What a difference a day makes. Within 24 hours Sony's PlayStation 4 was able to get a jump on Microsoft, and deflate whatever air was left in the Xbox One's tires since its announcement three weeks ago.
That still doesn't mean that Microsoft's next generation console wasn't without its share of winning moments, but it was the PlayStation 4 that got the crowd off its' collective ass.
At Microsoft's early morning media briefing at the University of California's Galen Center, the team went over many of the same points covered during their last press event on May 21. The most mentionable additions to E3 event was a concrete release date and a firm retail price.
The Xbox One will cost $500 when it comes out this November.
Launch titles for the new console include: Dead Rising 3, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, and FIFA 14. Although Team Green didn't talk about the non-gaming features nearly as much as they had during their Redmond event, there was still quite a bit of talk about the system as a home entertainment device first and a video game console second.
Another interesting point was that there was hardly any mention of Call of Duty: Ghosts and zero "water cooler" references. Apparently, the folks at Xbox are just as aware of the side-splitting memes as the rest of us. Microsoft revealed a redesigned Xbox 360 and the good news that all Xbox Live Gold memberships will transfer seamlessly over to the Xbox One.
Noticeably absent was any mention of used games during the Xbox One's coming out party. Microsoft went for more celebrity star power this time around, enlisting Drake to announce FIFA 14 along with MMA athletes Jon Jones and Anthony Petti.
Later that day, Sony held their PlayStation media briefing to reveal more about the PS4. More than they had since its reveal earlier this year. Sony also made a concerted push the PS Vita and-- just as one would expect in a console war-- take shots at the Xbox One.
Judging from the content of PlayStation's presentation, they looked at everything consumers complained about with the Xbox One, took detailed notes, and offered the exact opposite for the PS4.
The first hint of Sony imminent drubbing of Microsoft was during Shuhei Yoshida's presentation. Discussing the PS4's social media integration features, Yoshida projected a stark simple message on the massive monitors behind him.
A Tweet simply stated "please don't block used games, thank you."
That's enough foreshadowing to call it seven-shadowing. Flash to a few minutes later and we have the pricing announcement for $400, an obvious shot at the Xbox's steep, college tuition flavored price tag.
A standing ovation shook the auditorium as if Justin Bieber had just been sighted. As if that wasn't enough, Sony continued the assault with announcements of DRM-free gaming, the ability to play used games, and the PS4 not requiring any sort of mandatory Internet connection.
PlayStation's strategy worked. They sat back, let Microsoft take all of the heat for the Xbox One's shortcomings and then employed the opposite. Even if Microsoft decides to back-peddle and do the same thing as Sony down the road, they've already lost the first console battle.
Both consoles have blockbusters coming out like Call of Duty: Ghosts, but PlayStation dropped a big one on the crowd with the announcement of Square Enix's Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 3. Both of those are proven boulders with passionate fans like no other. This is going to be one exciting E3 and holiday season.
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