Reaction: Xbox & Nintendo Continue To Deliver With Major Summer Showcases

Really let's just call it what it is: "Everyone had a great notE3 except Sony who basically didn't show up (again.)"

Oh what a difference a management change makes.

@Yousef- "so many goats, you could start a farm!"

If that isn't a back of box quote ripe for the picking, I don't know what is.

The key for xbox will be that games they show actually hit. Still have not had one outside hi-fi that has been any good.

And once again, Nintendo dominates in the direct. Xbox too in their showcase.

Sony, take lots of notes. LOTS OF NOTES.

Those two showcases were such a treat. So many games on the horizon now!

The game I am looking forward to the most from Xbox is that Perfect Dark reboot that hopefully turns out good in the end. That one was super interesting.

For Nintendo, I don’t have a specific title, but I am pretty excited about the Mature 17+ app they are adding to N64 NSO today since that opens up the door to a ton of popular titles that can’t be put in the standard app. I really want to buy the Expansion Pack again maybe later this year when I am able to play the Switch again and when they add more titles that entice me! Hoping they drop more Rare titles on there soon. I’d love for an official and better way to play Diddy Kong Racing and the possibilities of having Switch users being able to play Conker would make me so happy

Sony < SGF < Nintendo < Xbox... in terms of summer showcases, and thats coming from an avid Nintendo fan. While both Nintendo and Xbox had superb showcases, i just felt that the games from Xbox hit harder.

Have to remember too, the systems are at different points in their lifecycles.

@Divide_and_Wander

The way you phrased this is a bit weird. Took me a few minutes to see you’re doing it from least to greatest.

Normally, I would do that greatest to least.

@Rmg0731
That is the main point.
They could have an amazing year with Redfall, Starfield and Forza.
Redfall, blow out.
Starfield, did ok
Forza, lowest scoring Forza ever, let down.

Hopefully they have learnt from this and Avowed and Indy hit home runs for 2024.

The other games are too far off to say.
Apart from probably Doom that looked Doom terrific but it’s on PS5 as well and by a very very reliable developer for Doom.

Nintendo's highlight is Metroid Prime 4, that I've been waiting for since 2007, but not as much as I've been waiting for Wave Race. For me, they're not the same since GameCube and partly Wii. My favourite Nintendo games are for SNES, N64 and GC. Nothing since then matches that level of originality and quality. The new producers and designers are not at the same level, at all.

@themightyant
Yes Xbox had the best show for sure.

Nintendo was good but nothing for me apart from Metroid Prime 4 sometime in 2025.
Zelda looked good if you like that type of Zelda, I don’t. And yet more dam remakes DK and LM2.
The rest was total fluffy for me.

As for Sony not great apart from Astro Bot for me.
It’s strange how sort of under cover they have released titles and their console shifts in large volumes and the machine still marches on with its head held high.

We have to admit that at least Xbox is not trying to re-sell the same games to their fans five times like Nintendo. Donkey Kong Country Returns -3D +HD w/o fur shading.

@themightyant
I call Xbox the sleeping giant, that started to wake up now, but like you said depending on the games coming quality and are they gonna to be bangers.

Sony seems to be the silent giant but also the ants in the background getting on with it going by your statics.

And yes they are starting more to become the target choice for studios, thinking mainly due to sales and not having a weaker console series s to release on as well as series x.

What Nintendo exclusives will Xbox get or is phill still bending over

The Microsoft show didn't do much for me apart from the new DOOM, which wasn't a surprise at all, but at least they delivered for their fans. Nintendo DEFINITELY delivered, especially this late in the generation. The Switch era is the golden age of Nintendo by pretty much all metrics.

PS5 started strong this gen, but has been running on fumes. They're very lucky they have some decent third-party exclusives to drive interest in the hardware.

@Banjo- and you seem to forget that the Switch isn’t backwards compatible at all while Xbox Series is. Not saying that 60 dollars is worth it, (it’s not). But at least think about it a little.

@Ralizah not only that but that new DOOM is gonna be on PlayStation as well.

@anoyonmus Yes but the digital accounts of Wii U, 3DS and Switch were merged (NNID and Nintendo accounts). There was a cross-buy game, but just one if I remember well, Mario versus DK Tipping Stars. It's not that Nintendo needs an excuse to re-sell ports full price to the same users, mind you.

I think there was something for me at each showcase, obviously some more than others.

This is why dream is one console all games.
One box under the TV
One outlay in cost for the hardware and controllers etc

@anoyonmus When it comes to Microsoft, the notion of exclusivity being a factor is increasingly going by the wayside. It's pretty clear they eventually want to have all their games on as many platforms as possible.

