History has always been a bear witness to iconic rivalries between two opposing business interests: Coke vs. Pepsi, Marvel Comics vs. DC comics, Apple vs. Samsung and now, Sony’s PlayStation vs. Microsoft’s Xbox. Both companies have been manufacturing consoles and competing with each other for over 15 years; ever since Microsoft released the Xbox to take on Sony’s PS2. Both systems were sixth generation consoles and the Xbox had a clear upper hand (probably because it released about 20 months after the PS2). However, it was when the eighth generation of consoles were released when things started getting real. Both the PS4 and the Xbox One were released in November 2013 and fans on either side were delighted about the prospects. Although the systems shared almost the same specs, what irritated gamers was the Xbox One’s “always online” feature; the console has to be connected to the internet at least once every 24 hours. The PS4, on the other hand, was easier to use, cost $100 lesser than its rival and even had 30 percent stronger graphics than its rival. Until 2015, both companies released regular updates of sales figures till Microsoft announced it would stop this practice. As per Electronic Arts' Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen Microsoft sold about 30 million Xbox One consoles by the end of 2017 while, in a statement released by Sony, more than 73.6 million PS4s were sold during the same period. While things look bleak for Microsoft, the low sales figure does not mean that Microsoft is giving up on the console market. In a bid to match PlayStation’s impressive original content, Microsoft has started looking to hire a new studio designed to create entirely new games. During the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2018, Microsoft’s gaming chief Phil Spencer announced that it was working on cloud computer gaming, the next Xbox console (most probably titled the Xbox Two) and developing up to 52 new games, including the likes of Halo Infinite, Cyberpunk 2077 and Fallout 76. All this shows that Microsoft is getting ready for the next console war and beyond. The PS4 enjoys the top place for now and is concentrating on producing top-notch original content. But with the coming of new consoles (like the Nintendo Switch) and rising competition, it is only a matter of time before it gets dethroned.<doc-sep>The dust is only just starting to settle on E3 2018, and there were all manner of big reveals and even bigger demos at this year’s show. From the experimental keynote from Sony to the big teases from Bethesda, there’s been plenty to talk about in the world of video games. Microsoft confirmed it's working on the next Xbox; Ubisoft unveiled a new Star Fox game (kind of) and Fortnite finally arrived on Nintendo Switch. So to ensure you’re fully in the know, we’ve gathered together ten of the biggest announcements and takeaways from E3 2018 so you’re fully versed in all things new in 2018 and beyond. The next Xbox is officially in development Microsoft had plenty of new games to show off during its own E3 2018 broadcast, but it was its announcements in the world of hardware that made some of the biggest headlines. As its keynote drew to a close, head of Xbox Phil Spencer confirmed that the platform holder is now hard at work on the next generation of Xbox. Considering we’re four-and-a-half years into Xbox One’s life cycle, it’s no shock to hear a new console is in the works, but it’s nice to have it officially confirmed. Spencer also mentioned, “Xboxes,” during the same announcement, suggesting Microsoft may be planning on more than one iteration a la Xbox One X. Microsoft invests heavily in first-party studios While Sony would go on to showcase just much dividends a heavy investment in first-party development can bring, Microsoft showed a similar pledge by bringing five new studios into its first-party club. The big investment includes Forza Horizon 4 developer Playground Games, State of Decay 2 studio Undead Labs, Hellblade creator Ninja Theory and Compulsion Games. It’s also set up a brand new developer called The Initiative. It’s a big commitment, but at this stage it seems like an investment most likely to benefit the next Xbox than the current generation of hardware. Star Fox will be a Switch exclusive in Starlink: Battle for Atlas With the success of Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle we were fully expecting another partnership between Ubisoft and Nintendo, and the Ubisoft E3 2018 show didn’t disappoint. Along with the confirmation that its toys-to-life space exploration title is due on 16 October, Ubi also revealed the Nintendo Switch version would come with an exclusive Arwing modular toy along with Fox McCloud himself in-game. It’s a huge coup for the Switch version, especially with all the hype surrounding Star Fox at the moment. You’ll even be able to customise your Arwing, and see those changes appear instantly on-screen. Trials Rising will be the first Trials game on a Nintendo platform Ubisoft’s E3 2018 keynote had plenty of big