect only. It's best to stick to what work sometimes. From the gameplay trailer they released, Ryse is definitely looking for a strong cinematic approach to their gameplay. It might not look very innovative for a next gen title, but the visuals and cinematography of the first moments of the trailer left an impression on me. It looked like a world that I wanted to dive into and experience. Hopefully they'll polish up the gameplay a bit and keep the combat interesting throughout the game cause I'm really hoping this one becomes a real solid release title. New IPs are usually the highlight of these conferences since new things are shiny and makes me want them for no apparent reason, and Microsoft showed off a few that really shined bright in my eyes. Sunset Overdrive is an Xbox One exclusive from Insomniac Games that shows no gameplay at all, but I can't help but want it all over my body. It's a short one minute trailer that shows off characters with a Team Fortress 2-styled charm bashing and shooting the heads off of pink zombie-like monsters while they jumped, sprinted, and traversed in flashy fashion through a colorful downtown setting. It has a vibrant visual art style that's bright, colorful and makes the world feel like a playground. If anything, you can definitely say that it looks fun. Check out the trailer to see what I mean. Project Spark! looks like really interesting as a Build-Your-Own-Game kind of thing going on there. It shows off tons of features that lets you control and implant different mechanics into objects to affect how they react in the world. It looks like hours of fun can be had just experimenting with the features they were able to show off, so I would love to see more about that one. There were also more titles like Dead Rising 3, Quantum Break, and Forza 5 but those didn't really show off enough for me to get too excited about them yet. I would mention Titanfall more but it's not an exclusive so I'm not gonna limit to talking about it here. Microsoft was able to show off more games like they promised this time around, but there really wasn't enough to get me excited about their next gen console yet. Many of the games they showcased weren't even exclusives, so it doesn't really help push gamers to pick the Xbox One over anything else really. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what Sony has up their sleeves.

In the aftermath of Microsoft's highly anticipated reveal of their next generation console, the Xbox One, the internet erupted with plenty of criticism and animosity, to say the least. From beginning to end, Microsoft stuck to their idea of selling the Xbox One as not just a gaming console, but an all-purpose multimedia device that can be a perfect fit for any living room. Highlighting many key features that focus on activities such as television, sports, and movies; that will give people of all facets of life an outlet to all of their favorite pastimes. It was an interesting showcase of the possibilities that the Xbox One can bring to our lives, but some can agree that gaming was taking a backseat during this presentation. There's one thing that everyone can agree with that Microsoft has an advantage over Sony in, they showed off the actual console. Personally, I think it's a simple and sleek design, a nice looking device that you can just stick somewhere in your living room with a very practical setup. I've heard people poke fun at the size, but really it doesn't look bigger than the original Xbox and the design isn't as ridiculous looking. Besides, it's not like you're gonna stick the thing in the middle of your living room as a centerpiece so that your friends and family can marvel at how neat it looks. In the end, the most important part of a machine is what it brings to the table. Microsoft used up most of their time focusing on the many features that involve instant access to all the different media at your disposal to the inclusion of Skype, which seems to be an easier way of communicating than previous Live features to me. Everything was interesting from a gaming console standpoint but that's really all it was.... just interesting. All these features have been around in one form or another for years now, so coming from a person who's currently typing on his own personal computer that can technically use all these features, this wasn't exactly mind-blowing technology. Aside from all that though, the real meat of the discussion when it comes to the Xbox One is the introduction of "Living Games technology", the issue of pre-owned games and whether the Xbox One is always online or not. Let's dive into what we know. The Xbox One will feature this so called, "Living Games Technology" that will allow your games to be updated constantly whether you're playing it or not and it can affect your video game world. Next thing is that the Xbox One won't be always online in the sense that you're required to have an internet access to actually use the device, like with SimCity or Diablo 3. Microsoft has also stated that Xbox One games will be bound to your individual Xbox accounts but there will be a system in place to allow the sale of your games. There's no details yet to how they actually plan to do this but with that being said, it seems obvious that for Microsoft to actually implement these features that they would require you to allow them access to your console on a consistent basis. The internet would most likely be the best option for this but the idea of carrier pigeons sending people consent forms and used games vouchers has crossed my mind. The idea that Microsoft is constantly gaining access to your console can be a bit scary, but that's just the paranoia talking. Things being always connected aren't new in this day and age so there's always that possibility of maybe someone's using your technology against you, but that's what countermeasures are for. If you're just barely grabbing your tinfoil hats and coat hangers now, then most likely the world has found you already. Hopefully once E3 rolls around we'll actually get some more details regarding this mystery console cause honestly, I still have no idea how the damn thing works.

For those of you that might not know, E3 is less than a week away and the internet is still buzzing with anticipation for what the Big 3; Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, will showcase at this year's expo. With all the bits and pieces that Microsoft and Sony tossed out about their next generation consoles and Nintendo's constant stream of Nintendo Direct videos to give fans a taste of what's to come, there's plenty of things to look forward to this year no matter what side of the console spectrum you're on. Since the reveal of the Xbox One, most of the focus has been on the next generation consoles and gamers can't wait to find out the all important details regarding prices, a release date and their favorite video games but I'm suspecting that we won't be seeing those gameplay demos that people have been clamoring for anytime soon when it comes to the next generation of gaming. While I do expect plenty of beautiful looking graphics and gameplay concepts to showcase the power of the consoles, I'm pretty sure that those will be just for show and never actually make its way into an actual game. What I DO expect though is lots of information about is all the anticipated games that are set to release before the end of the year. As exciting as the next gen consoles are, there are still tons of games that are releasing on your current consoles and E3 is gonna be a huge reminder of how many awesome games are still set to come out this year. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flags South Park: The Stick of Truth Grand Theft Auto V Pokemon X and Pokemon Y Watch Dogs Splinter Cell: Blacklist ...... and those are just some of the ones that have been given an actual release date! Seriously, I can live off just those games alone for a whole year AFTER the next gen consoles are released. There's still the new Call of Duty: Ghosts, which wouldn't surprise me if it was released this year to keep up with their traditional yearly release. More information will probably be released regarding Elder Scrolls Online, Dragon Age III: Inquisition, Battlefield 4, Killer is Dead, Pikmin 3, Batman: Arkham Origins, Destiny, the yearly sports titles, and plenty of other games. I also expect waves of Nintendo games coming to the 3DS and the Wii U soon, and don't forget all the new IPs that we were promised. It is just insane. There is so much going on that people shouldn't even have to think about the next gen consoles yet, in my opinion. Still, it's an exciting time for gaming when consoles start coming out and I'm just looking forward to the new interesting ways gaming can evolve from the hardware itself. I know a lot of attention have been drawn towards all the news about the next generation consoles, but people also need to remember to take a step back once and awhile so you really take in everything that's going on this year. On that note, Animal Crossing: New Leaf.... June 9th..... I'm way more excited about this game than I should be honestly, but it just touches that part of me inappropriately. Better grab that 3DS or Vita, if you're into that sort of thing, cause E3 is gonna be one hell of a ride.