MICROSOFT IS DEAD.

LONG LIVE THE KING BABY! LONG LIVE SONY!

I was a bit disappointed by Sony to be honest. Yeah, their policy on ownership is great, but Microsoft showed a lot more exclusives I'm interested in. Sony kept saying throughout the conference that it's all about the games and gamers come first and it's really great that that's core to their philosophy, but they kept showing multiplat after multiplat.

Only inFamous Second Son and The Order 1886 look like interesting exclusives to me.

It's really crazy how DRM was probably the only thing why people liked the Sony Conference more. If MS just came out and said: alright, you made yourselfs clear: no DRM and here are all our games; they would've won easily.

@solongwrex: if this results in a strong installbase the publishers have to follow. Right?

@doomsday65: this was exactly me.

Sony also gets a lot of credit from me for giving pretty straightforward answers from Yoshida on twitter tonight. He's been handling tons of questions and comments, and keeps answering a lot of the smaller questions that go unmentioned in a press conference. In addition to him saying the Ps4 will be region free (and confirming for-suresies that PS+ is required for Ps4 online play) he firmly said that the Ps4's harddrive will be replaceable, and that existing online services like Netflix and other apps won't be put behind a paywall.

There's no drawn out confused bullshit like with Microsoft. We had questions, we got clear answers, and continue to get clear answers. I know exactly what I'm getting with a Ps4, and I like what I hear.

Never played Battlefront, but I like the idea of mixing in a lot of cannonfodder AI into a Battlefield-style online multiplayer experience. I think Battlefront might just turn out to be the DOTA-take on Battlefield-style online multiplayer I am clamouring for.

Still ways off though, and DICE LA is essentially Danger Close. Wait and see I guess. The possibilities are definitely exciting though.

EAs stockholders would never allow them to ignore half the market.

@zevvion: I don't know if they would have had a better conference or not, but I would definitely have picked up an Xbone. The exclusives looked great. And I know I prefer the 360 controller over the ps3 one. This will be the first time since I was old enough to buy my own consoles that I have not bought both of the major ones. I even bought a wii U. A WII U!!! If you are going to treat me like a criminal, then I don't care how good your games are. You can shove your console up your......

The PS Vita is also on my mind. I can get a discounted 3G model right now for 200 bucks. And regardless of what becomes of the PSV as its own platform, in conjunction with PS4 it will always be a winner. I am in a spending mood. Might go and pick one up today. And in August there is Dragon's Crown, the 2D-brawler take on the Diablo-style action RPG genre I didn't know I wanted.

@davvyk: I read that Titanfall will be coming to PS4 but a year later. Most of the gams showed on both sides were multiplatform.

The Wii U is pretty awesome. I streamed all of today's conferences onto my TV with that thing.

FFFFFFFFFFrrjklsjfkslejkl <3

I'm not saying that isn't a valid opinion, but there is some nuance here. I'm pretty sure if this raving goes on (which it probably will) Microsoft will drop the restrictions before launch. Or at least consider it.

All I'm saying is that while Sony obviously comes out of this better than Microsoft, most of the games I want to play are still Xbox exclusives. That puts me in a weird position. I want the policies of the PS4 and the games of the Xbox.

Sold.

Somewhere a Microsoft executive will have been sitting in a room with an Xbox One. An Xbox One connected to the net and with a camera and a microphone pointed at him thanks to the always on power of the Kinect.

Which, if you take the more fanciful of the rumours surrounding that decision; could mean that somewhere in a darkened room there is server on which is now stored a video and audio file of that executives reactions as each hammer blow was landed at the end of that presentation.

All mischievous poking at what now appears to be an even more staggering set of decisions by MS of course. But wouldn't you love to see that video if it existed?

To me, Microsoft's exclusives are a short term solution to winning over gaming consumers. Where as MS paid for all their exclusives, Sony built their system from the ground up with developers in mind. Over the long term, and all things (sales, etc.) being equal, the PS4 will naturally just have more great games on it because of how developer friendly it is.

Seeing all those indie developers up there gets me excited, because they are the unchecked conscience of the games industry, and they're saying they love developing for PS4.

I go where Blow goes.

Sony winning the next war could possibly shift the flavor of games a bit. We haven't really had jrpg's and other weird asian games in a while cause that's not what Xbox developers make. Sony, on the other hand, has a ton of them. The PS1 and PS2 era arguably had a more eclectic collection of games compared to the 360 and, even more so, the Xbox 1.

The 360 and PS3 fight was won by 360 because of sony doing idiotic stuff and figuring it would win the previous war by doing nothing. This time it seems Microsoft believe they would win without doing anything. Guess that tactic backfires.. no? MS: "We're reinventing the VHS player of the 80s!" ...no one cares about that... We already have set top boxes crawling out our asses..

