What did Sony do that was so great?

[DrOswald]

Title may be a bit misleading, so let me clarify: I am not being pessimistic against Sony. I thoroughly enjoyed the news coming out of E3. Watching Xbone explode, fist pumping after reading Sony news, laughed at the instructional video on sharing PS4 game, the whole she-bang.

After I calmed down a bit though, I realized, all Sony did was not screw up. All the current consoles had everything the PS4 is promising (though publishers recently played with DRM and always online nonsense.)

Again, I'm not hating on Sony (at least, I don't think I am) and there is no way I'll be buying an Xbone. If anything, I wanna know why we piss ourselves like excited puppies at the news Sony isn't gonna screw us over. Have we really come to the point where no bad news is the same as great news?

Well, the answer is simple in concept but a bit difficult to explain.

But to start with a reminder that never screwing up is the same thing as doing everything right. It is true they didn't "push gaming into the future" with some new and revolutionary idea. But lets be honest with ourselves. We did not want that.

The last generation of gaming has been a very trying one for gaming enthusiasts. The industry has been heading down a self destructive path of homogenization. Games have become less and less interesting over the last generation and all games are coming closer and closer to being re skins of COD. Our favorite past time has been watered down in a dozens of ways into a grey passionless mess. Even worse were the constant claims and lies of revolution and innovation, forcing us to deal with poorly conceived and gimmicky "features" we never wanted if we want to play the games we all love so much. And that is without even touching on the constantly worsening anti consumer policies and practices.

Through all this we have been vocal, which is where so much of our frustration came from. We were telling everyone what we wanted. We were practically shouting it from the rooftops but no one seemed to be listening. It was coming to a tipping point. I myself had written off console gaming save only Nintendo first party titles. I was looking forward to E3 primarily for more material to blast Sony and Microsoft with.

But, it turns out, Sony at least listened to what we had to say. We said that we didn't care about gimmicky features. They listened. We said that we wanted variety in our gaming. They listened.

In the end, all we wanted was for someone to offer us a system that would allow us to play a variety of great games. Sony listened to us and gave us exactly what we wanted. In my opinion, that is more than enough reason to get excited.

P.S. To be clear, a truly revolutionary idea that actually pushed gaming forward as a medium would have been very welcome. But that really was never in the cards. It is better that they owned up to that fact and double downed on making good games instead of trying to convince us that lead is gold.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

also, Sony has suddenly backtracked on DRM business:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/11/e3-2013-ps4-used-game-restrictions-up-to-publishers

Uh oh

That's exactly the same as what the PS3 does now. The PS4 itself will not implement DRM, but publishers have the freedom to do so. PS4 continues to win in the used game department and the offline playability.

So basically Sony still demonstrates that they're the ***** of 3rd parties. Amazing how something bad can seem appealing when the alternative is even worse. We really have lowered out standards.

 

[Olas]

The expectations of gamers is so low that simply unveiling a console that works the same way consoled have for 20 years seems like a miraculous feat. Viewed in a vacuum Sony's presentation was pretty mediocre.

 

[Sherokain]

All the PS4 pretty much had to do was not block used games, and not impose stupid drm. The fact it was cheaper and is more powerful is just gravy,still wont be getting one though.

 

[Overusedname]

It's just kinda...the continuation of the formula of the 'standard' consoles. Don't mean that in a bad way, but xbox and playstation have always been slightly different flavors of the same thing since 2000, with nintendo ahead of the pack and doing a totally different thing, and Computer Gaming being too broad to even judge the same way.

Some people really like that. Xbone is NOT gonna do the same thing, at least not smoothly. Ps4 is showing how effortless it actually to continue this same formula of 'games with better graphics and online play on a couch and not a desk'. That's it.

I...wasn't all that impressed at all, to be honest. I don't remember seeing any signs that any of these games are a 10th of the way done. Nintendo on the other hand...

But I understand how pleased they are. Sony is the company that just needs to not fuck up. Nintendo takes market risks, Microsoft wrongly assumes its marketing team stills knows which way is up.

 

[RJ 17]

I realized, all Sony did was not screw up.

I'd say that about sums things up right there. That's how bad MS screwed the pooch with the Xbox One, quite simply making it so that all Sony had to do was not screw up.

MS has a few things going against it right now: mandatory online connection, mandatory Kinect, and murky rules regarding used/rented games. Those are the things (at least from my gathering) that people are the most pissed off about.

Sony came out and said "You can play single player offline as much as you want, there's no restrictions against used/rented games, and it's going to be $100 cheaper." Obviously since it's Sony that means that there's no Kinect to worry about either.

