Continuing our coverage of Sony’s PlayStation 4 announcements at the E3 expo from Los Angeles, the company has made a number of important points loud and clear in its battle with Microsoft and the Xbox One – including a considerable price undercut.
Microsoft fans were left a bit perplexed to discover at the May 21st reveal that the Xbox One needs to check in online at least once every 24 hours to ensure their single player gaming experience runs uninterrupted and also that the pre-owned games market could be on the way out – not only denying players of a cheap entry point to the games market but also casting an uncertain future onto second hand retailers.
Sony has responded by stating that its own console, the PS4, which got its first full outing (including all the hardware) at last night’s press conference, will not require an online connection to play – nor will it snub the popular used games market for ‘physical’ content discs. New games you will want to play include titles from many new intellectual properties as well as popular franchises such as Final Fantasy XV, Grand Theft Auto 5, Batman: Arkham Origins and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, all of which were mentioned last night and are on the way for PlayStation 4.
During last night’s appearance, Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton confirmed that “when a gamer buys a PS4 disc, they can trade in, sell it to a friend, or lend it, keep it forever.” He added “PlayStation 4 disc games don’t need to be connected online to be play, or any type of authentication. PS4 won’t require you to check in. It won’t stop working if you haven’t authenticated within 24 hours” – Boom.
Sony has been unquietly confident leading up to this E3 showcase and without even revealing the appearance of the final PS4 console until now, has been taking the fight to Microsoft by making some low blows to get it’s point across in a series of adverts knocking what could prove to be the Xbox One’s disadvantages when both consoles go head to head for the lucrative Christmas market. With the Xbox One coming in at £429 when released and the PS4 priced at just £349, gamer’s reaction after E3’s day one suggests Sony may have won the first round on the most important stage of the gaming year.