Xbox One, not PS4, is the hot topic at E3. And for all the wrong reasons

June 12th, 2013, 23:26 Posted By: wraggster

I was sitting at breakfast yesterday morning with one of my favourite games journalists.
He’s a smart man and a talented writer and he faced a problem. He played some Xbox One games, and he bloody loved them.
The problem? Apparently you can’t say anything nice about Xbox One online with invoking the wrath of the internet. An internet of Xbox fans angry – perhaps understandably so – over proposed DRM restrictions.
But sod it, here we go. Xbox One is really bloody good.
Microsoft’s PR strategy to only talk about the games at E3 has backfired. Because everyone is talking about it. They’re talking about nothing but.
And that, if you excuse the hyperbole, is a tragedy. Because yesterday I sat down with Forza 5 and it is one of the best, and most visually stunning, racing games I have ever played.
Ryse? Not my sort of game, but it plays a bit like a hack and slash Call of Duty and works nicely. Quantum Break? A candidate for my game of the show. Killer Instinct? Actually I’ve never liked Killer Instinct. But Project Spark looks nice.
I feel most sorry for the developers of these games, who are eager to talk about their new titles but are left batting away questions about online check-ins and shared game restrictions.
The reality is, if consoles wars are won and lost on games alone (and they often are), then Xbox One won E3.
Its line-up is stunning. It is definitely a games console. And any Microsoft press conference that closes with an exclusive game from the makers of Call of Duty and a new Halo tease, would usually send fans into fits of hysterics.
But Xbox didn’t win E3.
Its cloud gaming vision, although forward facing and well intentioned, has upset its core fans. Perhaps as I type this, Microsoft’s top brass are in deep discussions about a new compromise for gamers. Perhaps it is busy talking to publishers. Perhaps it is busy coming with a better PR strategy.
And if that’s the case, then just say so. Maybe then gamers can relax a bit and discover what a lovely little machine Xbox One is shaping up to be.

And journalists will feel more confident in telling the world about what it does right.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/opini...easons/0117105

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