Topic: Sony just ripped MS a new one

[idolminds]

Used games are a go on PS4. No online check for disc based games. No 24 hour checkin stuff. Sony says they listened and the crowd went bananas at the conference.

Shots fired.

$399 price tag. Boom, headshot.

[gpw11]

Holy shit.  The appealed to fans, pretty much gave the retailers an ingrained reason to push their console over the competition, and just beat Microsoft's price by $100. Headshot indeed.

[MysterD]

The whole Sony conference was trolling Microsoft and delivering bloody murder.
Tons of games shown - Triple-A and Indie.
The whole consumer-friendly position = nail in the freaking coffin.

[K-man]

Microsoft dun goofed.

[idolminds]

Looks like this got glossed over quickly, but online multiplayer is now behind PS Plus. Unlike MS, stuff like Netflix is not. And Plus does give you some pretty nice "free" games on a monthly basis so its not a bad deal. Still sucks that they did that, though. Would kinda screw up a Dark Souls game.

[MysterD]

Looks like this got glossed over quickly, but online multiplayer is now behind PS Plus. Unlike MS, stuff like Netflix is not. And Plus does give you some pretty nice "free" games on a monthly basis so its not a bad deal. Still sucks that they did that, though. Would kinda screw up a Dark Souls game.

$5 a month ($60 per year) for PS Plus on that PS4, right?

[gpw11]

$50 a year here.  I actually just looked at that the other day because I heard about the free games and am considering dropping dollars on Plus.  I don't play a ton of PS3 games and really, for $50 a year you get access to something like 13 games for that period.  I THINK it works that you can download them and play them as long as your subscription is active, and only lose access if you stop paying.  It's like a mini Netflix for games, and the selection was pretty sweet.

Still, that's unfortunate.

[idolminds]

Yes, from what I know you get to keep the free games as long as you keep your sub. If it lapses then you lose them all.

So this holiday is going to be very interesting. With this used game announcement, Gamestop is going to be pushing PS4 hard over Xbone. GS is going to be the main DRM awareness center for next gen to the masses.

MS is going to have some motherfucking MEETINGS over the next few days.

[Cools!]

I'm glad that Sony is learning from Microsoft's mistakes. It was definitely a big win for them today.

Not having an always-on requirement is a huge win for gaming. At least for now.

[gpw11]

It's hilarious because if you came from ten years in the past, sat down in that conference and saw the insane reaction to this power point slide you would be soooo fucking confused.

[Cobra951]

Awesome news.  I'm still leery of game-by-game restriction shenanigans, but those fears can get put to bed quickly by all the parties concerned.  Wow, black and white, night and day--so unusual.  I may just have to buy one of these things soon after launch, if all the promises pan out.  I feel voting with my dollars has never been more important on this front.

On the PS+ thing, it's a push for me.  I've been paying for Live on the Xbox.  I'm going to change its settings so it reverts to silver early next year, regardless of how soon I move over to the PS4.  I'm not paying MS any more money.  I'd rather give it to Sony.

[gpw11]

Awesome news.  I'm still leery of game-by-game restriction shenanigans, but those fears can get put to bed quickly by all the parties concerned.  Wow, black and white, night and day--so unusual.  I may just have to buy one of these things soon after launch, if all the promises pan out.  I feel voting with my dollars has never been more important on this front.

I kind of feel the same way.  I mean, I probably won't buy one unless I have a bunch of cash sitting around, but I'd like to because it is quite a bit more important than I originally thought. That and I always feel like supporting a company that makes all the right moves.

I'd really love to read the behind the scenes accounts of this a few years down the road, because there is no way Microsoft locked into this without thinking Sony was going to do the same.  And really, if they did, they deserve the worst because that is just dumb decision making at their best.  But the look on the Sony CEO's face while making the announcement was just priceless.  "Yeah, this is how we're playing this." and when fans went nuts you could see he was visibly excited in his vindication.

As for publishers, I think the worst they can really do is the online pass system they had this generation.  If it's not built into the hardware there's no way to lock out a game.  The PS4 isn't set up to report into servers, so you should be able to run offline indefinitely.  I guess a game could still not let you load without checking a server, but I tend to think Sony may have a problem with that.  It really all depends on how much of the market they control I suppose...which is why the price point is an amazingly big deal.