Sony: "BOOOOOM!" Fair enough.

Anyways, if they don't get on the VR train pretty soon after that tech hits PC the gaming landscape might shift in an even weirder direction. This gen is going to be plenty exciting.

Hell no!

The consumer will take it up the ass, and Microsoft is doing the fucking right now.

Unless they practically reverse everything they said they are doing, they are dead in the water.

I'm surprised Alex was so excited about the games. They were almost entirely multiplats compared to MS where a lot of the kick ass stuff was exclusives. The one thing I was really excited about for PS4 was PS+ but I came away really worried about the service on PS4. In the past we just got games with no qualifiers. They mentioned the indie games for PS4 PS+ and didn't add any qualifiers. They mentioned a retail game and they threw "PS+ Edition" at the end of it. What does that mean for content/feature parity with the retail versions? I can't help but think that if both versions were equal, they wouldn't have added the subtitle to it.

I don't mind used games so that didn't do anything for me. No online check-in didn't do much as I have the internet and always log-on to PSN and XBL automatically, and that's on current gen. They showed a lot of cool services and features for PS4 to the point where I would actually be kinda bummed if I couldn't connect it to the web.

Price was a major thing. The PS4 is launching $100 closer to my sweet spot for buying a console. I was gung-ho about PS4 before the conference but now I'm going to have to wait and see what going on with PS+. That was what got me really into my PS3 and it was the sole thing that had me super excited about the PS4. Hopefully it's the same and PS+ Edition just signifies how you acquire it, not some difference in content and features.

First I felt just overly joyed by the no DRM announcement, that was an amazing moment. Then, a little bummed out realizing no more free MP. Stuttering was pretty funny and also awkward as hell to watch but surely it won't be a problem later on.

Great conference and although there may have not been the games I most looked forward to (Last Guardian, Naughty Dog's next project) there certainly was a nice collection of them. Never played a Kingdom Hearts game in my life but I know people have been begging or that for ages so I can only assume how excited those guys must have felt.

If I'll ever buy a next gen console it will be a PS4, not in 2013, maybe in 2014 if something comes up that I absolutely have to get.

yea, if the sony EYE/mic kinect setup is not mandatory for usage of the console, if i can indeed keep it unplugged ALL THE TIME and flush it down the toilet and piss on it, then i am so getting a ps4. the first briefing was horrible, but this info has got me actually semi-stoked.

PS can anyone give me the answer to this?

Sure. It's been in the works for 7 frigging years. But there's no way the old Square Enix would have allowed Nomura to announce a numbered FF and KHIII one right after another at a non-SUPER DOUBLE DOG SECRET Square Enix event in their closed theater.

@matoyak: What would happen to the xbox one in regards to installing the games?, Would they make it so they just play off discs?

Didn't like the look of the PS4, but I liked everything else I heard about it. While I'll probably get the Xbox One at some point, I'm going to get the PS4 first. Probably a day one, or at least, a week one purchase.

True, Sony haven't really done much to earn this level of positive press - it was what they didn't do, but which everyone thought they did. They proved me wrong. I was absolutely, 100% expecting them to have precisely the same DRM as Microsoft. And I was wrong. I think Microsoft were expecting Sony to do the same thing as them, too.

Well, for proving me wrong, Sony, you deserve my business. You just got yourself an early sale.

hm... Now that's an interesting thought.

Overall, it's at least plausible. It depends on whether their play for a much wider audience pays off. We'll see.

The Eye thing doesn't even come with the console in the first place, so I don't see any possibility whatsoever that it would be mandatory.

That Beyond Two Souls trailer was weird as all hell. I can't get the image of Juno kicking down doors and murdering muslims out of my head. What the hell happened to all the magic stuff?

Considering the large outpouring of support and relief tonight, it seems like many gamers feel set free from the weight of numerous worries. As though the PS4 was something more than a mere console...

This conference was just a love letter to gamers. And I pre ordered one right after the conference. Day one^^

Speaking of writing, I don't think you have the right idea about how a comma should work.

Sold, love the design. Reminds me of the PS2 design which I was always fond of. Plus it being region-free is a nice touch. Bravo Sony.

http://www.xboxdone.com

Sony did good. Apart from the whole DRM and used games stuff their titles just looked more interesting to me compared to Microsoft.

Ryse looked good but the gamplay was just a bunch of QTEs with already repeating kill animations.

Forza and Halo are known quantities at this point and while Forza was the superior racing game this generation Sony at least has a competitor with Driveclub and while Destiny is is no Halo the asthetic reminds me of the Halo series (eventhough I don't care about either of them).

