[steven spielberg talks about making games more 'approachable' by removing controllers]As a longtime core gamer accustomed to a certain kind of culture and feel to my hobby, I was one of those who strongly resisted and resented Microsoft's entry into the console market. They stumbled in a bit ignorantly at first, didn't they? The face they showed the consumer was aggressive and obnoxiously fratboyish; behind the scenes, they were your regular plodding Big Corporate Blue Chip.
To me, first a Sega loyalist and then a PlayStation devotee, they just didn't fit in. In the era of Japanese design dominance, the console that had the FMV-driven RPGs and pretty thinkpieces was the only one worth considering. I never even bought a first-gen Xbox, on principle.
I gave the company like, five years before they gave up on running a hardware platform for video games. When the Xbox 360 came out with an avalanche of hardware failures, I was even more certain that the big Western company with the smug attitude wouldn't make it.
As a journalist, I had to learn to see the merits and shortcomings in all the current platforms, of course, and as an industry-watcher, I slowly began to come around to the wisdom of the company's strategy when I saw the strength of Xbox Live, even though I'm not a multiplayer gamer or even remotely social about gaming.
As a consumer, I found myself electing the platform more and more over the past year or so, being more willing to choose the platform for the major releases I buy on a case by case basis, rather than defaulting to PS3 on principle.
I love my PS3. And hey, I'll always have Final Fantasy to make me feel like it's worth it -- oh, wait, no. Well, okay, Metal Gear Solid.
Not anymore[*].
[an 'alert!' noise heralds the arrival of kojima on microsoft's stage.]As a writer, an industry watcher and a gamer, I have to say that I was more genuinely excited, impressed and enthusiastic about Microsoft's E3 press conference than anything I've seen in a long time. Doubtless you've heard by now about Project Natal -- even still largely in an imperfect prototype phase, Molyneux's concept video of what might be possible down the line with tech like that made my hair stand up on end.
When Microsoft entered the console space, I didn't like the idea that they'd try change the paradigm, the culture, tone and language of my beloved medium as I knew it. I was skeptical that they could. Like many of you, I was also the sort to feel an initial, irrational jerk of resentment when Nintendo did that a few years ago with the Wii.
But things've changed. Much of what the company showed today made my hands shake a little bit at the idea of what the future for games could hold. Part of this is due to the blistering quality of the third-party titles they showed -- I didn't think I'd be into Splinter Cell: Conviction at all, but it looks really amazing! I mean, what I'm saying is I was genuinely impressed, even with a little bit of nostalgic diassociation thinking of "the old days."
I rounded up the important events of Microsoft's press conference and what they might mean over at Gamasutra -- and I'll ask you guys the same question that I heard on everyone's lips as I exited the briefing theater.
What can Sony do, now?
[*still not letting go of wild theory that xbox 360 gets raiden game, ps3 gets big boss game, we'll see tomorrow]
