My E3 Highlights! 

So...I posted a quick version of this on my Facebook - Thought Ops page. However; for those of you that want more nitty gritty detail - here it is.

1) The specs on that Xbox One X! Specifically - 6 TFLOP's of Gfx perf! Why can't we have PC's with this perf for $500? Mostly because that Xbox is being sold likely at cost or even a little below. But think about it... it means we're likely being over-charged for most PC gaming rigs. 

• <Extra commentary> I really want everyone to think about this. If we can have a 6 TFLOP's worth of graphics horsepower for ~$500. Holy cow!!! This sort of gives away what the BOM/COGS cost high end Consoles. So.. if a PC Gamer goes out - drops $1000, $1500, $2000 or more on a PC Gaming rig that doesn't have that level of Performance - then something is definitely wrong. Or.. as the saying goes - "...then something is rotten in the state of Denmark". IF it isn't.. then what I think the OEM's need to be more forthcoming with is the overall cost of the OS, & other components that are jacking up the cost.

2) The Games! I'm excited about:A) Destiny 2 - but for PC. Always should have been on PC. Think eSports.B) Far Cry 5. Why? It's Far Cry! C) Heroes of Skyrim. Skyrim was WAY better on PC. Especially the mods.D) Call of Duty: WW II. Looks awesome!

• <Extra commentary> Let's go back to that little tidbit I mentioned about eSports. (Which likely deserves its own blog-post eventually). In short - I feel it's foolish for any game developer to not think about ways to get some variant of a spectator mode into one's game. Also; at the end of the day it's about mind share. As a Senior VP at EA (Rich H.) once told me. "If there's no mind share, there's no dollar share". <Amen>. So.. ignore the eSports phenomenon at your own risk. Games that haven't forgotten about their PC gaming constituents have done very well indeed. (e.g. LoL, Dota 2, WoT, & more recently Overwatch). So...if you ignore the eSports crowd. You run a higher risk of losing that mind/dollar share over time to other games that do cater to it.
• Cause and Effect? Consoles are dying. They simply can't keep up; nor do they lend themselves well to eSports - for the most part. So yes... I said it. I'll even take it a step further. The best that Consoles can hope for is to eventually become a 'glorified certification program'. <-- This is my prediction for the next round of Consoles.

3) Smart Toys. Amibo & Lego Dimensions! Even though Disney Infinity couldn't figure it out - at least Nintendo does.

• Wow... what a missed opportunity!!!! Seriously Disney - what were you thinking? Why didn't you focus more on PC & Mobile devices? Which..oh.. by the way is at least 80% of the gaming market. Wth? At least Skylanders, Amibo, & Lego Dimensions are going strong. A 'Smart' company will figure out ways to get their games to be enhanced by Smart Toys, or make it the actual game itself. That's about all I'll say. I have a ton of ideas here, and again, I can't believe all the missed opportunity going on here. (Think SaaS, Paas, IOT, & so forth).

So there it is.. a brief run down on E3 2017.

Stay tuned for more upcoming blogs.

Have a great upcoming 4th of July weekend!!!! 

Kind regards,

Matt

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