Xbox One
This was supposed to be the big one. After the controversy of their reveal conference, Microsoft probably had the biggest point to prove out of all the other three companies showing today. With doom and gloom surrounding their policies on used games, its DRM and a slew of other bad ideas trickling down from the Microsoft HQ had them really desperate for a win. Unfortunately, any illusion that they had one earlier in the day, have now been blown away. That is not to say that they made up some ground vital ground. After the reveal, Microsoft promised games and they certainly delivered on that front. Starting with a Metal Gear Solid V trailer before even speaking a word really stated their intent. Inviting Hideo Kojima onto the stage to talk about a series that has been notoriously synonymous with the Playstation was certainly a dig at Sony, and one that made people sit back and notice. After that start, the games kept pouring in and they didn't stop to talk about TV, Movies, Kinect or Internet browsing once. That is pretty much a first for Microsoft, and it will have gained brownie points for the company. A baffling but intriguing Halo trailer, a pretty quicktime event heavy but really gorgeous Ryse: Son of Rome, the really intriguing Sunset Overdrive and the conceptually interesting Titanfall all fell into our laps and kept me intrigued througout. Yeah, it didn't do a lot to shake the stigma of a shooter heavy console that panders to young men, but lots of the stuff they showed could certainly have a big market. I said going into the conference I would be happy with unity and at least some interest in games as art. That was asking a lot of the company that we associate with young teenaged boys, Halo and Call of Duty. However, Below and Project Spark certainly caught my eye, and I am very eager to learn about more. While neither are a console seller, their implications could be massive, really allowing for that degree of creativity that we crave as gamers. It wasn't totally stellar but it was a conference the gamers asked for. For anyone looking for anything new and exciting, they probably wouldn't see it here, but they definitely showed games and plenty of them. It was certainly more consistent than Sony's conference in my mind, but it also failed to reach anywhere near the same highs. On any other day, Microsoft could have been happy. But unfortunately for them this happened...