announcements - including some intriguing pre-alpha gameplay for Beyond Good and Evil 2 and the confirmation that Assassin’s Creed Origins is indeed set in Ancient Greece - but few got tongues wagging as fast as the return of motorcycle racing/platform hybrid, Trials. The latest addition, Trials Rising, will be a globe-trotting affair that harks back to the game’s ultra-challenging roots, and will also be the first title to appear on a Nintendo platform. It’s due to hit PS4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch in February 2019. The Elder Scrolls VI is really happening Considering it’s been six-and-a-half years since the last proper instalment in The Elder Scrolls series - no, we’re not counting The Elder Scrolls Online or the Legends card game - it’s about time we saw something of the next numbered instalment. With myriad Fallouts and Wolfensteins since Skyrim in 2011, the assembled viewers for Bethesda’s E3 2018 keynote were treated to a brief sweeping shot of a mountainous region and the words ‘The Elder Scrolls VI’. No release date, no gameplay, there wasn’t even a subtitle. There’s no guarantee we’ll even see it this generation, but at least we know it’s coming. Sony’s keynote was underwhelming, but Ghost of Tsushima stole the show While all of the four big games Sony presented at its E3 2018 showcase were all impressive in their own way, the awkward format and pauses between each demo (the show was created to be a walkthrough experience for journalists in attendance) did put a damper on things. And while The Last of Us Part 2 teased an older and more deadly Ellie, it was the stunning vistas of Ghost of Tsushima that left the biggest impression. Set in Feudal Japan during the Mongol Invasion of the late 1200s, its sword fighting looked even more epic when set against fields of swaying grass and showers of cherry blossom. Resident Evil 2 finally gets the remake treatment It’s been almost 20 years since Capcom’s seminal action horror masterpiece somehow outdid its predecessor to put interactive nightmares firmly on the mainstream map, so to celebrate Capcom has completely rebuilt the game from the ground up just like it did with the Resident Evil Remake in 2002 and 2015. That means it’s the same atmospheric survival horror experience, only now with a third-person/over-the-shoulder camera and modern controls. It’s due to arrive on 25th January, 2019, and will support 4K thanks to the same RE Engine that brought Resident Evil 7: Biohazard to glorious and terrifying life. Fortnite is out right now for Nintendo Switch Perhaps the worst kept secret in 2018, with all manner of leaks appearing over the last few months, Epic Games has finally confirmed Fortnite is coming to Nintendo Switch. In fact, it launches on 12th June from 10am PT/6pm BST. The game’s Battle Royale mode is free-to-play, and tasks you with dropping into a large, lush map where you’ll need to scavenge for weapons and gear and systemically eliminate other players. One of the big selling points over PUBG is the ability to build walls and ramps on the fly, so you can create cover or reach higher points on the map in seconds. Nintendo went all-in for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Switch - or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as it’s known now - with over 20 minutes of detailed breakdowns of all the new characters, changes and updates. So every character that’s ever appeared in the franchise - including one-shot DLC fighters - will all return, making for the most comprehensive roster ever. You’ll also need to unlock them over time, making them more of a reward than a standard feature. The game will support most amiibo related to said characters, and each fighter has had their looks, voice over and special abilities tweaked for this brand new instalment, due out on 7th December. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will support GameCube controllers Yes, you read that right. Since the classic GameCube pad has remained the standard controller for most (if not all) Super Smash Bros tournaments (from amateur level right up to the pros), Nintendo has heard the cries of its fighting faithful and confirmed that the new brawler will support GameCube controllers right out of the box. If you’re new to the series, the support might seem a little reductive, but if you’re a long-time player with a specific main, the mixture of a full roster and support for the community’s favourite pad is a fan-pleasing concoction indeed.