4 Ways Sony’s E3 2017 Conference Was Better Than Microsoft’s

Showcased Extensive Exclusive Library

To many people, the appeal of the Xbox One X relied heavily on the number and quality of exclusives that were revealed at Microsoft’s conference. While Microsoft repeatedly mentioned that titles were exclusive, there was very little on show that could be considered fully exclusive and there were no new AAA first-party IPs introduced.

While we had seen most of the exclusives shown off at the Sony conference before – at shows such as E3 2016 and last year’s PSX – the PlayStation 4’s exclusives line up is plentiful. During Sony’s 60 minute show, we saw God of War, Detroit: Become Human, Spider-Man, Days Gone, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and a Shadow of the Colossus Remaster, many of which will release next year. Even before the show, we saw Knack 2 and Gran Turismo Sport, both of which are scheduled to release later this year. Yes, we knew about most of them before the show started but the sheer number of fantastic looking games is incredible. To strengthen Microsoft’s second half on 2017, they have Crackdown 3, PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds, Tacoma, Cuphead, and Forza Motorsport 7 which will show off the power of the Xbox One X.

However, If you then add The Last of Us Part II, Death Stranding, and Final Fantasy VII Remake (coming first to PS4) to the discussion, Sony has 2018 onwards covered. Aside from State of Decay 2, Sea of Thieves, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Black Desert and some indies including The Last Night and Deep Rock Galactic in early 2018, we do not know what Microsoft has planned for the second half of 2018 onwards in terms of AAA exclusives. Also, the majority of the games mentioned will be playable on PC, and some of them will eventually come to PlayStation 4. When you look at Sony’s list of high profile games from proven first-party developers, all of which cannot be played anywhere other than on PlayStation 4, they are clearly ahead of the competition. Sony focuses on their extensive exclusives line-up to emphasize why you should buy a PlayStation 4 over an Xbox One X, even if the latter is stronger graphically.

Both companies showed a lot of third parties in their conferences as well, suggesting they’ll both be leaning heavily on them this holiday.

Pre-Show Announcements

So that they didn’t clog up their main E3 conference, Sony decided to make a number of smaller announcements during their pre-show. Superhot was revealed for PlayStation VR; Matterfall, Housemarque’s next game, was given a release date, as was Knack 2, and Gran Turismo Sport was also confirmed to still be releasing this year. Undertale was revealed for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita and the next game from the developers of Until Dawn, Hidden Agenda, was revealed.

It is surprising that some of these weren’t saved for the main show, especially the Undertale announcement, but it quickly built hype for the main show. If Sony were revealing this kind of news in the pre-show, what did they have for the main event? Getting viewers excited in the minutes before the main conference is great preparation.

Flow of the Presentation and On-stage Style

Over the past two years, with PSX and E3 2016, Sony has shown that they know how to put on a great show. At E3 2016, we were treated to a conference that was entirely scored by a live orchestra, adding an extra dimension to the stunning game reveals we were being treated to. This year, the show began with more live music and a light/water show that weaved patterns on the stage, building the atmosphere for the Uncharted: The Lost Legacy clip that began the show. During the Days Gone demo, zombie corpses dangled above the stage as the game’s protagonist pushed through some in the gameplay clip. These small design choices made the conference feel more like a real show in the dramatic sense, than a series of short videos. A significant amount of thought had clearly gone into every moment of the show. Microsoft did also show some on-stage flair, with moments such as the reveal of the new Porsche that will debut in Forza Motorsport 7, but the way they were presented as their own sections of the show took away from the flow of the game announcements.

However, Sony’s additions never took away from the flow. Trailers and gameplay clips came one after another with very few breaks. Only twice did Shawn Layden interrupt proceedings to introduce a game and it never felt forced or unwelcome. Fans want to see the games in action and, thankfully, Sony seem to understand that.

Surprises

E3 2016 has become famous for the barrage of surprises Sony threw at viewers. God of War, the return of The Last Guardian, the reveal of Insomniac’s Spider-Man game, and more – there were more shocks than anyone could have expected. This year, people have been disappointed by the lack of unannounced first-party exclusives, which is understandable, but that does not mean there weren’t any surprises.

At Microsoft’s conference, the main surprises were Player Unknown Battlegrounds coming first to Xbox One and the reveal of Ori and the Will of the Wisps, as well as some release dates for smaller games, but they were all things that people saw coming sooner rather than later. While there weren’t many, the surprises at Sony’s conference were things that very few people expected. A Shadow of Colossus Remake, looking as beautiful as it does, was a complete shock. Then, smaller announcements, such as Skyrim coming to PlayStation VR, were also surprises. Also, with Microsoft having to focus on introducing the Xbox One X, Sony was able to focus entirely on showing off their games. Sony continued their style of interweaving popular titles and surprises at the conference.