Today at E3 it was dueling presentations between Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4.
Microsoft went first. I think this sums it up.
It is hard to come to a conclusion besides “Total Victory for Sony” at E3.
The PlayStation 4 will:
- have a base price of $399, $100 less than the Xbone
- support used/traded/rented games
- not require an internet connection to play
- not have that creepy always on Kinnect watching your every move
I am not in the market for a next generation console, but if I were I know which way I would be leaning.
Still, it is only June and the PlayStation 4 isn’t due out until the holiday season. There is still time for Sony to follow its tradition of screwing something up with each console launch.
Meanwhile, I thought I heard somebody mention something called a “we-you” or some such. It was hard to tell with Shigeru Miyamoto sobbing in the corner.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 
Just the bad news with the PS4 that people seems to neglect.
1. You will now need to pay a $5 monthly sub for online multiplayer (same as Xbox Live). However at least it seems other apps usage will still be free (i.e. Netflix, Browser etc). You need Xbox Live sub to use most of the non-gaming apps .
2. The Eye is not included and will be sold as a $60 seperate bundle. The good is, it’s not forced on you considering the rather crap/gimmicky games that has come out of Kinect/Motion . The bad is , as a optional module, chances are devs aren’t going to target it much for development, pretty much like the Kinect now. MS forcing the Kinect implies devs are more likely to make use of it, because everyone will have it.
But overall, Sony is still coming out ahead methinks. They are still coming across as focusing on the gamers and the consumer and teeny weeny less on their/publisher’s pockets .
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The point Silvertemplar raises could be relevant for some of those much hyped cross platform MMO’s. Are TESO, FFXIV, et al going to charge the full PC monthly fee on top of the PSN access fee? At least DCUO is free to download and free to play (once you have paid the PSN fee?), but it’s puzzling to me why anyone would choose to play these titles on a console under those terms.
But yes, Sony appears to have won this round of the hype war pretty majorly. Such was the risk that Microsoft took by trying to lead the charge on digital restrictions, and at least for this generation the market will speak. The bigger question is whether the PS5 will quietly use the XBONE model the same way the PS4 is quietly using the XB360 multiplayer fee model.
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@silvertemplar – When it comes to The Eye and all such add ons, are they really anything but gimmicks yet? My impression of the Wii after five years was that most of the games we played would have worked as well… or better… with a standard controller. The motion stuff was great for Wii Sports and Mario Party 8, but was elsewhere, not so much.
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Seems like a hollow victory to me. All people are talking about is how the PS4 lacks some of the annoying drek the XBox is being sidled with, but I’m still not hearing any compelling reasons for anyone to actually BUY either of these contraptions.
Of course the PS4 looks good so close on the heels of Microsofts traditionally terrible show, but these press conferences won’t bloody matter come launch date.
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@Attic Lion – So you are saying that people will forget pricing, DRM, and the internet connection requirement? Not if Sony is competent and makes it part of their wider marketing campaign. Or if Microsoft “fixes” a few of these “issues.”
Sure, a certain segment of the console population is going to buy one or the other because they are heavily invested in a particular camp. But that is a pretty big club that Sony has with which to beat Microsoft.
As for compelling reasons to buy… you’re preaching to the choir on that one around these parts. No compelling games for me. However, the last game that I saw that sold consoles was Wii Sports.
No, it looks like it will be a matter of not making any new games for the older consoles along with shutting down services for them as time goes on in order to push people forward or leave them feeling marginalized.
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No, I’m not saying that.
What I was trying to say no system has ever won the console wars by not having games worth playing, no matter what else they have, and thus far nobody has shown any fabled ‘killer app’ game that will drive their console sales.
Thus, as things stand, I can’t fathom anyone truly winning this holiday season. Without good games most consoles will only be sold to hopeless fanboys and people who have massive hardons for new gadgets, but neither of those are massively large audiences.
Maybe someone will surprise me later this week.
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I agree this is interesting but it seems like a discussion of horse drawn buggies as the car takes over. Just can’t decide which device (all of them?) is the car.
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I disagree, the winner will most likely be Sony. so far.
unless Microsoft finds a way to pull out of the bad attention.
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@silvertemplar
ps+ is less than 5$ a month (50$ a year) so its cheaper than gold
other than that yep.
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I have to say, the Sony PR department is doing a great job so far:
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That video is exactly what Sony needs to do. Don’t play nice; just go right at MS and point out all of the bad decisions they have made.
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Microsoft is going for the broader audience. Gaming is only going to be a small part of the Xbox One’s usage model. They are looking ahead 5+ years down the road. XB1 will (supposedly) do so much more and possibly end up in more households than a simply gaming console would. At least from what I have read that is the theory.
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There are a lot of things that Microsoft could do to fight back… once it has apologized profusely for what was perceived as a rape joke by some.
This isn’t one of them:
“We Have A Product For People Who Can’t Access The Internet, It’s Called Xbox 360”
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