Last night, sometime around 9:30pm MT, Sony ended their E3 Press Conference by giving Microsoft the middle finger, dropping the mic, and walking off the stage – figuratively speaking of course, and I have to say, I was impressed.
Over the last several weeks, Microsoft has come under a lot of fire with their new policy on used games, and the fact that the XBox One will require an internet connection to work. Having been a long time XBox fan, I tried to stay cautiously optimistic, I mean, I have good internet service in my home so what’s the big deal? But the more I hear and read on the subject, I just don’t think when the time comes to purchase a next-gen console I can give my money to Microsoft. Sure, there will be awesome games coming to the console, and the TV tuning capabilities are pretty . . . neat? But there are some big caveats that are hard to swallow:
– Okay, so the XBox One doesn’t need to “always” be connected to the internet, but it has to “check-in” with the proverbial “Mother Ship” once every 24 hours. If it doesn’t, you won’t be playing games.
– Publishers get to determine whether or not you can resell or lend a game.
– On the XBox One, if you purchase a game, you do not own it. You are simply purchasing a liscence to play the game.
These new rules and restrictions are, to put it frankly, assinine and confusing. Micrsoft later noted that you can trade-in your used games, but only to a “participating retailer” who can resell your game – this is most likely due to the fact that they will need to have the capability to access the Microsoft “system” to unlink the game from your console/XBL login in order to resell the game in a state that it can actually be played by the next customer. Also, my console needs to check in via an internet connection every 24 hours in order for Microsoft to verify I have the liscences necessary to play the games I purchased a disc for? I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had an internet outage now and then, so if my internet goes down, I can’t even hop on and play some single player adventure game? I’m sorry, but that’s bad business.
Now let’s talk price point. The XBox One will retail at $499. Now, granted, this comes bundled with the Kinect, but the price still seems a bit steep – especially considering that Microsoft envisions this to be the ultimate entertainment console for any home. I think that price point is just too high for your average, “non-hardcore” gaming/entertainment families. For the rest of us more active gamers? I still think $500 is too high. There are two XBox exclusive games that can move consoles in my opinion: Halo and Gears of War, and I love me some Halo – but I just don’t think I can justify $500 for a console to play one of my favorite franchises and then a bunch of other games available across other consoles.
So this brings us to the Sony E3 conference from last night. It started of pretty rocky to say the least, but around three-quarters of the way through, Sony looked Microsoft straight in the eye, gave a menacing grin, and then proceeded to unload every weapon in their arsenal. The price of the PS4? $100 less than the XBox One at $399. Used games? It plays them with no restrictions. Want to lend a game to your friend? Do it. Your internet is down? Take a break from pwning n00bs in Battlefield and finish off that Assassin’s Creed game you’ve been neglecting because guess what, your console will still let you. Oh, any by the way, thank you for purchasing the PS4 and signing up for $5/month for PS Plus, here’s a free game, Driveclub, and three free indie games, Don’t Starve, Outlast, and The Secret Ponchos. Jack Tretton quite litterally got up on stage, listed out all of the restrictions of the XBox One and said “Yeah, we won’t be pulling any of this bullshit.” You can check it out for yourself in the conference video (jump to the 1:55:00 mark).
I really love my XBox 360 and have invested a lot of time and money into their games, exclusive and otherwise. I am disappointed with what Microsoft has done with the XBox One, and it pains me that I may never play another Halo game if I choose to never pick up an XBox One (who knows, I may after a few price drops), but whatever Sony’s motives, they have positioned themselves to be the more consumer friendly console, and I think Microsoft is really going to suffer in light of this.
When the time comes for me to purchase a next-gen system, Microsoft has essentially already made the decision for me with all of their restrictions. The PS4 has kept things simple for me, and that’s how I want it. I want to be able to play my games when I want to play them, I want to be able to lend games to friend and borrow them from them without a bunch of loopholes and restrictions to do so. The PS4 has actually made me excited for a next-gen console, and for me, they have earned my money. Sony could have made the decision to walk arm-in-arm down this new path with Microsoft, but instead, decided to keep things simple, and that is a company I can get behind.
What are your thoughts on the next-gen console war? Will your money be going to Sony, Microsoft or neither? Sound-off in the comments below!