I will go ahead and go through the motions here, but the biggest news is that Sony will have no DRM restricting the playing of used or rented games. Also, many customers won’t see the value of the Kinect sensor, so the PS4 coming in at $399.99 will look like a bargain. Sony really stuck it to the Xbox One today. Microsoft should count themselves lucky that they were able to do their briefing first. Following this Sony briefing would have been difficult, to put it mildly.
The show started with the standard Sony gaming montage that cycles through so fast that if you didn’t already know the titles in depth, you wouldn’t really know what you were watching. This has always struck me as an odd practice. After the video, Jack Tretton started talking about Vita. Sony has big plans for Vita, with 85 more titles releasing by the end of the year. The remote play functionality with the PS4 will secure the Vita’s position as the handheld to own.
Next up were some games for the PS3. There was a nice run of titles, including ‘The Last of Us,’ ‘Puppeteer,’ ‘Rain,’ ‘Beyond: Two Souls,’ ‘Gran Turismo 6,’ ‘Batman: Arkham Origins’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto V.’
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELTuTy1hPZk[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eTsbObGgJk[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnrsbX3Xm4Q[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI2Y5gsE0d0[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjySmF5IGO8[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsro7VQyUAE[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsLPNKy2dUY[/pro-player]
The console is now shown for the first time. It has a similar look to the Xbox One, a mix of gloss and matte black.
Sony launches into their media portion of the briefing, talking about how exclusive content from other Sony divisions will be making its way to the PS4 through the Video Unlimited and the Music Unlimited apps. Redbox Instant will also be arriving on PS3, PS4 and Vita.
Time for more games! This set includes ‘The Order: 1886,’ ‘Killzone: Shadow Fall,’ DriveClub,’ ‘Knack’ and ‘The Dark Sorcerer.’
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esdymuU6jKc[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM_VRp3HTx0[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Mk9VpbUGPU[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI5SIGRkTj8[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLAiNUUEFao[/pro-player]
Sony is supporting indie games in a big way with the PS4, including giving developers the ability to self-publish. They show off a pile of games, including a new Oddworld title. This sequence is worth a watch.
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYcae-PGC_c[/pro-player]
The PS3 and PS4 will get exclusive Diablo III content.
SquareEnix pops up to talk about Final Fantasy XV (previously FF Versus XIII) and Kingdom Hearts III.
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3xKbPooKAo[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtLkym8-RXU[/pro-player]
More games! ‘Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag,’ ‘Watch Dogs,’ ‘NBA2K14,’ ‘Elder Scrolls: Online’ and ‘Mad Max.’
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDlEwUP7lps[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqoQG_XYF-8[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHw3ydbHj0o[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYYdHyTodzc[/pro-player]
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn0aVkdBwt4[/pro-player]
And this is where Sony sticks in the knife and twists it. There are a number of digs at the Xbox One’s authentication requirements and reassures gamers that they support used games and have no restrictions whatsoever. They also gloss over announcing that online multiplayer will now be a feature of Playstation Plus and will no longer be free. It’s less than $5/mo, so I don’t think this will be a huge problem for PS4 gamers.
Adding insult to injury, Bungie shows off a multi-player demo of ‘Destiny.’
[pro-player type=’video’]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPwLeuiopHI[/pro-player]
With that, Sony announces the launch price of $399.99. Done and done!
Wow!! The PS4 easily beats the XBox One now. Just the fact that you don’t need PS+ to use any of the streaming apps. But that combined with a $100 lower price point and your casual gamer would most likely go with the PS4 over the Xbox One. MS really needs to lower the price of the XBox One to compete. Otherwise I think the PS4 sales will easily surpass the Xbox One sales this year.
Now if Sony could come out with a decent controller. I still have an issue with the PS controller where only a short time with it and my hands ache more than with several hours of the Xbox controller. I wonder if the Cronus adapter that lets you use the Xbox controller with the PS3 will work with the PS4? If so I just might be picking up a launch PS4.
Although I did put a pre-order in for an XBox One. But I am very tempted now to get a launch PS4 if I can use the 360 controller with it.. Especially since Bungie has exclusive content with Sony with their new game coming out.
I couldn’t agree more with you about the Sony controller. Hopefully the changes with the PS4 will make the new one not feel like a cheap plastic toy.
