First of all, it should be said that my opinion literally means nothing - it’s just something I believe based on what I’ve gleaned from all of these fast-breaking announcements and conference extravaganzas so far. I just wanted to share those thoughts here because it’s exciting and I’m curious to see what others think.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I own a PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, Gaming PC, Vita, and 3DS because I am a weak man who likes to punish himself, but also just to say that I don’t have any one particular horse in this race either. I will readily throw away my disposable income on any videogame or platform that remotely shows promise or intrigue or value. OK, with the housekeeping out of the way here are my thoughts:

There is no such thing as “winning E3” and really, this year especially every gamer wins because there is another year lined up with awesome potential for great games on all platforms.

But if I’m being totally honest, in my gut, Microsoft “Won” E3 this year.

There, I said it. Before any rioting or trolling here’s why I came to that conclusion; They came to the show with more than just gestures or promises, they drove the final nail into the Xbox One Launch coffin. But more importantly they laid out a foundation for the future that leverages features only they can offer as a platform with meaningful benefits directly for gamers. Finally, they showed up to the table with a bunch of games and games only with an impressive stable of exclusive content that is actually releasing this year. In short, Microsoft comes out of this E3 offering more to their users than any of the other contenders.

Make no mistake, Backwards Compatibility is huge. The ability to run your back catalogue of Xbox360 games, natively, for free, with existing game saves and achievements is a huge effing deal. It’s a commitment to their fans that goes beyond lip service and gives non-owners another reason to own Xbox One. Comparatively, Nintendo straight up charges their users per title for similar functionality and the PS4 relies on a streaming service that still requires a subscription from their consumers above and beyond their standard network plan. Sure, the entire catalogue hasn’t been verified and is case by case, but the same is true for Sony and Nintendo and they are still charging you for it on top of that - and have to rely on streaming quality to boot.

HoloLens is real. More importantly it has practical applications for gaming that nothing else is offering in terms of AR, but more importantly, it works (at least based on impressions from live demos from the floor so far). Sony could answer with their own version, but given their focus on developing and investing in Morpheus why would they? Which means Microsoft is the only platform that will be offering an AR experience of this calibre to the market (not to entirely discount 3DS of course).

In terms of Morpheus, Microsoft had an answer for VR as well. Partnering with Oculus Rift (arguably the anticipated market leader and most supported for the category) takes the pressure off having to take losses on hardware manufacturing and support while reaping the benefits of tapping into a separate user base and having direct access to that market. They also locked down Valve VR (the other major player in the market). Both of these moves show a commitment to VR without even having to rely on hardware limitations of the Xbox One itself, whereas at some point Project Morpheus has no choice but to come to terms with hardware that will be nearly three years old before it even comes to market. The other challenge Sony will have is charging several hundreds of dollars for a device that can only be used with a PS4 as opposed to the more flexible platforms afforded by Valve VR and Oculus combined with Xbox One. A lot of these details are still yet to unfold of course, but for the sake of E3 2015 this is where we stand.

The Elite controller is another example of Microsoft showing that they are invested in the community of gamers by at least offering a niche hardcore option without trying to force it down their throats like they did at launch. They have changed and are proving it with actions like this, not just promises and words. It also helps them further reach the PC gaming market and stay connected to that market in a way that Sony and Nintendo just are not doing.

Even bigger than all of these advancements is the already existing and very substantial PC Gaming market. Microsoft has finally leveraged the most popular OS worldwide and have laid out how it will be integrated with Xbox One and actually benefit gamers beyond just a better UI. They made smart decisions here bringing the benefits of PC gaming to their console with initiatives like free early access to help indie developers reach broader audiences and let gamers evaluate the development of games if not at least getting to experience games first on Xbox. I see cross-buy between Xbox and PC as another potential option that opens up for Microsoft to explore depending on how competitive they want to go with this. Also, PC streaming is another tangible benefit that Microsoft can offer via Windows 10 that neither Sony or Nintendo will be able to offer.

I mean we haven’t even got to the exclusive games yet here. With at least 7 new exclusive titles launching by this fall, 6 of which are flagship 1st and 3rd party releases and another 7 brand new exclusive IP titles following next year there is real and concrete reasons to play on Xbox One without having to wait that long. Microsoft is just making the right kind of moves and isn’t just talking about them. While I think they didn’t have the option not to make these kind of moves given the ground they need to cover in the market, the exciting thing to me is that, holy shit, they are actually making these moves and then following up with new moves people didn’t even see coming from a company like the Microsoft of years’ past.

Compare all of this to Sony coming out of their E3 showing. Sony had an amazing conference that was insanely memorable, if not for the wrong reasons. To be fair, Sony just had to show up to E3 this year, nothing more. They had (and earned) that luxury. Luckily, they did a lot more than just show up of course which is good for everyone else. But to me, dropping the mic on promises of a fashionably popular 20 year old remake with no release date (FFVII), an 8 year old game in development limbo (without the original director on board) and a tentative release date of 2016 (Last Guardian), and a crowd-funded sequel to a relatively obscure Dreamcast cult classic that isn’t even slated to release until December 2017 (Shen Mue 3) is the equivalent of a presidential candidate promising to lower taxes if you just clap and vote for them because right now this moment is really exciting.

Sony’s E3 this year felt like it was really meant for E3 2016, it was more about the promise of future games rather than actually delivering a lot of exclusive content this year. I don’t mean to diminish the amazing looking No Man’s Sky which is a landmark new IP to be sure (that I will be buying just to experience something so ambitious), or even Until Dawn - but let’s be honest no one walked away from the Sony E3 presser thinking that Amplitude or Enter the Gungeon or even that Little Big Planet successor Dreaming thing was the reason to play PS4 this fall. I mean Sony didn’t even show Persona 5 - is that still coming out this year?

The argument that the reason people opt in to PS4 is 3rd party preference starts to run thin when you stack up the value and options Microsoft is pumping into Xbox at this point in addition to 3rd party moves like how Fallout 4 PC mods is actually a thing on Xbox at launch compared to PS4.

Sony, with PS4, is the market share leader and their E3 showing felt like they are starting to be comfortable with that. Just tell people what they want to hear and follow through when Sony feels like it. They’re not even fully funding Shenmue for fuck’s sake, they’re riding part of that on the backs of their fans and the fans are still going ape-shit about it. I’m more impressed by Sony’s ability to garner the perceived reaction of people who seem to be more excited about wanting to feel excited so hard they start to believe it. It worked at launch, it seems to have worked at this year’s show, but sooner or later don’t people need more than a promise don't they? Don't they? No? Ok I'll be quiet now..

And then there is Nintendo. I love Nintendo to a fault, but damn this year’s E3 showing was depressing. I want to believe they are pouring their resources into finishing the new Zelda and figuring out how to solve NX, the problem is that’s all I took away from their showing and they won’t even be talking about that stuff until next year. Mario Maker is a must buy without question just to relive your own personal NWC, but it looks like if I want to turn on my Wii U between now and this holiday season the game being played will be Spaltoon only. I hold out hope for Starfox Zero and I respect that they showed it in a playable state. But uhh...that was kind of it from them this year for me. Maybe next year will be their triumphant return to the mantle of E3 winner..

Anyway, that’s what I think for better or worse. Here’s hoping there’s more things to get excited about or even change my mind in the coming week. No matter what, despite some of the low points there has been a seemingly unending stream of high points and videogames and those who enjoy them win in the end.