I've been reading a lot (well, not a lot. I've read an article and seen several headlines) about how Microsoft took a drubbing at E3 thanks to a $499 price point for the Xbox One, the internet connectivity issue, and game sharing/used games. The consensus among the folks at the show was that Sony clearly won out, at least in terms of audience response.

Here's my thought: all of these issues seem pretty flexible. These aren't fixed features of the system. Isn't it entirely possible that Microsoft, seeing the response, might decide a few months down the line to drop the price, axe the internet check in thing, and free up game sharing? That all seems very easy to do. They might take some egg to the face, but if the hullabaloo is right*, and Sony's poised to jump out of the gate with an early lead this go-round, wouldn't it be worth it? And once you get rid of those kind of surface issues, I'd say the XBox One is on par if not much more impressive than the PS4, what with kinect, it's media service features, and the cloud thing. So take that analysts.

Another thought: I've read other articles dismissing the next generation and claiming that most of the games on show at E3 offer nothing new except graphics that at best are marginally better than the current generation (I even read one article that says the games debuted at the Microsoft briefing look like the product of a 360 pushed to its limits). Two things. One, since when have improved graphics been bad? For the entirety of gaming history, graphical advances have been the most (or among the most) lauded developments in games. To take Halo for example (On Topic!), I remember how everyone lost their minds over the comparison shots detailing the increased quality of Master Chief's armor between Halo 1 and 3. That was a major selling point. So why all of a sudden are graphical improvements seen as a bad thing? People are acting as if game makers aren't even trying anymore, they're just tossing up pretty things hoping we won't notice. That's what they've always done! Maybe it's because I'm old and I remember a time when a 256 color pallet was revolutionary (well, I don't remember it being revolutionary, but I remember it being) that I still appreciate graphical advances.

Second: I'd hardly say these games look like a minor step up. With the exception of Titanfall (which did not wow me at all) most of the games I've seen looked much more impressive than anything you can find right now.

Oh, and for the critics who claim the next generation has nothing new or inspired to offer, what about Project Spark? That looked like nothing I've ever seen before. Or the stupidly named 'driveatar' from Forza 5? Personally, I think this whole cloud aspect of the XBox One is dang exciting. And for the record, back when I was working retail in the early 2000s, I used to day dream as I vacuumed the store about a persistently online gaming world wherein all the major work (graphics, physics, collision detection, etc) would be done in the cloud (well, I didn't call it the cloud because the cloud didn't exist then) allowing for incredibly rich universes that churned along even when the player wasn't active. If only I'd have the stick-to-it-iveness and skill to successfully pursue a career in computer science, you'd all be praising me as a visionary. Shoot.

*The hullabaloo is almost never right. Except in the case of Muse's Hullabaloo Soundtrack. That's a pretty good album.