Microsoft kicked off their E3 2017 press conference today with a full-on reveal of the elusive Xbox Scorpio. Officially named the Xbox One X, it’s being touted as the most powerful console ever made, and it’ll play your games in true 4K resolution. Unfortunately, all of that awesomeness will come at the steep price of $499. It’s an expensive console to be sure, but the price isn’t all that surprising. Considering the amount of power that Microsoft’s packed into it (all those teraflops!), $499 definitely falls in the expected price range.
Unfortunately, though, Microsoft’s press conference didn’t really do much to convince gamers of why they should buy the Xbox One X. With the console launching on Nov. 7, it’s only got one exclusive title releasing alongside it: Crackdown 3. A game that Microsoft hasn’t really said much about in the past year, and one that hasn’t gotten that much marketing or public exposure as a result. Forza Motorsport 7 will be One X compatible and releases a month before the One X on Oct. 3, and Assassin’s Creed Origins has been confirmed to have Xbox One X support as well. Out of the three big titles that are releasing during the new console’s launch period, only two are exclusives, and they’re not quite nearly enough to actually sell the system. Exclusives aside, why would anyone wait to buy Assassin’s Creed Origins when they could easily get it on PC or the much cheaper PS4 Pro?
Microsoft’s E3 2017 press conference showed off a lot of game trailers, but there were too few exclusives for the Xbox family, and ultimately, nothing strong enough to really sell the Xbox One X (at that $499 price point, no less) to newcomers who most likely already own a PS4 or a PS4 Pro, or even Xbox One owners who might be hesitant on dropping that kind of cash on a new console upgrade.
The Xbox One X was Microsoft’s centerpiece this E3, and it may indeed be the most powerful console ever created. But, all that power won’t be much use if there isn’t enough interesting and exclusive software to actually convince people to buy it.
As far as Sony goes, it doesn’t look like they’ll have to do much to compete with their rival this year. With Days Gone and God of War confirmed for their E3 2017 lineup, along with whatever surprises Sony has in store for us, Sony seems primed to deliver yet another strong showing this year. CEO Shawn Layden also recently teased us about major Japanese game announcements coming this E3, so we can be sure that there’s plenty of new software to get excited about.
If Sony really wanted to kill the competition, they could even announce a price drop for the PS4 Pro. While the Pro doesn’t offer a native 4K experience or any UHD Blu-ray support, the console is already $100 cheaper than the Xbox One X, and its checkerboard rendering technique helps make your games look almost indistinguishable from the One X’s native 4K resolution. A price drop announcement isn’t even necessary, but it’d definitely help boost the Pro’s popularity even more, and eclipse the new Xbox One X.
All of this is still speculation for now, of course. But, as things stand at the moment, it doesn’t look all that hard for Sony’s E3 2017 press conference to easily top Microsoft’s.
Sony’s conference will be held on June 12, 6pm Pacific Time, or 9pm Eastern Time.