While MS's marketing/PR has been absolutely atrocious, the Sony marketing/PR was given VERY clear targets to hit. All they had to do was come out and say "Everything that MS is doing that's pissing you off? Yeah, we're not going to be doing that." and people would cheer and throw ticker-tape parades with their money instead of confetti.

So really, it's not that Sony's presentation itself was a massive success, it's more about the fact that MS's Xbox One reveal event was such a massive failure. Pretty much the only way Sony could have screwed this up was if they came out and announced that their console is going to be pretty much the same, if not worse, than the Xbox One.

 

[aguspal]

Title may be a bit misleading, so let me clarify: I am not being pessimistic against Sony. I thoroughly enjoyed the news coming out of E3. Watching Xbone explode, fist pumping after reading Sony news, laughed at the instructional video on sharing PS4 game, the whole she-bang.

After I calmed down a bit though, I realized, all Sony did was not screw up. All the current consoles had everything the PS4 is promising (though publishers recently played with DRM and always online nonsense.)

Well really not screw up is all Sony had to do. Microsoft has bungled this whole thing up so thoroughly (on top of everything going into the event, MS had a pleasant little rape joke and a CoD tech glitch) that Sony has basically been playing E3 marketing on easy mode.

I keep hearing about said "rape joke" but I cant find more information about it. lol.


Anyways...


This is so fucking one sided. Sony Wins. It really did.

 

[Mrkillhappy]

For me is was just that Sony didn't shit the bed like Micro$oft did, however I did get the feeling that Sony was making their press event awkward by the constant use of the word "gamers" then again it is a sad day when you need to say that your VIDEO GAME CONSOLE will focus on playing Video Games.

capticia: face the music
A bit Ironic isn't it.

 

[Dagda Mor]

Sony basically went back to what they did with the PS2: They focused on just giving us genuinely good reasons to get their console over the competition. And nobody else seems to get that if you make your product appealing to the consumer, then the consumer will get your product. Yes, it more or less comes down to 'not fucking up', but in a world where fucking up is the norm, it's great to see Sony step back and stop fucking up.

 

[Toxic Sniper]

They have a console that is a hundred dollars cheaper than the Xbone and has no bullshit other than paid online subscription (Which the 360 already had and the Xbone will inevitably have).

They didn't fail, and that's really enough for me.

 

[Da Orky Man]

As far as I know, on a scale of -10 to 10, with -10 being a truly horrible presentation, 10 being a box-o-kittens event, and 0 being completely neutral, Song scored about a 3. They haven't really announced anything that wasn't on the last system, and though you do have to pay for multiplayer, they also announced some rather good games for it.
On the other hand, Microsoft not only haven't announced much positive' they have actually made the Xbone look like a bad buy, so I'm giving them a -4. Its less Sony having a good presentaion as it is Microsoft, their primary rival, having a really shitty one.

 

[Zeh Don]

also, Sony has suddenly backtracked on DRM business:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/11/e3-2013-ps4-used-game-restrictions-up-to-publishers

Uh oh

If you're going to run with this type of sensationalist post, as least make sure you're close to the mark. You come off looking like an ass, otherwise. Sony haven't backtracked on shit.

The article, with quotes from Jack Tretton, describes that - exactly like the current generation - Publishers are free to bring whatever business models they want to the console. Like EA's Online Pass bullshit. Which was unanimously ignored by gamers, and resulted in a net loss for EA. Activision Blizzard doesn't support the wide-spread abuse of DRM because it doesn't need it - Call of Duty is a licence to print money at this point, and they don't seem to want to rock the boat.

Sony have created a fairly open platform, for a console anyway, and this comes with good and bad. The good, however, far outweighs the bad.

Please, don't waste time posting this rubbish when the link you're posting discredits your entire post. It's a waste of time, and as I said, doesn't make you look good.

 

[Kailow Krow]

This is a miraculous example of: It's not what they did, but what they didn't do.
Or rather, I was thinking about this in my own life, after Edward Snowden brought it up. But it's also what they could have done. The other paths they may have chosen instead. The very near alternate reality where another choices was made I mean were I mean... you get my point.

 

[rednose1]

I keep hearing that Sony did everything right by listening to the customers. Didn't Nintendo do the same thing? They have no issues with used games and always online boondoggles to deal with. Ditto can be said for most PC games (obviously not the online multiplayer ones, so let's not bother going that route). All Sony did was have good timing, which does count for a lot, but still...

My...concern with this sudden love for Sony is that we'll keep on moving to the point where just releasing games/consoles that don't require a monthly colonoscopy to verify proper ID will be cause for celebration. We used to celebrate innovative news, now we're just happy when it's not crap news.