<doc-sep>COMMENTARY: The Xbox One, it must be said, is doing OK. Microsoft hasn’t released official sales numbers since 2014, but the generally accepted theory is that there are about 30 million Xbox Ones in circulation. In conjunction with the 59 million active Xbox Live subscribers that Microsoft claims it has, it’s a story of reasonable success. That being said, in the greater marketplace, it’s getting trounced. The PlayStation 4 has sold roughly two-and-a-half times as well, as far as industry analysts can figure (although Microsoft, as you can see in this Variety piece, disputes those numbers), and the Nintendo Switch is on track to catch up to the Xbox One by the end of 2018. The Xbox has a beachhead in the marketplace and it’s probably profitable, but Sony has a dead lock on roughly 70 percent of the console market right now and that gap is only getting wider. This largely comes down to a question of exclusivity. Both the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo’s various consoles have the advantage of a healthy lineup of titles that simply will not appear anywhere else. If you want to play God of War or Uncharted, you have to own a PlayStation. If you’re a Mario or Legend of Zelda fan, you better buy a Switch. Part of the reason why the original Xbox succeeded in the first place was due to a strong lineup of titles that could not be played on any other platform, such as the first two Halo games, Dead or Alive 3, Jade Empire, Breakdown, and the Project Gotham Racing series. With the Xbox One in particular, there aren’t more than a handful of games for it that aren’t also available on the Microsoft Store that’s packed in with Windows 10, as noted in this previous commentary of the broader PC games market. Microsoft has a robust lineup of exclusives for its platforms, but one of those platforms is an operating system that runs a large number of the computers on the planet … and the other’s the Xbox One. Microsoft has effectively made its own console irrelevant, because even with the Windows Anywhere initiative, there’s no particular reason for a dedicated enthusiast to own an “Xbone” if you already have a PC. There are certainly advantages, such as ease of use, simplicity of play, and couch gaming, but the same money you spend on the Xbox could be going to tune up your computer so you can play the same games in a higher resolution. As such, there was a lot of soft pressure on Microsoft going into this year’s E3 to, if not right the ship entirely, at least show signs of life. After all, the Xbox has the advantages of brand recognition, several big franchises, marketing muscle, and Microsoft money. There’s no particular reason why it couldn’t regain some of its lost ground. Instead, what we got was essentially a greatest-hits album, the kind of thing that a company might produce when it’s already confident it’s in the lead. None of what Microsoft showed off at its briefing this year was a bad idea — a new back-to-basics sort of Halo (although it’s pure dumb bad luck that both Halo and Doom have a new forthcoming sequel subtitled Infinite), new Gears of War (with a female protagonist, which is not something I ever thought I’d see out of that franchise), new Forza, the new Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and an actual release date for the long-delayed Crackdown 3 — but none of it was what’s needed. In fact, since these games still aren’t Xbox exclusives, it’s simply more of the same problem. Every new Microsoft blockbuster is likely to be a fun game, polished to a mirror sheen, but they won’t be reasons to own an Xbox. That being said, the list of Microsoft’s acquisitions announced Sunday — Playground Games, Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, and Compulsion Games — includes some smart choices. One of Sony’s primary advantages as a publisher has traditionally been its strong bench of third-party exclusive developers, such as its various internal studios, Naughty Dog, and the Bellevue, Wash.-based Sucker Punch. Microsoft needed to generate its own comparable studio network about four years ago, and any movement forward on that is a good idea. Every new Microsoft blockbuster is likely to be a fun game, polished to a mirror sheen, but they won’t be reasons to own an Xbox. In particular, Ninja Theory has been out in the third-party wilderness working without a net for some time, ever since it made the well-liked but underselling Heavenly Sword as a launch title for the PlayStation 3. It recently scored its first original hit, both commercially and critically, with Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and picking it up as an exclusive developer was a smart move by Microsoft. I’m genuinely excited to see what Ninja Theory can do with some serious muscle behind it, and hope that Microsoft is smart enough to sign the checks and leave NT alone to do its thing. By the same token, Compulsion Games is a brilliantly weird developer (their We Happy Few is an experience much like having someone else’s fever dream), and there’s always room for a few more games that have the courage to be unique and insane. That offers some degree of hope for the future, if you happen to be a dedicated Xbox One fan for some reason. However, as of right now, Microsoft has provided a healthy lineup of interesting games that all utterly fail to give the Xbox One what it so desperately needs: a reason to continue to exist. If Microsoft seriously intends to continue to participate in the worldwide console market, it has to make the Xbox One worth owning in its own right, and not just as a satellite product for Windows 10, or else it’s playing internal product kumite against itself. If there’s a real way forward here, it’s to come up with a few brilliant titles in the next couple of years, real classics in the making that need to be experienced by any serious fan of the medium … and let them stay on the Xbox One, for better or for worse. Otherwise, this generation of the Xbox will struggle to keep up with its competitors.<doc-sep>
