Microsoft's Project Scorpio Announcement A Surprise To Sony Interactive CEO

Microsoft came out swinging at this year's E3, with not one but two console reveals. One was the Xbox One S (a slim model redesign), while the other is codenamed Scorpio, and seeks to be the most powerful console on the market.

While that's all well and good, it doesn't actually release until Christmas of 2017. It will probably be around the same time as Sony releases their updated console, the Neo, which will be compatible with 4K TV's and will be more powerful to accommodate Playstation VR.

At E3, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Andrew House spoke to The Guardian about Neo, and why they chose to announce it before E3.

"The point of confirming the existence of PlayStation 4 Neo and the bare bones of the plan last week was about not disappointing the fan base who would obviously come to E3 with high expectations of all kinds of announcements. And from past experience, the worst thing you can do is disappoint and pull the rug away from people. That's why we went out last week and said, yes, it does exist but don't expect to see it at E3. I think it was the right thing to do."

He continued: "In terms of the right time to talk about Neo, just like every other hardware launch, VR being a good example, it's when you've got a full range of experiences that you can showcase to say this is why this product's great and that's why we're offering it. And that time is not right now."

While Sony sought to divert the focus from Neo to its current stable of games and hardware, Microsoft put the spotlight squarely on their upcoming hardware. This was surprising to House.

"I was surprised by the step of announcing something over a year ahead of time," he said. "The dynamics of the tech industry are such that there's a much heavier emphasis on immediate gratification than there was. A lot of that is to do with how Apple has very cleverly and elegantly managed the 'available now' approach. So yes, that was a slight surprise to me. We experienced this ourselves, when, in 2013, very much in line with our previous strategies, we announced a concept and a name for PlayStation 4, and everyone said 'where's the box? How dare you?!' That was the point we realised, well, we hadn't changed but the world around us had. I don't think we're suggesting with Neo, the conventional console lifecycle is over – I'm certainly not making that statement," he said. "This is an additional option, it's a high-end version of a PlayStation 4, let's be very clear about that, rather than a generational shift."

It remains to be seen if Microsoft can recapture some of the market share with their renewed hardware, but fortunately, we've got plenty of time to see how things unfold before Project Scorpio hits shelves.