That’s What She Said: Impressions Of The Microsoft E3 2015 Conference From A Sony Fangirl

This year for E3 I decided to limit myself to watching only two full conferences (mostly because I couldn’t stay up all night and needed to sleep); obviously the Microsoft and Sony ones. As most people on the planet know, I am a diehard Sony fan-girl and so although in the past I would only watch the Microsoft conferences to boo about whatever they were doing (Halo never fails to disappoint) and keep abreast of what the competition was, I would like to think that I know (and at least for the past two or three years) have tried watching them with a measure of objectivity and seeing them as a competitor that helps drive Sony (and the gaming industry) to greater heights.

I cheer along when I see new exclusive IP for the Xbox One (except for Rise of the Tomb Raider because honestly fuck that shit, I will never get over that betrayal from Square Enix) because they still need their TLoU equivalent and I’d like to think I am also pleased for them when they announce something innovative for their hardware. Yes, I have grown in my fan-girlism.

So in I settled, to watch the Microsoft conference; and bam there were punches to my gut even as a somewhat more objective Sony fan-girl than the version I used to be. Back in the Sony camp, we’ve had “backwards compatibility” for a while and use “backwards compatibility” in inverted commas because what we actually have is a subscription service through PlayStation Now where we get to stream and rent (for money) PS3 games to play on our PS4. It’s always been an issue that’s a non-issue because while I berate the unjustness of it all, my PS3 sits next to my PS4 and every time I try to play a PS3 game (mostly Mass Effect) I cry because the graphics are so bad and I so desperately want BioWare to make a re-master (I do forgive them though for focusing on Mass Effect Andromeda instead as that looks like it is going to change my life). So in short, I really have no need for backwards compatibility. That said though, Microsoft announcing a true backward compatibility where you can literally just put your Xbox 360 disc into your Xbox One and it works is mind blowing (obviously more mind blowing is that this is all free on Xbox One).

That was followed by the announcement of the Xbox One Elite controller, which basically made it look like you get to customise your controller into doing whatever the fuck you want (not sure if it actually works this way). In hindsight I am sure this is something I would never use because I never even use different controller schemes when I’m able to and it’s something which I am sure would result in me actually breaking my controller. Still, it was definitely a wow moment and something I found interesting and innovative.

Then, after some time the people started talking about Minecraft and I started thinking about how that game is the absolute bane of my existence. Things then got next-level hectic when they started talking about HoloLens. It is honestly the coolest thing I have ever heard about and may compel me to force someone I know to buy an Xbox One so that I can finally understand how Minecraft works by playing it with the HoloLens. If this is where the future of gaming is going, in that I get to build my rudimentary dirt structure to save me from the Minecraft monsters in my living room and not just on my television screen, the world literally cannot be more exciting for gamers right now. In all likelihood my success in being able to play Minecraft probably isn’t going to be significantly helped by me playing it using a hologram but just imagining that I get to have a hologram of my Minecraft structure in my living room is one of those “the future is here moments”. It was incredible.

And that was just on the hardware innovations. I wasn’t particularly too excited by any of the games that got announced (but that might have also been because I had no more excitement left in me) but I did think that ReCore and Ion looked pretty cool.

So yeah, kudos to the Xbox One owners; Microsoft is doing right by y’all folks.

Quick note on my Sony feelings:

OH MY GOD THE LAST GUARDIAN THE LAST GUARDIAN THE LAST GUARDIAN! OH MY GOD DID I EVEN JUST SEE THAT THE LAST GUARDIAN THE LAST GUARDIAN!

DID MERIDA FROM BRAVE GROW UP AND TELEPORT TO THE FUTURE AND SHE IS KILLING MECH DINOSAURS WITH HER BOW AND ARROWS?! THAT IS LITERALLY THE COOLEST GAME IP I HAVE EVER SEEN!

WHAT DO YOU MEAN I GET TO MAKE MY DREAMS IN A GAME? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN MY BRAIN IS TOO EXCITED IT CANNOT UNDERSTAND.

GAMEPLAY FROM NO MAN’S SKY. *faints*

The Sony conference focussed on the games which I was beyond elated about; I am still a diehard Sony fan-girl.

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