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Gaming's Competitive Jabs Of 2013
Ever since the days of "Sega does what Nintendon't" a degree of (usually) healthy competition has existed between various consoles and publishers. The gaming landscape is generally more polite in modern times, but the occasional jab still manages to make its way through. Here are three that happened in 2013.
Sony assaults Microsoft at E3
If there's one thing that people will remember most about E3 2013, it's Sony's complete trouncing of Microsoft. Gamers were becoming increasingly skeptical of Microsoft's approaches to used games, internet connectivity, and mandatory Kinect, and Sony obviously took note.
They responded in full force, making it perfectly clear in their press conference that they would not be implementing any similarly restrictive policies. If there was one moment in particular that felt like a punch to Microsoft's gut, it was the video that demonstrated how game sharing works on the PlayStation 4.
Watch Dogs’ premature confidence
Ubisoft's ambitious open world title was one of the first peeks at next gen that many of us saw, and it was positioned to be the hot new IP for this year's console launches. Unfortunately, it seems that the marketing team at Ubisoft could have spent a little more time making sure that the release date was reachable by the developers.
When Grand Theft Auto V made waves with its record-setting release, Ubisoft responded with an ad that basically said "have your fun for a couple months, but we're taking over in November." This ad looks a bit silly in hindsight, considering Watch Dogs was delayed until 2014 after that ad hit.
Battlefield gets cocky
EA has had Call of Duty in their sights for a while, even attaching an "Above and beyond the call" tagline to Battlefield 3's marketing back in 2011. Activision's annual series has maintained its lead, but that hasn't stopped EA from trying. This year, a quote on the back of the Battlefield 4 box says "Frostbite 3 engine and Battlefield 4 put Call Of Duty: Ghosts to shame."
In what may be a less-direct shot at the Activision series, a story trailer for Battlefield 4 featured a soldier punching a dog in the face. While Battlefield 4 may be a very good game when it works, it's been plagued with a multitude of issues while Call of Duty: Ghosts has featured a relatively problem-free launch.
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