The Electronics Entertainment Expo, or E3 for short, is the world's biggest video game trade show and is hosted every year to give industry watchers a look at what's on the horizon. As direct competitors in the console platform and software publishing spaces courting largely similar demographics, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Sony (NYSE:SONY) are often compared to each other. Putting on the best E3 conference isn't always a harbinger of overall success, but what's spotlighted at the trade show and how it's presented sometimes have a significant impact on the progression of the industry and each company's respective performance. So, who had the better show? Microsoft conference recap Microsoft kicked off its 2018 Xbox E3 conference with a teaser for Halo: Infinite, the next game in the the company's top-selling first-party gaming franchise. However, there apparently wasn't much to show off with the title beyond a basic introduction of the setting -- indicating the next Halo is still relatively early in development and more than a year from release. The oft-delayed Crackdown 3 was the next exclusive game to be showcased by the company. The third installment in the Crackdown franchise had a disappointing showing at the company's conference last year and recently saw its planned release slip from an unspecified 2018 date to February 2019. This year's trailer was better than the one shown at E3 2017 and evidenced some extra graphical polish, but the game has had a troubled development, and it seems unlikely that the title will go on to be a big hit when it releases next year. Turning to the racing genre, Microsoft took the wraps off Forza Horizon 4 -- an open-world, multiplayer-focused racing game set across locations in Britain. The game will release on Oct. 2 and be part of the company's Xbox Game Pass service on day one. Microsoft also announced three new games in the Gears of War series: Gears of War Pop and Gears of War: Tactics for mobile platforms and Gears of War 5 for Xbox One systems. While the new titles will likely please fans of the series, the franchise's relevance and sales have been declining, and the recently unveiled games seem unlikely to return the property to its previous heights. In addition to upcoming exclusive Xbox games, Microsoft also showcased new downloadable content expansions for recent releases like Sea of Thieves and Cuphead, announced upcoming features for its Xbox Games Pass service, and hosted world premiers for some big third-party games that will also be available on other gaming systems. Multiplatform games debuted at the conference included Bethesda's Fallout 76, Square Enix's Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Ubisoft's The Division 2, and CD Project's Cyberpunk 2077. Microsoft's conference featured plenty of games, but the most interesting news from the presentation was news that the company is ramping up its investment in strengthening existing franchises and launching new properties. The company announced the founding of a new game development studio dubbed "The Initiative" and the acquisition of four other game development studios: Playground Games, Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, and Undead Labs. Sony conference recap While Microsoft's conference packed in comparatively quicker looks at over 50 games, Sony's show was focused more on in-depth looks at its big, upcoming first-party games and a selection of third-party titles. The company kicked off its PlayStation conference by showing off new cinematic footage and gameplay for The Last of Us 2, the highly anticipated sequel to 2013's big commercial and critical hit from Naughty Dog Studios. The game looks poised to deliver an evolution of the formula that fans of the original enjoyed and will likely be a big sales hit. Next up was a demo for Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, which will have timed-exclusive downloadable content on PS4 systems. Activision Blizzard followed up its Call of Duty presentation with a new trailer for Destiny 2: Forsaken -- an expansion pack for the company's 2017 release. Next up on the exclusive front, Sony demoed Ghost of Tsushima -- an action game set in feudal Japan that will have players stepping into the shoes of a samurai warrior. The title was announced last year, but this year's E3 marked the first look at its gameplay. The game boasted impressive visuals and looks to continue the trend of generally high-quality output from Sony's internal studios. Death Stranding, a game directed by Metal Gear creator and industry legend Hideo Kojima, rounded out the company's exclusive game lineup.