Microsoft may have its share of internal and/or hardware problems, but one thing can be safely said: Microsoft knows how to give good press. With a great press relations team in the fun and sincere people at Gamerscore, Microsoft has cut out the middle man and now deals directly with sites such as ours. As a gamer, it was cool. As a journalist and editor, it was better than cool: Microsoft treated us with more respect than I'd dared hope, and expressed what felt like an honest interest in helping us serve our readers better with better access to people and resources like review copies.

As with many similar sites, we depend in large part upon the willingness of these corporations to participate in internet game journalism, and Microsoft immediately demonstrated that they were more than just talk: within hours of meeting our new contacts at Gamerscore, Fruit Brute and I had scored a one-on-two interview with Peter Molyneux and had been featured on Major Nelson's E3 podcast (right before he spoke to the Resistance: Fall of Man guys, which was either a fabulous accident or a very clever way to order the podcast). TriXie even listed meeting the two of us as one of her E3 highlights - that's not necessarily a PR decision, but it's indicative of the sense of genuine fun that Microsoft made certain pervaded their E3 camp.

If that sounds like fanboyism, don't let my enthusiasm fool you. With the heat, the walking, the impossible-to-keep schedule and all of the crossed wires of a still-experimental format, we were more than willing to be equal-opportunity misanthropes. Microsoft went out of their way to be supportive and friendly, and I believe it's perfectly ethical to acknowledge and thank them for that without implying that their hands-on approach has any leverage over our editorial content.

Sony is trying to undo over a decade of wretchedly-managed PR, and they deserve credit for making big steps in the right direction. The Sony press conference, held as usual at their Culver City film studios, was brutally far away from the other appointments we E3 attendees had to make, but their nightclub-style hands-on space was the best playable-game floor of the entire week. Plus: Bloody Marys.

Unfortunately there seems to be a communication gap between Dave Karraker, who by all accounts is a great guy who knows what Sony needs to do to catch up, and the footsoldiers of Sony's PR army. I felt, repeatedly, like they just didn't "get it." From the PS3 price SNAFU to the managing of their press contacts, Sony passed up nearly every chance to make a good impression.

PR stands for Public Relations, right? The panic-eyed women of Sony's PR corps seemed to fail on both counts: despite formatting over a good portion of their press conference invitation list (something we overheard being rather carelessly whispered), the SCEA team had no problem telling editors of sites with higher profiles than ours that they'd be unable to attend. Rather than admitting the problem, Sony's PR team put on an insincere smile and brushed off each rejected attendee with a "Sorry" said in the unmistakable tone of not being sorry one bit.

That's a failure to "relate," and it was both insulting to witness and deeply discouraging for anyone who wants Sony to play as important a role in this generation of consoles as they did with the PS and PS2.

If they'd been friendly, understanding, or even aware of their environment, that would at least be one outta two, but SCEA's PR team was nearly universally rude - to us and to others we witnessed. Without naming names, an appointment to speak with one higher-up was suggested by another higher-up, and that part went well. The people at Sony who seem to really matter are lovely. It's the PR team guarding the gates that were, unfortunately, gorgons. When it came time to schedule the suggested appointment, it was only through egregious name-dropping and a refusal to be dismissed that we made any progress at all, and even then we were looked at like something unmentionable best mopped up by a servant.

That's a failure on the "public" part of the PR job. Sony's PR team seemed unable or unwilling to relate publicly or engage in public relations of a genuine sort. Whether or not Sony's leadership, systems or games deserve good press is virtually irrelevant if the team whose job it is to interface with the press and the public is unwilling to do so. When the PR machine doesn't work or, worse still, backfires consistently, bad press is the natural result. If a winemaker sold an exquisite vintage bottled in an old boot studded with broken glass, you wouldn't blame poor business on the dull palates of the public - so it seems to be with Sony. Until they can manage their product without making more enemies and worsening their strife, they'll be hobbling what I know could otherwise be a blockbuster new generation of portable and console gaming.

(For what it's worth, the PR folks at Sony Online Entertainment, a vastly less over-arching aspect of the Sony empire, were some of the friendliest and most welcoming people we met all week. The unhealthy PR environment at SCEA could stand to learn a thing or two from their colleagues!)

Again, that was the big three as seen from my perspective, warts and all, and although after rereading what I've written it seems nearly impossible to believe I'm unbiased, this is the honest truth as I've experienced it. I'm enough of an idealistic gamer at my core to truly want all three to be hugely successful, since that only means mo' better games for the rest of us. In an ideal world, I'd like my criticism to be constructive rather than celebratory: Microsoft's got PR in the bag and should keep on keepin' on, Sony needs a major overhaul at the very least, and Nintendo's light touch is juuust right.