[W7RE]

On the PS+ thing, it's a push for me.  I've been paying for Live on the Xbox.  I'm going to change its settings so it reverts to silver early next year, regardless of how soon I move over to the PS4.  I'm not paying MS any more money.  I'd rather give it to Sony.

I think I've said it on here before, but I've been paying $1 a month for like 2 years now. I just keep auto-renew off and use dashboard deals of $2 for 2 months. This last time it ran out there wasn't one, but I was able to find the a link to the same deal from cheapassgamer.com.

MS announced today that starting in July, Gold members will get 2 free games per month. They didn't specify if you get to keep them if your sub lapses like with PSN+.

I really hope the events of today cause Microsoft to rethink some of the things they're doing with Xbox One. I was a lot more excited about the exclusives they showed than the Sony ones.

[Cools!]

[gpw11]

I'm pretty sure Microsoft will run it exactly like Sony.  The reason you lose your games when your PSN+ subscription expires is because the free games rotate. So, you lose your access to one that was offered 18 months ago, it's deleted, and then it's not offered again when you sign back on because there are 12 (or whatever) new games.  It may enter the rotation again and you can snag it, it may not.

As soon as Microsoft announced that they were offering free games, the criticisms were that there were only two of them...and they were really old. Apparently PSN+ will offer (maybe good) games that came out in the last year or so, but just have them rotate out quicker. The rotation system is really key to how their system works, I guess.

It would make sense for Microsoft to do the same.  Otherwise you're really only going to be able to offer really old games.


I guess Nintendo is releasing their Nintendo Direct video tomorrow morning. People are saying this could be the nail in the coffin for Microsoft but I don't really think so.  Like, you're really into Smash Brothers and you're buying a WiiU or you're not. Nintendo's not going to shake anything up unless they showcase something no one has seen them do before. 

[Cobra951]

I think I've said it on here before, but I've been paying $1 a month for like 2 years now. I just keep auto-renew off and use dashboard deals of $2 for 2 months. This last time it ran out there wasn't one, but I was able to find the a link to the same deal from cheapassgamer.com.

MS announced today that starting in July, Gold members will get 2 free games per month. They didn't specify if you get to keep them if your sub lapses like with PSN+.

I really hope the events of today cause Microsoft to rethink some of the things they're doing with Xbox One. I was a lot more excited about the exclusives they showed than the Sony ones.

I'm thinking MS may end up caving in on the more controversial points, but it hardly matters to me anymore.  I can't trust them.  I'm even paranoid now that they're going to retrofit some of this garbage to the 360 through a system update.  It's such a contrast from the feeling that they did everything right, after fixing the RRoD fiasco.  Painless offline,  painless online, full disc installs to HDD, disc games available as digital purchases, remarkably dependable network.  Then, the X-bomb hits.  So much for peace of mind.

[gpw11]

The RRoD is what turned me off of ever buying a 360 and made me go PS3. Aside from that it did seem like they did everything right (and they even handled it pretty well from what I saw?), but even knowing I just had to make a call in order to exchange should something happen, why roll the dice when I could just get a different system?

[Cobra951]

If I had waited a while longer before jumping in, the RRoD issue would have surfaced, and no way in hell would I have bought into the platform then.  But by the time it came to light, I was already heavily invested.  The most economical course of action then was to keep the hardware working, on Microsoft's dime (first time) or mine (second time).

[idolminds]

Some more info came out this morning. User replaceable HDD and the system is region free.

[Cobra951]

I just came in here to post about those.  Yes, both are apparently confirmed.  Awesomeness abounds.  I hope they can keep this momentum going.  It's a long way till release still, and Microsoft is sure to do something about all of this by then.

[Cobra951]

Interview with Jim Ryan, president of SCE Europe.  Details and explanations, basically.

[MysterD]

Kotaku -> That "Used Games / Sharing" Video was not planned.

[idolminds]

Linky
Direct Linky

Patrick spends 30 minutes talking PS4 policies with Scott Rohde, SVP of product development at Sony's worldwide studios division. Online passes? Charging for multiplayer? External hard drives? We cover it all.