Oh, I also fear the upcoming months and releases for Sony. They've (smartly) played up everything so far, but if they veer off the path even a little, it'll be compounded in everyone's eyes and the backlash will be ugly. They are a huge, multinational corporation, let's not break out the "I <3 Sony" shirts yet.

 

[A Distant Star]

Title may be a bit misleading, so let me clarify: I am not being pessimistic against Sony. I thoroughly enjoyed the news coming out of E3. Watching Xbone explode, fist pumping after reading Sony news, laughed at the instructional video on sharing PS4 game, the whole she-bang.

After I calmed down a bit though, I realized, all Sony did was not screw up. All the current consoles had everything the PS4 is promising (though publishers recently played with DRM and always online nonsense.)

Well really not screw up is all Sony had to do. Microsoft has bungled this whole thing up so thoroughly (on top of everything going into the event, MS had a pleasant little rape joke and a CoD tech glitch) that Sony has basically been playing E3 marketing on easy mode.

I keep hearing about said "rape joke" but I cant find more information about it. lol.


Anyways...


This is so fucking one sided. Sony Wins. It really did.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57588725/e3-audience-offended-by-rape-joke-at-microsoft-xbox-one-event/

 

[mbarker]

I think the reason PS4 came out better than X Box is because they saw X Box implode and they found out which parts of their system they should play down. I bet that PS4 will eventually come out with the same TV, DRM, used game, PS premium stuff that X box did. They aren't telling everything yet and I'm a little suspicious. They do get points for the level of inde. support they are currently pushing. The game titles they decided to show didn't get me anymore excited than the X Box titles.

What's with this big black box fad in the gamming industry. I think X Box and Play Station share the same consol designers.

 

[GladiatorUA]

Sony just did a better job in their conference.
Their content service part of the conference concentrated more on the actual services and not on gimmicks their console can do. And it is Sony. It has first party content.
The games were more distinct. MS had more brown/military/shooty games, but by the end it made Titanfall less impressive for me.
Indie section... Minecraft... -_- . On the other hand Sony had more stuff and more interesting stuff.
Both companies had surprise desert trailers. In case of MS, the Halo twist was kind of disappointing. Mad Max on the other hand was more promising because it's a new IP.
And there is the whole part where Sony hit MS where it hurt. DRM, online etc.
Sony just played its card right and didn't screw up.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Except Nintendo, because nobody seems to care what Nintendoes.

So basically, Microsoft walks in and sets the bar so low that almost anything Sony did but not trip over it would get applause.

And now I'm imagining a series of pro-Nintendo image macros showing a picture of an Xbone and illustrating some evil feature of it, and then saying "Xbox, it does what Nintendon't. So you might want to buy a WiiU."

 

[Negatempest]

Title may be a bit misleading, so let me clarify: I am not being pessimistic against Sony. I thoroughly enjoyed the news coming out of E3. Watching Xbone explode, fist pumping after reading Sony news, laughed at the instructional video on sharing PS4 game, the whole she-bang.

After I calmed down a bit though, I realized, all Sony did was not screw up. All the current consoles had everything the PS4 is promising (though publishers recently played with DRM and always online nonsense.)

Again, I'm not hating on Sony (at least, I don't think I am) and there is no way I'll be buying an Xbone. If anything, I wanna know why we piss ourselves like excited puppies at the news Sony isn't gonna screw us over. Have we really come to the point where no bad news is the same as great news?

Not much actually. They have shown new IP, but they were not exclusive. And I believe that is what some people believe. T^T.
Multiplatform Games shown at Sony press conference:

Kingdom Hearts 3
Final Fantasy 15
Destiny
Battlefield
Watchdogs
Mad Max
Diablo 3
Elder Scrolls online Etc.

What leaves as exclusives from E3:
The Order
Indie games
Drive Club
Knack
Killzone
Edit: Infamous, can't believe I forgot this game.

There are exclusive hardware deals, but I'm just after the games. Long story short, some multiplatform games appeared on Sony Press Conference first so it looked more appealing.

 

[Something Amyss]

Except Nintendo, because nobody seems to care what Nintendoes.

So basically, Microsoft walks in and sets the bar so low that almost anything Sony did but not trip over it would get applause.

And now I'm imagining a series of pro-Nintendo image macros showing a picture of an Xbone and illustrating some evil feature of it, and then saying "Xbox, it does what Nintendon't. So you might want to buy a WiiU."

It really would be funny as hell to see that go full circle for real.