Lets put some of the spotlight on Sony.

Ever since the Sony Feb 20th event, the PS4 has been getting so much praise from the gaming community, developers, Indie, etc. The reason for this is the amount  of games shown at the Feb 20th event, basically it went like, some user interface, PS4 tech and then back-to-back video game reveals and gameplay. This obviously pleased the many gamers that were watching, including myself. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen in disbelief at the amount of content they were displaying. The conference ran for 2 hours and It left me wanting a PS4 at that very moment. The biggest complaint of the conference was the no show of the actual box but Sony assured gamers that they’ll have the opportunity to see the console at E3 (which is in 3 days).

Now the Xbox Reveal went a bit differently. The reveal included or rather the main focus of the conference was entertainment. Gamers love entertainment, we like our shows, movies, music, etc. What we want more from a “Games” console is well, video games. Games seemed to take a backseat to the entertainment stuff and this left gamers upset, including me. I remember being in shock when the event finished and thinking, “That was all?”. Quickly after, people began asking about the rumours on DRM and used games restrictions but Microsoft left reporters and gamers confused each time they “tried” to answer our questions. Alas that was then and this is now, Microsoft has unleashed the bombshell upon the world yesterday.

• The Xbox One will need a 24 hour online check and 1 hour check if signed into a friend’s console
• You can share games with up to ten of your “Family” members.
• You can trade in games to “participating” retailers.
• Publishers will decide if you need to pay a fee regarding used games.
• To give a game to a friend, they must be on your friend’s list for at least 30 days and you can only give that game once.
• FOR MORE INFO

Honestly I still want to know who are these participating retailers? Anyways, Microsoft has revealed their dirty secret and gamers were shocked that the worst has come true. Well the worst might be a bit harsh because many gamers already are online 24/7 and this doesn’t seem to affect them. I, however, dislike that I can’t have my console offline and how trading and lending a game will be so complicated. All of this left me wondering what Sony has been unto (Besides unleashing loads of games on us), wondering if they’ll have some type of used game restrictions.

Things used to be so simple…sigh

Can Sony be that far off? Geoff Keighley (GT TV) thinks otherwise. (Link)

“Sony has sort of been seen as this kind of white knight so far that’s not going to restrict used games. Based on some of the things I’m hearing, I don’t think that’s entirely true, because I can’t see publishers allowing one system to do one thing and one the other.”

To be honest, I agree with this, It doesn’t make sense that Microsoft will do this and Sony won’t.This has got to be one of the most confusing console reveals ever. Now Sony has stated that they will not impose online checks upon the user, it will be left to the publisher from what I’ve read. (Link)

“At a roundtable this morning, Sony’s game studios chief, Shuhei Yoshida, told reporters that any requirement for users to register a game online in order to play it would be left to game publishers. Sony won’t require that.”

Ok, this is coming from the horse’s mouth, it will be up to the publisher to place that restriction on their game. This might sound good but this still means we could have online restrictions on our games. This leaves me wondering about the PS4 and possible used game restrictions but at the same time with all the jokes I’m left think they won’t have any restrictions.

In the end I’m confused about too much, this is video games we’re talking about, it shouldn’t be this difficult. E3 is so close fellow gamers and I hope that I’ll be able to trade my PS4 games with friends or any retailer come this holiday season.