Los Angeles is currently hosting E3, the much awaited and expected gathering of all manufacturers and brands associated with console gaming. It is clear that for the remaining part of the year the main storyline for the console gaming industry is going to be the standoff between Sony and Microsoft. It is a case of PS4 vs Xbox One and interestingly Sony has the last presentation at E3. As more time goes by, the more it seems that Sony is playing “catch up” or following the developments of the new Xbox.
A few trends have also emerged:
The cloud, yes the buzzword and mega industry that is surrounding computing. It seems that Sony, Microsoft and gaming development businesses are going the cloud route. What is going to be very interesting to see is whether artificial intelligence (which is a part of console gaming) is going to be offloaded to the cloud. Suddenly, the processing power to predict the player’s next movement is no longer to be done by the actual device that he/she is playing on.
Secondly, the lines between single and multi players are becoming grey. This is going to be a hard sell for many people as some would generally like to play as an individual.
The third trend is related to a change in game methodology. Instead of having levels or stages to complete it seems open worlds and environments are gaining momentum.
Sony can take all the momentum in the console war by having an amazing presentation at E3. 2013 seems to be a good year for console gaming. It may get a lot better…
