Microsoft had its best next-gen presentation to date with the Xbox Games Showcase this week, which was a huge step up from the failed first effort back in May. But it still wasn't great. Some of its biggest new Xbox Series X games have only appeared as a cinematic trailer, and while Halo sure sounded appealing to most longtime fans, some got a laugh online. from the ugliness of your screenshots. Sony's The Future of Gaming PS5 presentation had its own problems (starting with GTA 5 was an odd choice), but overall I thought it was much stronger, with more interesting third-party reveals like Deathloop, Resident Evil Village, and Project. Athia from Developers Final Fantasy 15. Crucially too, it seemed like Sony was showing more of its upcoming games in action, with clear (if sometimes brief) gameplay demos for Gran Turismo 7, Ratchet, and Clank: Rift. Apart and Return. Below I'll compare how the two console makers are getting people excited about their hardware releases later this year.
Xbox hasn't shown much gameplay outside of Halo
![Reconocido por Obsidian es un juego de rol en primera persona, pero fue un gran primer lanzamiento.]()
Recognized by Obsidian is a first-person RPG, but it was a great first release. (Image credit: Obsidian) Some of Microsoft's hottest titles like Avowed or the new game Fable look a long way from launch, depending on how their announcements have fared. Choosing to release cinematic trailers for these games makes sense if they're not ready to release, and both games look extremely attractive according to their developers, RPG experts Obsidian and Forza Horizon creators, Gameplay respectively. But the lack of release dates or a lot of details means they don't feel a reason to get excited about the Xbox Series X right now. Of Microsoft's big Xbox Games Showcase exclusives, only Halo felt it gave a meaningful gameplay demo. The trailer for Rare's Everwild also appeared to have some in-game footage, but the footage offered little insight into what it's like to play, even though they look pretty good. The demo on the Forza Motorsport engine was incredibly beautiful, but it only lasted a minute. Meanwhile, Sony began its PS5 presentation with the following message: "All gameplay footage you are about to see from this point in the series has been captured from PlayStation 5 systems.". However, even his impressive trailer for Horizon Forbidden West appeared to be mostly cutscenes. That said, Sony has shown what Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Returnal, and Spider-Man on PS5 really look like, if only briefly. This means that it's strangely difficult to get a sense of what the games will look like on either system, which is arguably a drawback not having E3 this year, where the images of the games are circulating more freely through the media and blogs. streamers for your review. .
Elusive release dates
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(Image credit: Microsoft) Microsoft also didn't have many release dates or windows to offer for its big new games. Stated, State of Decay 3 (which is in an early stage of pre-production), Fable, and Everwild have not been given any dates. It was also a surprise that the new Forza game didn't appear to be the target of the launch. I don't care: Creating a new ray-traced next-gen Forza game certainly offers plenty of challenges, but it does mean the main series will have taken a hiatus of more than three years by the time it launches. Traditionally, Forza players get a new entry every two years. Some exclusives have dates: The Gunk is coming in September 2021, and Halo Infinite, of course, is coming this holiday season. We also know of a few other partner games coming to Xbox this year, such as The Medium and Call of the Sea. However, it's strangely hard to say what next year will look like for Xbox when it comes to big games. My best guess is that it will see Forza and Everwild as its main titles in 2021, and Avowed and Fable later. While the initial PS5 release schedule seems simple enough, with Spider-Man: Miles Morales being the only PlayStation Studios title to release alongside the console's launch this year, it also has the added bonus of Bethesda-released Deathloop. in as a timed exclusivity around launch. . Sony could have been better at providing release dates for its games as well. Guerrilla Games has mentioned a target 2021 release for Horizon Forbidden West, but only after the actual game reveal. However, that at least gives us an idea of what shape the PS5 lineup will take next year. I would also expect to see Ratchet and Clank sometime in 2021.
What about Halo?
![Halo infinito]()
This weird and ugly screenshot from Halo Infinite has been criticized multiple times on social media. (Image credit: Microsoft) With nearly nine minutes of Halo Infinite gameplay footage, Microsoft deserves praise for meaningfully showing off what its flagship game looks like during its unveiling (even though it apparently ran on PC). If I didn't already know what Halo was, I don't know if this demo would blow my mind enough to invest in a new console. But did Halo really look good? It's become an oddly contentious topic, with the above screenshot becoming a lightning rod for memes and general mockery. Honestly, I really liked the look of Halo Infinite in motion, especially as a fan of older Halo games, but admittedly some of these screenshots looked harsher than I expected. A game to launch with a new generation console. The developers' choice to move into nostalgia with their choice of setting also raises questions about whether Halo Infinite seems too insular for modern audiences to be excited about. The world has evolved around Halo, with games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty: Warzone emerging as juggernauts as the series went on a five-year hiatus after Halo 5. Most Halo fans were undoubtedly excited. with the images Microsoft showed, but if I didn't already know what Halo was, I'm not sure this demo would blow my mind enough to invest in a new console. And after a generation dominated by Sony in sales, surely this is what Microsoft hopes will happen with Halo Infinite.
What happens next
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(Image credit: Future) Sony is rumored to have a State of Play live stream scheduled for August 2020, where it supposedly reveals more games for PS5. Microsoft still has the Halo Infinite multiplayer reveal in its back pocket, which for many people will be the reason to play. Neither Sony nor Microsoft are likely to have a particularly prolific release for big exclusives based on what we currently know, but both have at least one great game. Halo is the focus of Xbox and Spider-Man is from Sony. Deathloop, as mentioned, is a nice addition to PS5, coming from the developers of Dishonored 2, one of the best games of this generation. Xbox is also offering some console exclusives like Call of the Sea, The Medium, and The Ascent to bolster its lineup, along with the only next-gen version of Yakuza: Like a Dragon at launch. Xbox's commitment to Game Pass was the highlight of its demo event this week, with all the games featured on the show landing on the subscription-based service, which is remarkable. A very good announcement from Microsoft was the announcement that Destiny 2 will be added to Game Pass, including its upcoming Beyond Light expansion. This game will run at 60fps at 4K resolution on Xbox Series X and could give Bungie's title a second lease on life beyond its hardcore player base. Both consoles will also feature big multi-format games this year, like Watch Dogs: Legion, Marvel's Avengers, and Assassin's Creed Valhalla. In the short term, Sony still feels like it has the best exclusives for me, and Horizon will be a big deal when it arrives next year as a showcase for PS5 hardware. In the long run, however, Microsoft seems to organize itself to create the right exclusives. Granted, Obsidian's clear attempt to break into Skyrim territory, and Fable, which will hopefully be an open-world game to rival Horizon, are exactly the kind of big-budget bets Microsoft should be making with its sizable stable of games. studies. . The Xbox One has gone this entire generation without a great open-world cinematic game, while Sony has figured out that this is the single-player genre people are interested in right now. Although both games seem far, far away, they hint at Microsoft's long-term strategy to catch up with Sony. The Xbox, therefore, is making some good moves. It seems its most exciting games are some way off, according to this week's Showcase, and the world may need to see more convincing proof that Halo Infinite really is the game that will sell people on Xbox. X series this year.