One of the biggest conversations among gamers during E3 this week is the battle between Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4. More accurately, those discussions have centered on the fact that Sony scored the easiest victory in the latest console war on Monday. Its winning strategy? Not screwing up its PS4 reveal. I hope Microsoft was taking notes.
By offering users the opportunity to swap games freely and purchase used titles without restrictions—revealed to be impossibilities for owners of Microsoft’s new device—Sony won over no small amount of Xbox loyalists. The fact that Sony’s new system will cost $100 less than Microsoft’s certainly helped matters.
I’ve been a proud Microsoft gamer since the summer of 2003, when the release of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic inspired me to purchase the original Xbox. Over the years, and with the release of the exceptional Xbox 360, I’ve grown to love many of Microsoft’s exclusive franchises like Halo and Gears of War, never once feeling the urge to hop the fence and see what the PS3 had to offer.
Consider that fence hopped. With the PS4, I’m a PlayStation guy.
Between the aforementioned restrictions to the inherent creepiness of having the Kinect camera on at all times to the system’s reported need to connect to the Internet every 24 hours, I just don’t see the value in supporting the Xbox One at this time. Hopefully, Microsoft resolves the glaring issues with its new console, if only to level the playing field before both systems hit retail this fall. Right now, it’s looking like a landslide.
By offering users the opportunity to swap games freely and purchase used titles without restrictions—revealed to be impossibilities for owners of Microsoft’s new device—Sony won over no small amount of Xbox loyalists. The fact that Sony’s new system will cost $100 less than Microsoft’s certainly helped matters.
I’ve been a proud Microsoft gamer since the summer of 2003, when the release of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic inspired me to purchase the original Xbox. Over the years, and with the release of the exceptional Xbox 360, I’ve grown to love many of Microsoft’s exclusive franchises like Halo and Gears of War, never once feeling the urge to hop the fence and see what the PS3 had to offer.
Consider that fence hopped. With the PS4, I’m a PlayStation guy.
Between the aforementioned restrictions to the inherent creepiness of having the Kinect camera on at all times to the system’s reported need to connect to the Internet every 24 hours, I just don’t see the value in supporting the Xbox One at this time. Hopefully, Microsoft resolves the glaring issues with its new console, if only to level the playing field before both systems hit retail this fall. Right now, it’s looking like a landslide.
