Unless you live under a rock, you've probably heard all about Microsoft's new next gen console, the Xbox One. All personal opinions aside, the Xbox One looks to be a very powerful console that hopes to compete with PC's, Blu-Ray players, web boxes, and your TV in the next generation. But is all of that really necessary? And after what Microsoft gave us two weeks ago in their excuse for a console press conference what can we really expect from their next gen console? Luckily I'm here to help crack this issue wide open and give you some strong predictions for what will happen both at E3 this week and before we see the Xbox One (Night Stand) before it hits shelves in November.
So, for those of you who joined in on the live feed for Microsoft's press conference you may have noticed a sever lack of one thing that every video game console needs, video games. I mean the only thing we really saw was a nice 5 minute long commercial for the new Call of Duty: Ghosts. That's it. Nothing more. And don't even try to bring up the EA Sports thing as an argument for us seeing a video game, because by now we've all filed them under the "not games, just pocket pickers" category. And I know that games are announced, and already have trailers, but we saw nothing in the lines of gameplay. And that is the key to selling a next generation console.
However a distinct lack of games are not my only vocal concerns about what is in store for us. My biggest concerns is an isolation of games altogether in the next generation. Clearly neither the PS4 or Xbox One are being targeted at games specifically, which is a funny thing for a VIDEO GAME CONSOLE. I want to say that one more time. The PS4 and Xbox One are VIDEO GAME CONSOLES. Not home entertainment systems, not a big brother machine, not ET that can't go a day without talking to its mommy, and definitely not a cable box. They're VIDEO GAME CONSOLES. So why the hell are Microsoft and Sony trying to pass them off as more than that? That is a serious mistake. They need to refocus, understand who exactly will be the most likely to buy their console, and focus their marketing toward them. Nintendo did that with the WiiU, and because of that, the WiiU was a huge success.
Microsoft and Sony however are not focusing on the games, even though Sony has claimed that "the PS3 is for video games". This is the same garbage we heard when they announced the current generation, and its the same garbage their giving us now. The only real change that will ever happen is when we, as consumers, those who hold the almighty dollar and decide the fate of the console, decide not to buy into their bullshit and start buying only the console that offers us a video game experience that we want, not the TV experience we don't. That is the only way that we come out ahead.
I will say, the one thing that I do like about the new generation is the ability to take direct screen shots and videos and add them to social media. It allows people with little to no experience in doing this an option for sharing their gameplay experiences with the rest of the world without the use of expensive equipment.
But this week, I'm hopeful, even though it may be foolish. I'm hopeful that Microsoft will get their heads out of their asses and actually give us what we want. Hopeful that Sony has a piece of hardware to give us, and a game to play on it. Hopeful that David Cage finally gets the quality of graphics that he dreams of so that we can put this whole emotion in games bullshit aside. And finally, I'm hopeful that Square Enix won't announce four new games that we'll never see.
Hope this week turns some of this around, but don't hold your breathe. See ya next time!
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