Anybody afraid the PS4 will head in the same direction as Xbox One?

[Haze]

The reason I bring this up is because of this recent news about the Xbox One: Microsoft Details Xbox One Used Games, Always Online - IGN

And it makes me think that maybe Sony will have to follow the same guidelines when it comes to used games considering it's the publishers call.

Take a look at the link above and tell me what you guys think.

 

[Joker99352]

I think it's a possibility, but I get the feeling that Microsoft isn't going to follow through on the "no used games" thing. For one, there's no reason outside of pure greed to force players to buy only new games--especially when they aren't getting any cheaper. Second, it will effectively put Gamestop and other similar stores out of business. Having to install the games is one thing--and an annoying thing at that--but eliminating used games altogether is a pretty corrupt idea.

Putting limits on borrowing is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. My friend and I trade games all the time, and it's one of the great things about being friends with fellow gamers. If they implement this "lending policy," not only are gamers in general going to suffer, but so are their friendships with one another. That said, I don't want to access my games on someone else's console; it just sounds unnecessary and gimmicky.

 

[strangel0ve]

I think that Microsoft leading with the used game and 24 hour policy for internet connection, if anything, will deter Sony from doing the same. I do agree that this policy is absurd, and Microsoft is way overdoing their control over the gamer. Gamers that are on the fence about Xbox One and PS4 will definitely shift towards PS4 in this scenario. I think that Sony is going to see the public backlash against the Xbox One and really switch their plans if they even had similar DRM policies planned.

 

[TheCourier]

Well, I hope Sony will learn from what will be Microsoft's massive mistake. I think there's probably a good chance. And the backlash against Microsoft will likely be massive. Used games are still a really large part of the industry economically. Not to say that there will never come a time to eliminate them, but the time isn't nearly right for that yet. That alone will tick off a lot of fans. I think maybe the one way Microsoft could have driven attention away from that is to offer something else so good that it more than makes up for it. They haven't in my opinion. Well, I guess they had better start coming out with some great games for it if they want to salvage what could be a huge disaster for them.

 

[BlackSolaris]

Seeing how bad Microsoft is crashing down with this, Sony won't be able to fail that much, even if they make some ridiculous choices.
But Sony is usually pretty cool with their services, so i expect good things announced soon.

 

[Seiryu]

If you've seen some of Sony's advertisement lately, you'll know that they are fully aware of the community disapproval of the Xbox One direction, and hopefully, this means they won't be going that way. Hopefully they won't be as bad, otherwise I might have to go back to Nintendo. A lot of what Microsoft is pulling feels completely over the top though, I've heard things about only being able to re-sell your used video games to your Xbox friends who have been friends for longer than 30 days, and after that, the game is permenantly locked to them, always on Kinect, and even lately rumors about Data mining...
In short, I find it hard to believe that the PS4 can screw up THAT bad

 

[sully3333]

I think that Sony has definitely realized how much disgust there has been recently about some of the features of the Xbox One. I really don't think that they would risk doing anything similar. Then we'd all be forced to go out and buy Wii U's

 

[Joker99352]

You would think that Sony would take the hint from people's reactions to Microsoft's announcement, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will. If Microsoft was willing to come up with those ideas to begin with, then chances are that Sony could do the same. I just wish that fewer people were willing to accept all those limitations, since the only way to really change their mind is not to buy their inferior products.

 

[AvalonX]

Sony's silence is worrying me. I read somewhere that Microsoft is basically using the DRM technology they bought for Blueray. Sony could easily win the race by announcing tomorrow (E3) that there is no DRM and used games are allowed. If they do not say anything then you know they are doing the same thing. A real crime that they believe they are entitled to second hand sales.

 

[Joker99352]

I don't know if they'll necessarily do the same thing, but if they do I think that sets a really bad precedent. There's no reason for it other than making money on their end, so you know they're only doing it to serve their own interests. I realize they don't make money off of second-hand sales, but that applies to absolutely anything that people can sell. You don't see furniture companies prohibiting the sale of used furniture, do you?

 

[Haze]

I just think that if Xbox One are applying all these things (used games, fees, online connection every 24 hours, etc.) that the PS4 will have to follow protocol or a similar guideline. Otherwise it would be too easy of a win for Sony (even though I don't believe in the whole console war thing).

I really hope Sony tell us the cold hard facts at E3 - just come out with it unlike Xbox One/Microsoft who half tell you things and leave it up to us to be confused and speculate.

 

[DrRipley]

I'm a little bit worried about this, as even as a fan, I do see Sony making terrible decisions sometimes. As for my thoughts on MS's recent comments regarding their DRM and used games policies, I think that's just MS trying to pass off a portion of the blame towards developers, as they all have it in their best interest for MS to survive anyway, so maybe that's why they play along with it. I still suspect that MS is behind most of the evil and greed, if not all, so in that regard, I'm still a little bit hopeful that Sony won't have to follow suit and "give in to the developers".

 

[Haze]

Also, I came across this a couple of weeks ago and forgot to mention it here but:

Craig Davidson, the director of global marketing at Microsoft said to IGN Spain that the “Xbox One will surprise the world during E3… We are going to kill Sony at E3″.

It's the arrogance and greediness of Microsoft that I absolutely cannot stand. It really is.