PlayStation 4 Vs. Xbox One: Which Console Won E3?

Which console came out on top at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo?

As usual, the answer largely depends on who you ask.

Christine Arrington, Senior Games Analyst at IHS Electronics & Media IHS, thinks that Microsoft MSFT had the better presentation.

"The flow of it, just the feel of it, I think Microsoft's show was better," Arrington told Benzinga.

She said that while Sony's conference wasn't bad, it fluctuated between exciting game content (for PlayStation 4) and dry hardware discussions. The latter element was presumably designed to educate analysts and reporters who were in attendance.

"Microsoft probably hit the consumer a little bit better," Arrington added. "But I think that Sony has so much leeway with the consumer right now that having a few dry spots during their presentation really didn't have much of an impact on anybody watching."

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Presentations aside, Arrington said that Sony's exclusive content (such as the beta for Destiny and Battlefield Hardline) showed that the company has regained some of the leverage it had during the PlayStation 2 era.

Kicking Butt

Microsoft's press briefing showcased the company's ongoing evolution, but Brean Capital analyst Todd Mitchell still felt that Sony SNE came out on top.

"Sony kicked Microsoft's a**," Mitchell told Benzinga. "Far better developer support. Microsoft [is] retrenching to the core. Sony has that battened down, now moving to multimedia. Microsoft got the pacing wrong."

No Winner Necessary, But…

Given the performance of both companies, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter did not see the need to pick a winner.

Instead Pachter told Benzinga that both companies gave consumers what they wanted: games. Pachter didn't think the companies tied in every way, however, saying that he thought Microsoft's games had more hardcore appeal, and Sony's games had broader appeal.

Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.