E3 2017 · 11:00am Jun 9th, 2017
On the eve of E3 2017, let's look back at what was undoubtedly the biggest mic drop in the history of the expo; Jack Tretton's closing remarks during Sony's keynote of E3 2013.
Following announcement after announcement after announcement of DRM restrictions on Xbox One in the name of features like Family Sharing, people came to E3 2013 angry. They wanted answers why Microsoft was willing to treat honest consumers like software pirates.
Enter Jack Tretton, then-preseident of Playstation's US division, who came on stage at the end of E3, and simply stated "PS4 won't restrict used games. You have the rights to the resale of your disc. It doesn't need to be connected online to play. It won't require online authentication."
He had to pause after every sentence to wait for the applause to die down. Every. Sentence. With that, he and Sony had effectively won E3 2013. Jack had figuratively dropped the mic that night, and literally dropped one during a smaller interview the next day.
I bring this up because Microsoft has been struggling lately, both during E3 week and elsewhere. One month after E3, Microsoft took the hint, and dropped the Family Sharing functionality, along with all DRM restrictions on physical media, both used and new. But the damage had been done. Before E3, Microsoft game exec Adam Orth insulted Xbox users on Twitter when they brought up concerns surrounding the upcoming console's DRM. He resigned from Microsoft following a firestorm of criticism. Likewise, Don Mattrick, who also attempted to defend the always-on nature of the XB1, resigned from Microsoft shortly before they announced that all DRM restrictions were being lifted ahead of release. But to date, the PS4 has decimated its rival, selling 55.9 million units to date to the XB1's 28.7 million units.
Fortunes seemed to improve next summer at E3 2014 after the console had been in consumer hands for seven months. They announced backwards compatibility and the Master Chief Collection, to widespread praise. Backwards compatibility went much more smoothly than the MCC, which had the most disastrous launch in the history of the Halo franchise. The year after that was Halo 5. The year after that was the Xbox One S.
This year it's Project Scorpio, the Xbox One's "mid-cycle upgrade" and Microsoft's answer to Sony's Playstation 4 Pro. They are claiming it will be the most powerful console in history.
I'm going to go ahead and predict that Microsoft doesn't have what it takes to make me want Scorpio. Halo 6 has been confirmed to be a no-show at the show this year, and 343 has been botching Halo so bad lately that I haven't purchased a Halo game since November 2015. I won't predict a winner yet, but Sony has a headstart, and nearly double the install base. And even now that my sights are dead-set on building a stronger gaming PC, I’m still wanting a PS4 for the likes of Horizon Zero Dawn and Last of Us 2.
Let's see what Saturday-Thursday brings.
4565674
Nintendo’s keynote will be on Tuesday at 9 am.
And if their press release is to be believed, only 30 minutes long.
4565735
I doubt it, I believe that’s LA local time, Pacific.
E3 Schedule
Most major gaming sites offer live E3 coverage, a metric fuckton of news articles, and daily recaps.
I always laugh at this one:
How to share games on PS4.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWSIFh8ICaA
I don't really care about console announcements TBH. My Xbox One might not be the newest model, but it serves me well regardless. I'm more excited for whatever Terry Crews is doing, since he said a couple months ago he had an announcement planned for E3. Hopefully some Dishonored 2 DLC as well, other than that, nothing's peaked my interests.
Did you see Devolver Digital's conference?
4580286
I did not. E3 overall was rather lackluster this year.
4580294
"Tomorrow's Unethical Business Practices Today"