Sony has Already Won the Next Gen Wars

Scott Tortorice

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I didn't think they would do it, but they have: Sony has played all the right cards for the PS4. No online connection requirement, no limitation on used games, and $100 cheaper than the XBone. Nicely played!

And they are even doing an "in you face, Microsoft!" ad! :D


If I were to get a console, it would definitely be a PS4.
 

kawaiku

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Lol that was a great move by Sony. So far I'm hearing that they're charging $5 a month to play online but the info seems confusing and I'm too lazy to look it up atm. And to top it off Sony's making the PS4 cheaper than the Xbone.
 

Scott Tortorice

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And Sony keeps piling on:

PS4 hard drive is user-replaceable

by Andrew Yoon, shacknews.com, Jun 11, 2013 1:17AM PDT

Note: Shacknews apologizes if you're getting tired of these stories that point out what PS4 can do that Xbox One cannot.

PlayStation 4 will support user-replaceable hard drives. According to Sony's Shuhei Yoshida, hard drives are upgradeable "like PS3." PS3 used standard notebook hard drives which could be swapped rather easily. Xbox 360, on the other hand, relied on proprietary hard drives for a bulk of the console's life.

PS4 will launch with a 500GB hard drive, but should that not be enough, you can simply buy a larger one. (Terabyte drives go for well under $100.)
Xbox One does not support user-replaceable hard drives. However, that console does support external USB 3.0 storage devices.




Brilliant marketing, Sony!


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I would love to be a fly on the wall in the MS offices. I wonder how much blood is splattered all over the exec offices by now? :D

What is amazing is how MS has repeated the same mistakes that Sony made with the PS3. Remember how that went?

1) Sony announced that the PS3 will not just be a game console, but an entertainment hub for movies and TV. This ticked off gamers.
2) Sony launched the PS3 with only a single (or was it two?) exclusive title on launch. This ticked off gamers.
3) Sony sets the PS3 price point so high that both MS and Nintendo joked that you could buy an Xbox 360 and a Wii for the price of a single PS3. Gamers flock to the Xbox 360.


Flash forward to 2013. MS has put the finishing touches on the Xbox One and needs a marketing plan. One exec says, "Hey, I know! Let's dust off that excellent marketing plan that Sony used for the PS3!" :rolleyes:

You really can't make this stuff up. Is this what the top business schools are churning out these days?


 

Scott Tortorice

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More good news for Sony:

PlayStation 4: Sony outmaneuvers Microsoft on price, design, and common sense

Xbox One controversy reaches its climax as Sony twists the knife

If a quick poll around the Verge newsroom is any indication, things are looking up for Sony. The PlayStation 4, while perhaps a more conventional product, appears to beat the Xbox One in just about every area that counts.

...

The company [Microsoft] may have reached too far. The demand for the Xbox One's new software features — like Skype video calls on the side of your screen while you're watching live TV — is unproven, and yet Microsoft is asking a mainstream audience to pay five times the price of an Apple TV. Without much focus on its media functionality, the PS3 quietly became the most popular device for Netflix streaming last year. The PS4 will offer at least as many options, and that might be enough for most prospective buyers.


Even with the US success of the Xbox 360, Microsoft will have a much tougher sell on its hands this time around. The advantages of the Xbox One are less clear to the type of customer that lays out several hundred dollars on a video game console. The 360 built its lead and won all-important early adopters with a reasonable price, gamer-friendly features, and a steady stream of core titles that often looked better than their PlayStation 3 counterparts. But when both next-generation systems see release this holiday season, those same early adopters may well find more to like in the PlayStation 4.
 

kawaiku

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It's just amazing how big of a debacle this has been for Microsoft. It's just astounding how big of a turn around it is for them to make features so... I guess... draconian DRM (to use your words from the screenshot thread). Microsoft's main features about having to be online, can't loan and barrow and buy and sell used games... it's unbelievable.

Here is PS4's Press Conference. Just skip to minute 36 to get to the actual presentation:

Here is Microsoft's:
 
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kawaiku

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Morbii

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1) Sony announced that the PS3 will not just be a game console, but an entertainment hub for movies and TV. This ticked off gamers.
2) Sony launched the PS3 with only a single (or was it two?) exclusive title on launch. This ticked off gamers.
3) Sony sets the PS3 price point so high that both MS and Nintendo joked that you could buy an Xbox 360 and a Wii for the price of a single PS3. Gamers flock to the Xbox 360.
I don't get how #1 could possibly tick off gamers. Unless they sacrificed something in order to make it happen, I suppose... I bought my PS3 FOR the BD player.
 

