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By: Carlos Joel Nieves

Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the new age of console gaming! This had to be the best E3 in the past 4 years, absolutely spectacular and satisfying. Let me start by saying that all E3 conferences are great, some more impressive than others, but overall a solid presentation this year. Here’s how this is going to work kids I am going to talk about a brief overview of the 3 main conferences by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony. We’ll be delivering this to you over the next three days so tune in everyday to get official GIGA Reports on each of the big 3 contenders in this year’s console wars. On day 3 I’ll give you an overview the entire event and final word.

Microsoft: Xbox One

Ok people, this was an excellent conference but it had its flaws to say the least.  Let’s start with the game line up which was absolutely spectacular naming exclusive titles like Halo 5, Dead Rising 3, Crimson Dragon, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome and Titanfall; simply incredible, they provided everything everyone wanted to see.

But let’s talk about the controversial move that Microsoft made. Ok people if you haven’t heard by now the Xbox one is going to require a constant (always connected) internet connection and they go even further to restrict the use of previously owned games. Needless to say loyal fans of the console are “pissed off” because of this, and rightly so. Microsoft tries to end the “used game business” and move toward an entirely and exclusively digital market. As a self-proclaimed futurist myself, I applaud Microsoft for making the hard decision, moving the industry forward to a completely digital medium and protecting it against piracy.

Not everybody has the same feeling that I do but this is understandable, considering how, unlike me, who prefers to only purchase new games, not everyone can or wants to buy new games and/or game related merchandise. Also, not everyone has a solid internet connection 24/7; this effectively eliminates and isolates a huge buyer’s market. The reality is this: that people are never going to be ready for technological change and you must force it along by giving the public a reason to do so. Microsoft is confident that with all these changes people are still going to buy the Xbox One because of the games, online services and infrastructure. The final price of the console is a whopping $499.99. Only time will tell if this enough to win over the public and the market. I really hope that they learn from the Xbox 360 launch and the dreaded “Red Ring of Death”. Look for the Xbox One this November.

Tune in tomorrow to catch part 2 of GIGA E3 report talking all about Sony and the PS4, with yours truly…Carlos Nieves.