E3 2014: PSLS Reacts to the Pressers

Yesterday was possibly the biggest day in gaming for 2014 with Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft and Sony holding press conferences to announce what they have planned in the future. Of course, it can’t be a proper E3 without people discussing what they thought of the pressers and who “won” in our individual opinion.

Here at PlayStation LifeStyle, while we’re a PlayStation-focused site, that doesn’t mean we’ll be siding with Sony all the time. We pride ourselves in being unbiased, and love the gaming industry as a whole.

Below, the PSLS staff weighs in on what they liked and didn’t like about the E3 2o14 press conferences.

Anthony Severino (Executive Editor):

As for who won, it was probably Ubi as they had the most polished showing, and had their games prominently featured at Sony and MS. Between Sony and MS, I’d call it a draw. On a purely game by game comparison, MS won. But Sony obviously had a much more varied press conference which worked to their favor.

EA’s conference just plain bored me.

Alex Co (Editor-in-Chief):

I honestly thought both Microsoft and Sony had a good showing. Both showcased games, and not the usual TV/entertainment stuff that makes people hate these press conferences. Ubisoft once again brought a megaton with Rainbow Six: Siege — though it remains to be seen if the actual game will play like what we’ve seen.

Overall, I was most disappointed with EA’s show. Sure, they revealed Battlefield: Hardline and announced a beta for the PS4, but as a whole, it was a weak showing. Oddly enough, they teased a new Mass Effect but didn’t even confirm its title.

Probably not the best E3 I’ve seen, but definitely far from the worst. I’d give the nod to Sony for winning the presser war with Bloodborne, announcing GTAV for PS4 (even if it’s multi-platform), having both the BF: Hardline and Destiny betas squared, Showing a new amazing trailer for The Order, LittleBigPlanet 3 announcement, “Let It Die” reveal and of course, ending with a very interesting trailer for Uncharted 4.

Dan Oravasaari (Senior Editor):

Since I still haven’t had a chance to see Microsoft’s conference, I can’t say who won just yet. But, I really think Sony did an amazing job announcing a ton of exclusives and just keeping the pace of their conference up – except when they started to talk about the hardware. Nintendo’s and EA’s conference were both disappointing. Ubisoft did a great job and Assassin’s Creed Unity looks insanely beautiful, but they really do need a new host.

Related: Pre-Order the Best Games of E3 2014

Cameron Teague (PR Manager/Reviews Coordinator):

I hate to say it but I actually give Microsoft the slight edge. Sony had a great show but I felt their exclusive reveals were a bit weaker. The Vita TV was a great announcement but Sony again mostly ignored the Vita.

Heath Hindman (Japanese Editor):

At first I snoozed, and then I snored. Grim Fandango’s re-release is the biggest thing I care about from the first two conferences. Vita TV going international is nice, but it doesn’t get a rise out of me here in Japan. It highly disappoints me to see Sony basically being like “Vita? LOL what’s that?” and ignoring their own handheld. I’m not usually one to pick a press conference winner, and the events of the first two conferences have me calling it a draw because neither really wowed me.

Jason Dunning (Lead News Writer):

For me personally, I think Microsoft won, solely for the fact that I’m a huge Halo fan and the Master Chief Collection is going to be the reason I buy an Xbox One.

For PlayStation’s press conference though, they had some good announcements in the form of PlayStation TV coming West and the surprise of LittleBigPlanet 3, but the lack of any gameplay for Uncharted 4 was really disappointing, and I was really hoping for something huge like God of War 4. It also didn’t help matters that the biggest non-digital PlayStation Vita game announcement was Disney Infinity 2…

Chandler Wood (Features Editor):

EA was extremely weak, showing nothing new except for concept and pre-alpha footage of games we won’t have for years. Ubisoft had a fairly strong showing, but Aisha Tyler still annoys the hell out of me so they lose some points for that and the lengthy Just Dance 2015 routine. Microsoft made the biggest improvement over last year, however they swung the pendulum too far and focused only on games with not even the slightest hint of attention to their platform. Sony had a very even balance that had something for everyone.

From the Uncharted 4 tease, to the announcement of the white PS4 Destiny bundle, and PS Now news to more benefits for PS Plus subscribers. Sony’s conference won in my eyes because of the dedication to their entire platform and all of their fans, not just one subset.

D’yani Wood (Social Media Manager):

I was just really excited at the Sony press conference because they just kept announcing game after game after game, and a ton of them were exclusives too. Just the amount of games, big and small, was really refreshing after this lull we’ve had.

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What did you think of the E3 press conferences and which one did you think win?