@Ralizah soon every Xbox game will come to other platforms. Eventually no need for an Xbox. Just get it all on PC.

Sony seems to be heading the same way but at a slower pace. Give the time, and Spider Man 2 will come to PC soon. Probably next year or whenever BTSV comes out.

@anoyonmus Don't all Microsoft games already come to PC? There's already no need for an Xbox console if you own one for exclusives.

Sony's working on this as well.

That's why PC + Nintendo is the way of the future, my friend.

@anoyonmus In this case it's a Wii port with the 3DS levels. They didn't even add fur shading to Donkey Kong. Nintendo is the greediest and their fans are the biggest suckers, hence this situation of full-priced ports and re-ports. I say this as someone who loves Nintendo's classics and grew up playing on Nintendo consoles like most Nintendo fanboys. According to Nintendo, the age average of all Switch users is 30-something. I even have the Wii U and it's still connected to the TV, like the Switch.

@Ralizah exactly. No need for Xbox or PlayStation. And yeah every Xbox game comes to PC. But I was talking about PS tho.

PC and Nintendo is all you need anyway. This is the future as I see.

@Ralizah also I don’t understand Sony’s strategy for PC games. Like wait a few years and then port it? Or like have the first game on PC and get the sequel on PS5???

I personally think this will backfire. PC gamers can just wait. They have so many other games to play as well. Spider Man 2 will come to PC eventually and Sony can just port other games to PC to tide PC gamers over.

@Banjo- One could argue that is all Xbox has done for a decade. Gears-Halo-Forza-Fable. Shiny coat of paint but somehow worse than before.

@Ralizah @anoyonmus I can't agree. I have every platform I clouding two Series X and a gaming PC and laptop. And I've been "PC" gaming since the Commodore 64.

My PC is used for a specific set of games. Primarily VR and mouse only games.

I prefer shooters on controllers for example. And if I want to do that on PC I have to play against mouse and keyboard users. So I either have to use my steam controller, which is great for games like Foxhole, but not really shooters IMO, or wait for an Xbox controller with a gyro.

My Xbox are used for anything multi-player, shooters, and some other things, as that's where all my friends are. Meanwhile my Ninty and Sony platforms are for single player games only. Barring outliers that also happen to have multi-player like sya Mario Kart or Animal Crossing.

You also have the bit where console games generally launch in better state than the PC version. Especially if the PC version is a d***waving contest between AMD and NVIDIA essentially segregating performance for games between GPU mabufacturers.

More reasons to buy an Xbox is the much better value compared to a computer with equivalent specifications, considering that PCs are not optimised for gaming and waste resources and energy, so they need to be more powerful for achieving the same results and run hotter and noisier, plus the big backwards compatibility catalogue of Xbox and Xbox 360 titles and the low-latency Xbox Wireless compared to Bluetooth. Xbox is precisely the best of PC and console together.

@anoyonmus I heard the "hook em on the first game, then tempt them to play the sequel on PS5" theory before. But... like... Horizon Forbidden West and GoW Ragnarok are going to PC now. There's legitimately no incentive for a PC gamer to get a PS5 for Playstation sequels when they inevitably release in a superior state on PC anyway. And the whole PC initiative is still pretty new, so I expect the wait time between PC ports to go down as well.

Sony is spending too much money on these games, and their bet is that there's enough of a difference between console and PC gamers to not damage their hardware sales momentum with ports that aren't day and date.

We'll see how that works out. On my end, it just means Playstation-branded hardware is no longer an investment worth making to me. Particularly since they killed Japan Studio, anyway. I bought a PS4 for Gravity Rush 2, after all.

@InterceptorAlpha Microsoft NEEDS to release a gyro-enabled controller for the sake of parity between the platforms. I know at least one developer said they didn't enable gyro aiming in their console game because that would benefit Playstation users but not Xbox ones.

Oh, hey, another one of the twelve people who bought a Steam Controller! I've yet to get comfortable with the thing, unfortunately, although the ideas born from it have paid off elsewhere (LOVE the trackpads on my Steam Deck, which feel much more responsive).

My top 3 new game reveals (in no particular order) - Doom: the dark ages, astrobot, possessor(s).

My top 3 most anticipated for second half of the year - astrobot, black myth wukong, AC shadows.

Xbox had the best showcase but as others have pointed out, hype is just hype. Let's see if they can actually stick the landing with these upcoming games.

Microsoft’s showing was good, the rest were underwhelming, including Nintendo’s. Metroid prime 4 is interesting but I’ll wait for the switch 2 at this point instead of playing it on a potato.

Astrobot is probably the game I’m most looking forward to this year from any show though.

