4 Microsoft E3 Announcements That Could Give Them The Upper Hand

Low Price For Scorpio

Of course, it goes without saying that Microsoft will focus on it’s newest hardware, The Scorpio. Many of the games that are demonstrated on-stage during their conference will most likely be played on The Scorpio, as well as cutscenes, battles, and the like. A price is not yet known for this machine that promises to be one of the most, if not the most, advanced gaming console of our time.

With some fans predicting a price closer to $600 and above, if The Scorpio does have a price point much higher than the PS4 Pro, many who may have been looking to add the console to their collections may wait or won’t pick it up at all. However, if their price for the powerhouse is more in line with what game analyst, Michael Patcher has in mind, Scorpio may be at $399. If it is only $399, it will be sitting at the same MSRP as the PS4 Pro which, at this point, would be The Scorpio’s main competition in the console world. 

New, Exclusive IP’s

Admittedly, PlayStation has been dominating the early part of this year with their exclusive titles, many of which could already be contenders for Game Of The Year. While Sony has released hit after hit, with Horizon: Zero Dawn and Persona 5 just to name a few, Microsoft may have to win gamers back with some promising new IP’s, especially after canceling titles such as Fable Legends as well as the drama involving Scalebound.

Last year we got ReCore, which only stands at a 63% on Metacritic, and Quantum Break, which performed much better but still fell below expectations. As for franchises, so far all that is rumored to be announced is a new Halo title that will not be a sixth installment of Master Chief’s story. If Microsoft can sweeten the deal by offering a handful of good exclusives, those who were considering picking up the PS4 Pro may feel differently when it comes time to throw their money down.

Cuphead Available for Download

Cuphead is one of those games that has been stuck in delay hell. It is also one of those exclusives Microsoft needs right now. Now if you’ve been following this game closely, you should know that it has been officially announced to be coming Mid-2017…but where is it? Maybe in some Microsoft Exec’s back pocket? After all, if math has taught us anything, there are 12 months in a year, 6 is half of 12, and June is the 6th month. Can you hear it now?

The crowd covered in green light screaming wildly as someone on-stage announces that fans can download Cuphead not later this year, not even later this month, but right now. Who knows? Maybe Microsoft fans will be playing Cuphead during the other presentations during E3. After all, of the big three, Microsoft does go first.

VR For All Xbox Consoles

PC has VR, Sony has VR, and even Mac is going to have VR soon with the new iMac Pro. So VR has got to be part of Microsoft’s conference. Naturally, this may only be available on their new Scorpio console, but, and this is a stretch, Microsoft would do a lot of justice to its loyal fans by announcing at E3 that their Xbox One and Xbox One S would also be capable of playing VR. Whether you’re a fan of virtual reality or not, it is here and so far seems to be paving the way to the future of gaming. So to have either a Microsoft or Bethesda team member walk onto the stage sporting a new Microsoft VR Headset playing Fallout 4 AND saying all Xbox and Scorpio owners could do the same? That would be one hell of a way to introduce the new way to play games.

If Microsoft did these four things and more, it would be hard to say they had a disappointing E3, even if you aren’t a fan.