Forget 2013, let's look at 2005 - Xbox 360 reveal baby.
Just for comparison let's look at what they showed back at the Xbox 360 reveal (E3 2005) in order:
Dead or Alive 4 <- looked absolutely fuuucking glorious
J Allard: "There's been a lot of discussion about when the next generation of video games begins. It begins right now. It begins this year, and you just saw it with your very own eyes. We'll have 25-40 titles ready this calendar for Xbox 360" <- not 'coming soon', not 'coming for the Xbox family of devices', coming for that console.
Lost Odyssey <- looked super cool
Project Gotham Racing 3 <- didn't actually show any in-game assets at this point in the show, but still cool for the time
Ghost Recon 3 <- looked amazing (was a bit bullshot to some extent, but hey Killzone 2
so I'll forgive it)
NBA 2K6 <- graphics were gorgeous
Kameo <- not my cuppa tea but demonstrated some interesting graphical techniques!
Call of Duty 2 <- another 'meh' but still good they had the marketing for it
Elder Scrolls Oblivion <- again, not exclusive but a great way to show off the power of next-gen, gorgeous
Gears of Mother Fucking War <- I was honestly blown away, I had to watch it again, I thought it was fake but it wasn't!
EA Sizzle Reel (FIFA 06, NBA LIVE 06, PGA Live 10, Need for Speed Most Wanted) Impressive but NFS was the best of the bunch
Final Fantasy XI Online <- had been out for a while already, but still a nod of approval from Square Enix
Square Enix Tech Demo <- again big boost for Xbox to have them not showing it first on PS3
Ending Sizzle Reel of yet more games
Project Gotham Racing 3, The Darkness, Test Drive Unlimited, Frame City Killer, Top Spin 2, Full Auto, The Outfit, Saint's Row, Perfect Dark Zero
I mean.... come on it was a fuuuuuucking blowout and it was fantastic. They literally had so many games to show they just had them as extra (oh by the way, these ones too!). To this day, I still remember watching that Gears of War reveal with the big hunking monster thinking 'how the hell can that be running on that machine?'. It was a crystal clear message of "If you want to have the best next-gen experience, you need an Xbox 360". Not all the games were exclusives but it didn't matter. Xbox 360 had the first showing. It tacitly means something that a publisher would rather show their games on your system than the competition.
I concede that in this day and age, a lot of the big companies have decided to have their own individual press events so some games are kinda off the table perhaps, but still look at all those heavy hitters.
I don't see it from Microsoft at all with this upcoming generation. I also don't see anything Xbox-360-beating in the PS5 launch ramp up but it comes off better than Xbox has.
Feel free to poke holes in what I've said but you all agree
deep down.
deep down.