The Nail in Microsoft's Coffin

Sony's latest press release of PlayStation4 details seems to have changed the game. This event, in the eyes of many console fans, has sealed away any chance Xbox One had...for the time being.

There are a lot of concerns in the gaming universe about the next generation of console gaming and it seems that Sony, unlike Microsoft, knows they will make more money if people actually plan to buy the system and seem open the plight of gamers.

Many fans on the official posts and even my own Facebook comrades have mentioned several things that I agree seem to have won the contest...even if I am a Playstation over Xbox fan in general.

DRM: Digital Rights Management & Used Games
In my opinion, this is the sole differentiation between the two consoles. XBox One's move to eliminate the used game market has caused a distinct uproar in gamers everywhere. The used market (and rental market) is distinctive and beneficial to players. The biggest backing for the used game market is finances, I count myself among so many gamers that cannot afford $50 for every game they want to play. The used market gets these unwanted and unplayed games into the hands of people who can enjoy them.

Microsoft also eliminated the ease of sharing games with your friends and or taking games to a friend's house to play together. It requires importing the Live account or paying a fee or buying the game.

The Japanese genius behind PlayStation had a great answer for the consumer and their used/sharing games worries:

Always On
Sony realizes that while the social aspect of gaming may be a big focus to them and a lot of players, many players don't prefer the social or simply may not always have access to the internet. Good thing you don't need it; no always on here.

Price
Whoa! PlayStation announced they have undercut the XBox One release price by $100 at $399.

XBox One as a TV Add-On
After watching Microsoft's livestream, I noticed they are moving into a direction that wants to make the "television screen the most important screen in the living room" as they highlighted a lot of non-gaming features as equal parts. While PlayStation will have non-gaming functions as well (Netflix reports PS3 as the most popular streaming platform & it is what I stream on)...

"The most important thing we need to do is agree and understand that the PS4 is a great video game console that appeals to video gamers. If we miss that part, I don't think we get the initial establishment of the console. That formula has worked for us with all our consoles, including the PS3...Providing other non-game content is an area we will reveal and talk about in the coming months, but it's first and foremost a video game console."

I previously had an XBox 360 and within a year I sold it to make the move to PS3. I, of course, lost Halo as a title option but the satisfaction I have always had with PlayStation was easily achieved and I have been happy with the move. This latest bought of information only serves to keep me as a Sony fan though I don't know if or when I will make the move from 3 to 4.

What are your thoughts? Are you through with XBox? What is the ultimate game changer?

Allons-y!

Microsoft Announcement: XBOX One

Gamers have been waiting for the big XBOX reveal that Microsoft had promised for a while. The rumor mill was on fire with names for what the new system could be, like XBOX 720, XBOX Durango or Infinity. When Microsoft announced that they would do a revealing event, speculation as to what could be expected was then tossed around, too.

Things that were expected in the announcement were the console physical reveal, the name, the controller, operating system, games, and the reveal date.

This major event didn't blow anything out of the water in terms of a wealth of information. It lacked a lot of solid details and kept waving the E3 flag.

The sleek reveal of the components seems to come with welcome arms that the product will come with a new yet entirely similar control as well as Kinect being included. The name, XBOX One, is a little counter-intuitive if you think about the timeline of things but it is pretty slick.

It is set to run with an 500GB hard-drive, HDMI, 8 Core CPU, 3.0 USB, an update wireless adapters. XBOX One is designed to change the way you live in your living room. They hope to make "your television screen the most important screen" by not only changing the way you game but the way you watch everything and communicate. With Skype communication capabilities and more options than your cable box, your living room will assimilate.

The one negative that was rumored to come with this evolution of console was an "Always On" requirement. Always On would mean that for even single player games that you just want to enjoy in your downtime after purchase still require you to be online. Diablo III is an example for PC gamers. Regardless of play-mode and unlike its previous game, you must be online to play. This style of connectivity could change gaming habits forever and it was an ill received idea.

XBOX revealed that while its suggests you be online and requires it for Microsoft Live and multi-player modes it will not be going to an always on!

In addition to the hardware, XBOX announced that within the first year of the new release, they plan to release 15 games for the system, 8 of which will be a brand new franchise (i.e. Quantum Break). The staple of Microsoft gaming, Halo is going to be taken to the next step with XBOX One; while no new game was announced, it was revealed that Halo will be featured as a new live action television show from Steven Spielberg and 343. This step was taken after the success that was found with Halo's web series Forward Unto Dawn.

At the close, Acitivision received a nice portion of the event to reveal graphic details for Call of Duty Ghosts, but after the initial 17 minutes of game play have been online for several weeks, this wasn't much on the news front.

The biggest let down of the event was the lack of a release time. Not issuing a solid date is to be expected, but the only thing they left us with was "Later this year". What exactly does that translate into?

For the hopes of the gamers on edge, perhaps they will reveal more details rather than broad ideas when they hit up E3 in June.

What do you think about the XBOX One? Planning on buying it at release?

Allons-y!