Think I need to grab a switch 2 when it comes out for metroid prime 4 and few old one primes remaster n dread😂

@Ralizah Agreed. With HFW and GOW Ragnarok coming to PC, it’s just not worth getting a PS5 when they come to PC.

Mark my words, Spider Man 2 will come to PC soon.

@Banjo- ‘My favourite Nintendo games are for SNES, N64 and GameCube. Nothing since then matches that level of originality and quality.’

I agree.

@anoyonmus Oh, totally. Late 2025 would be my guess. Why not? From Sony's thinking, everyone who bought a PS5 for SM2 has already bought in, and the game doesn't sell millions for years on end without really steep discounts, so it gives them a second shot at a full price release.

@Banjo- MP4 definitely but I'm also waiting for a new Wave Race! Let's hope it will happen!

@Pusher2021 Nice to hear that, Wave Race fellow 😊.

Having significantly updated my PC in the last year I'm done with further Xbox and PlayStation consoles - boxed away my Series S over the weekend as I simply never used it. For me PC gaming is just so much more versatile and open ended. Nintendo are now the only console manufacturer I've any interest in. Looking forward to Metroid Prime 4 and more info on the Switch successor. I just hope the big N stay true to their course of carving their own path.

Great show for Nintendo. Amazing show for Xbox. Sony….I have no clue what Sony is doing. Not a clue. Oh how things have changed.

@OldGamer999 @themightyant Honestly I think Sony now serves a different kind of market at this point and it's not the ponies that think it's themselves and it's not us, the classic gaming nerd. It's a very casual, mainstream, low effort gamer. Yes, people just play games and don't watch e3 but how do they find out about games? Not magazines, not e3..... Just social media, TV ads, posters on busses. It's a big market but a market that isn't really "our kind". They don't do shows like this they just put statues in urban metropoli and Billboards.

@Ralizah my guess is a release along with BTSV

Both great shows for sure! One show was done by a market leader who has cultivated the games they have shown through building talent from years of experience, channelling into what gamers deserve by creating games based on lovable franchises that they created. The other show was by an industry player that simply bought everything they could to try to stay relevant.

@NEStalgia ‘It's a very casual, mainstream, low effort gamer.’

Completely agree with this, Sony have been successful at capturing that demographic with their huge budget mainstream exclusives like Spiderman and using COD exclusivity (not anymore lol) to get there. PlayStation is the mainstream, the console the casual gamer picks up. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing from Sonys perspective it’s brought them ridiculous success, I just think their output has become predictable and stale.

nintendo sucks , i’ll never understand the hype this stuck in the past extra-safe company gets .. :/

@themightyant Right, but my point is, how do you find out about the games? E3/SGF/sites like this, magazines in the day etc. PSX back in the day for PS. But it's not like that for them these days, their "marketing" is mostly in the form of influencers and socials etc...just a different market than the traditional gaming nerd, different flow of information. And it really shows what different market that is when you see how they're presenting what they do have when they do. The Xbox show was for "this" market. The Sony show was for some other market that weirdly was positioned because that market isn't watching that kind of show, but they're so attuned to that other market they can't differentiate when they're not talking to that market.

@Fenbops Yeah, and specifically it means their communication strategies really don't resonate with the market we're a part of anymore. I'm sure it resonates if you're subscribed to 200 YT personalities, but that's another market. Their market is profitable for sure, but it's a specific market. Xbox has a harder task because their approach and thus their fans really are sort of an offshoot of PC gaming. They have the tone and audience right when they speak though. It's just they often say contradictory things and try to both hedge toward PC and pretend they're also a Sony-type-brand, and I don't think trying to straddle the line has been working for them.

@Camble_Refuge There is that cultivating word again. Good lord.

@nomither6 Avatar checks out.

For the record, the Summer Showcases are still going, there's been around 1150 games, and I'm not sure I can keep my semblance of sanity for much longer.

@Camble_Refuge

There is no rulebook on these matters. A great show is a great show, whether it’s done one way or another. Welcome to the world of business.

This year was only let down by Sony really imo. While they had some great games on show their lack of first party output was disappointing.

MS and Nintendo definitely held the batton this year for my tastes anyway.

@nomither6 oh dear. Maybe Nintendo just isn’t for you then? No need to slate them, just move on.

@datamonkey take your own advice, your response wasn’t necessary for me just stating my opinion. had i’d been praising nintendo you’d have no issue & wouldn’t have said anything so, just move on

“ No need to slate them” - i have a right to my opinion , there’s no need for you to agree with me or tell me that you don’t.

@nomither6 fair enough. Is just I and many others like the company’s output. I’ll respect your opinion and move on.