Scott Tortorice

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For the same reason that Microsoft's emphasis on the XBone's enhanced TV functionality has alienated gamers: people buy consoles for the games, not to watch TV or movies. When a company goes to great length emphasizing one over the other it raises all sorts of red flags as it indicates a shift in priorities.
 

Morbii

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I guess I just didn't see it. Maybe it's for the reason that I'm not a hardcore console gamer, though (just the occasional game).
 

Scott Tortorice

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I guess I just didn't see it. Maybe it's for the reason that I'm not a hardcore console gamer, though (just the occasional game).
With the PS3, I didn't get all bothered about it either. Compared to what MS is doing with the XBone, the PS3 had a rather balanced presentation about its capabilities. But MS seems to be throwing gaming overboard in a mad grasp at the TV market. In many ways, owning a XBone will be a liability to gaming, which is a problem the PS3 never really had. But I guess when you are a real hardcore gamer, and you are buying a console strictly for gaming, it can be troubling when a corporation spends less than a majority of its time talking about non-gaming functions.
 

Morbii

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With the PS3, I didn't get all bothered about it either. Compared to what MS is doing with the XBone, the PS3 had a rather balanced presentation about its capabilities. But MS seems to be throwing gaming overboard in a mad grasp at the TV market. In many ways, owning a XBone will be a liability to gaming, which is a problem the PS3 never really had. But I guess when you are a real hardcore gamer, and you are buying a console strictly for gaming, it can be troubling when a corporation spends less than a majority of its time talking about non-gaming functions.
Fair enough - and what I've read is laughable too about the new x-box. Sony is sticking in the knife, and good on them.
 

Scott Tortorice

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This shows you just how dire the anti-XBone situation had become for MS:

MS Backtracks on Xbox One DRM & Region Locks



Your Feedback Matters – Update on Xbox One has word that Microsoft is pulling a 180 on the online requirement/DRM aspect of their upcoming Xbox One console system that alienated the core gaming community (thanks Giant Bomb and whathifi via Kotaku and nin). Give them credit for spin, as they focus on the "love" in the feedback they got on this, saying: "You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc. The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world." Here's word, where they also announce they no longer plan on having games region locked:

So, today I am announcing the following changes to Xbox One and how you can play, share, lend, and resell your games exactly as you do today on Xbox 360. Here is what that means:

An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.
Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.

In addition to buying a disc from a retailer, you can also download games from Xbox Live on day of release. If you choose to download your games, you will be able to play them offline just like you do today. Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console -- there will be no regional restrictions.

These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One. The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray.

But I suspect the damage is done. If I were looking to buy a console, I still would go with the PS4. It is still $100 cheaper, and this whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth for MS.
 

kawaiku

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This shows you just how dire the anti-XBone situation had become for MS:

MS Backtracks on Xbox One DRM & Region Locks


But I suspect the damage is done. If I were looking to buy a console, I still would go with the PS4. It is still $100 cheaper, and this whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth for MS.
I'd still go for Playstation 4 as well. Their original attitude and now about face still make me feel uneasy about them and their overall attitude toward the gaming community. Their, "Deal With It" smugness was not cool and I don't trust such a quick about face.
 

ChrisM

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Its pretty amazing that Microsoft flip-flopped on this. The whole DRM thing and requiring you to be online to play your games seemed really heavy ahnded to me - glad I am still going to be able to pruchase and re-sell hard discs like I am comforatble with whichever platform I opt for (in a couple of years (when the prices come down).
 

Dr Zaius

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I had hoped that this upcoming generation of consoles would become more like real home computers and less like a toy. Instead, it seems the designers have attempted to build in all the worst features of a PC.
 

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I had hoped that this upcoming generation of consoles would become more like real home computers and less like a toy. Instead, it seems the designers have attempted to build in all the worst features of a PC.
Toys are really popular now. You can even have actual PCs that are crippled, e.g. Chromebooks and anything having a real keyboard but running Android.
 

Redwolf

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Sony certainly has in my book! I'm currently having a blast trying to go Platinum on AC4 and Knack! Some of the trophies are tough but PS4 Trophy Guides is a great site to see guides and such.

To be honest, the Xbox One can still come back to dominate since they do have some great franchises like Halo and Gears. They'll need more though to convince people to pay $100 more for their console.
Actually ps4cheaps and PS4 Trophy guides are full of malware and should be avoided at all cost. Thanks for warning us.
 
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