Sony Completely Dominated Microsoft At This Week's E3 Video Game Conference

Dave SmithJun 10, 2014, 20:58 IST

ReutersAndrew House, president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment

After Microsoft's press conference earlier in the day Monday, all eyes were on Sony, the current market leader in the next-gen console race, to deliver at its E3 press conference Monday night with enough PlayStation 4 content to keep gamers sated for the next year. Sony stepped up to the plate, and then some. The company's press conference was filled with exciting announcements including several welcome surprises. Counting them all up, Sony made roughly 25 truly significant announcements at last night's event. Games-wise, Sony offered a little bit of every genre, from action/adventure games ("Far Cry," "The Order: 1886," "Metal Gear Solid V") to horror games ("Bloodborne," "Dead Island 2") to artistic games anyone could play ("Entwined" and "Abzu").

Sony also brought plenty of attention to the big-name franchise games on the horizon. "LittleBigPlanet 3" will be a sure-fire hit this holiday season, while the classic fighting game "Mortal Kombat" is back with a vengeance for "Mortal Kombat X." The action franchise "Uncharted" will return in 2015 with "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End," and then there's "Batman: Arkham Knight" coming later this year, which looks absolutely stunning. The shadows, the rain, the action, the villains, and yes - finally - the Batmobile (taking on a group of tanks, no less). It's all glorious.

RocksteadyBatman gets out of his Batmobile in style

Sony is also brushing up some classics just for the PS4. "The Last Of Us" and "Grand Theft Auto V," two of the most successful and popular games from last year, will be remastered for their respective releases in 2014, while Tim Schafer and the Double Fine crew are bringing back the neo-noir cult classic adventure game, "Grim Fandango," just for PlayStation 4 and PS Vita owners. There were some surprises too - chief among them was "No Man's Sky," which could be the sci-fi game to end all sci-fi games. "No Man's Sky" drops you on a random planet in an infinite procedural universe - no two players in the game will start on the same planet, guaranteeing a unique experience for every gamer. And since everything is procedural, there are no loading times as you traverse entire planets and hop in your rocket ship and fly to other planets or engage in space battles.

Sony could've stopped at its impressive game lineup, but the company kept its foot on the gas. Some hardware announcements: The company will sell a special white PlayStation 4 as a bundle with "Destiny," the next big sci-fi franchise from "Halo" creator Bungie coming later this year. Sony will also release its $99 PlayStation TV in the U.S., which lets you stream games from your PS4 to another TV in your house.

In the realm of software, PS4 gamers will soon be able to share their moments through YouTube. The company's game streaming service PlayStation Now is also set to arrive on PS4, and then PS3 and PlayStation Vita shortly thereafter. The service will launch its first beta on July 31. It took two hours but Sony covered all its bases: Hardware (white PS4, PlayStation TV), software (YouTube, PlayStation Now), and tons of games from every genre: Action, sci-fi, horror, puzzle, adventure, even some abstract stuff. Sony was already leading the next-gen console race, but Monday night's E3 presser distanced itself from the pack. SonySony's new "glacier" PS4 will be sold as part of a bundle with "Destiny," coming in September This isn't to say Microsoft has a bad lineup for Xbox One; quite the contrary, there are several exciting games coming for that console, too: "Sunset Overdrive," "Evolve," "Fable Legends," and of course, plenty of "Halo" titles are all on the way. But with the exception of Halo's "Master Chief Collection" coming this year, we won't see a new "Halo" game until late next year - a full two years after the release of the Xbox One. That's like Nintendo being unable to churn out a new Mario game; the franchise is absolutely central to the console. Not so with Sony's PlayStation 4. Sure, it has its stars like Sackboy (he'll be back in time for Christmas), but if Monday night's press conference proved anything, it's that Sony has a substantial balance of power across genres, developers and titles, and a considerable amount of passion, to boot. After its E3 press conference, it looks like Sony's network is only getting stronger.

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Sony Completely Dominated Microsoft At This Week's E3 Video Game Conference