Plus if they can nail the cloud streaming of the best of the PS3 back catalog there is a path to play titles you may have missed on the new hardware, and maybe the vita.
MS was served big time last night.
Well according to a couple articles today I would say that the DRM issue isn’t completely resolved. However, we will see. They are now requiring the PS+ account to play multiplayer. Now they released a tracking camera lets call it Kinect light for $60. I think pricing is closer then they let on. In general though I think the PS4 should win this time around but it won’t get my money. I just can’t use their crappy controller.
But MS will not stop the stupidity. An interview was just released from last Sunday that was very condescending to the Xbox fan base by Mattrick. I was going to sit this one out for awhile but just decided on a PS4 only this gen. I do not care what they come out with for the Xbox one. They are not getting my money. What arrogant jerks.
Crank – I haven’t seen that interview – can you link it? Thanks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxkEe_l7S3g
Doesn’t seem so bad to me. [shrugs]
Peench – Here is the full text:
http://www.gamespot.com/e3/microsoft-xbox-one-will-be-leading-product-people-love-and-embrace-6409895/
You know I have been a fan since the beginning and I am sure there are a number of people that are like ok, I have internet and do not share, good for them, I am sure this will work fine. With no BC it truly does give me time to look at another platform altogether since the old stuff is going to be around my plasma for awhile. I think MS pushed too far on this one
Do any of you guys have a homemade steambox hooked up to your TVs? This may be the right time to go in that direction.
Can we get the forum back?
I am just a grumpy old gamer……
Interesting. I read the text and also watched the interview. There were some pretty intense debates before and while I was at E3 about this issue.
Personally I think it sucks… for now. The only thing that bugs the crap out of me is that if internet access goes down, I won’t be able to play a single player game. Keeping the 360 won’t help me in that regard so it really isn’t a proper response. We’re slowly getting to a point, however, where we’re all connected all the time. Once we hit that point then it won’t matter.
I guess we could look at it like the decision in the original Xbox (I think) to go Ethernet (broadband) only. The people on dial-up were pissed but in the end it was looking to the future and not relying on the past.
The biggest problem is that DRM, in any form, makes it more difficult to enjoy anything whether it is a game, music or movie. Those of us who follow the law are subject to rules and regulations designed to stop those people who do not. It makes it more difficult for us.
I like the concept of sharing games among friends and households and there was probably quite a bit of thought put into how to accomplish it without screwing everything else up. Unfortunately I don’t think there’s a really good right answer. I think what they have come up with is probably the best they could come up with at this time. Perhaps it will change as usage comes in, but I can’t think of a better way to do it.
I’m still ordering both and will enjoy them regardless. I do want to see how this shakes out and I believe that it is ironic that it was PR that brought MS and the Xbox into the ring and yet it is currently what is killing them.
If you go to E3 news what you are now seeing is all the publishers stating they are looking into ways to allow gamers to share content and support used games. What MS did is open the door to this. When was this ever at the forefront?
They gave them an in to change the model and are deflecting blame against each other.
That makes me mad, even if I never trade in a game it opens the door to first not being able to and then what? Paying an annual license fee on access to my game? don’t laugh it could happen.
Also, I’ve thought about bringing the forum back. Does anyone know if there is a simple add-on forum for WordPress? If so we can check it out. Thanks!
This, a thousand times this:
http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-every-game-company-gets-wrong-about-gamers/
and if you guys need any help from an admin perspective let me know.
LOL. Interesting article and it does raise some interesting points. I don’t really care about all the other features. I want a device on which I can game. If I wanted to do a bunch of other stuff, I’d sit down at my computer. I guess I’m also in the minority though because I don’t spend money renting movies or buying clothing for my avatar and most people do.
This console generation is going to be interesting because I think both MS and Sony have taken a totally non-console approach. It is no longer solely about gaming (something consoles excelled at because that’s all they did), now it is all about entertainment and fighting for the dollars that most people are spending on that entertainment.
Crank – are you a WP wizard? Have you integrated forums into a WP install? If so, let’s chat! Thanks!
I am not really a word press user per se but the consensus seems to be:
http://bbpress.org/
If you guys had a test site I would help look at it. I think we are back to a handful of regulars so the needs would not be too great.