Quantum Break is the one Xbox title that I might miss if it remains Xbox exclusive (I wish they showed a demo of that) and Titanfall is multiplayer stuff, wich doesn't inerest me and even if it did I would buy it for PC (maybe Quantum Break is coming to the PC too, who knows.)

The PS4 just seemed to have a more varied approach to me but if you're dead set on Halo and Forza then I can totally understand why you would want to go with Microsoft. I just don't think that this is enough.

Also while Titanfall looks cool it doesn't have the Call of Duty name, is a new IP and apparently a multiplayer only title. I don't know if it has to be system seller potential. Ghost is still on both platforms.

And to those people who think publishers will stop supporting Sony: No they will not. The Indie developers are already on board and with the momentum the PS4 gathered it will probably sell at least okay. No big publisher will just ignore that marked especially since most people don't buy two consoles. If MS doesn't reverse their policies and it still sells well (which has to be proven at this point) publishers will at least get the money from their side.

I don't know if I will get a PS4 at launch because that depends on the launch lineup (Driveclub could be cool but while Killzone sure looks pretty it's not making me buy it day one) but since the PS3 had some kickass exclusives over the years I would be surprised if I don't end up getting one. The only thing left to say is that Final Fantasy 15 looked pretty good which could have not been more surprising to me. I never cared about FF and think 13 is atrocious but I'll at least keep my eye on this one.

As of now, I'm getting the PS4. There is no comparison with the two consoles. One supports gamers, the other supports publishers. One does not infringe on my consumer rights, the other one makes a complicated mockery of them. One allows me to opt in on having a camera connected to my console, the other make it compulsory. I also love the self-publishing for smaller developers. It's a done deal as long as they stay on this course and at this point I've no reason to think that they won't. Well done Sony.

Very well said Alex.

Fuck you Sony. Now I have to start buying your shit again.

-__-#

I was super depressed abut games before this conference. All the DRM server check in/games don't really belong to you bullshit was bringing me down.

As soon as I heard no check in servers i walked down and got a pre-order, I would have paid for the thing outright but the shop wouldnt let me...

I hope microsoft understands that this money could have been theirs as ive been an xbox diehard since the original and while I own all current gen systems i mainly play on the 360 ATM. beofre all this bullshit I was going to go with xbox again but they done fucked 'emselves.

Now all I hope is that a third party rips off the 360 controller shape.

And mother fucker its $550 AUS, that's 450 less than i paid for the PS3...FUCK YES!

THE YEAR IS ONE AND MICROSOFT IS DONE!

As good as all of this sounds, we should probably be cautious during E3. This is a conference show :/

Nothing here is set in stone until the console of your choice is in your hands, then we can see how this next generation really plays out for everyone. I wouldn't write off (or on) either side yet.

I know that I should be outraged over the DRM of the xboxen, but I can't bring myself to really care. The games Microsoft showed yesterday speak to me more than the ones Sony showed. I pre-ordered both and I will probably end up getting the system that has the best launch window games and canceling the other one.

I DIDN'T SEE ANY SIMULATED RUBBER DUCKS! Bastards

I actually wasn't that impressed with the conference... it had a solid line up but there was nothing that got me really excited. Thi might be, however, do to the fact that it was 3:30am in the morning.

Yep, that's probably it

Edit: Also, I'm not a fan of paying for playing online. But I guess it's not a big deal

@ianmac said:

QFT

Great write up Alex...

Wow best conference ever! Brought hope back to console gaming, none of this DRM bullshit. Well played Sony as a loyal MS customer this generation I will be lining up day 1 to pick up a PS4. Thank you!

@nezza: And this is where schadenfreude comes from.

Yeah but I have no problem paying for Xbox Live gold the past 6 years, let's face it the PS3 multiplayer was lacking. But to offer the online features of the Xbox 360 along with the free games from PS+ and the eventually streaming of back catalog Playstation games it is defiently worth it.

Just get a Xbox One late in the cycle buy all the exclusives you missed, play them, then go back to the PS4. I am so glad to be happy about Playstation again this takes me back to E3 PS2 reveal.

It really sent a statement to MS that the biggest cheer this whole E3 was when Sony said you could buy used games and play offline.

My biggest problem with xbox One is actually the price. The price tag of 499 euros translates to about 661 dollars which is a 161 dollar price difference compared to the price of the device in the united states.

I am not that willing to pay a higher price for a device because of additional tech in the form of Kinect 2.0 and the ability to watch tv on the xbox One. It does seem that Microsoft has a bit of the same hubris in its marketing strategy that Sony had with the PS3.

Also considering the current world economy the price seems pretty steep.