By Nick Tricome
Update: On Wednesday, it was announced that Microsoft's policies on sharing and reselling games have been reversed.
There will be no fee to pay for used games, no restrictions on sharing a game with others and no required connection to the internet every 24 hours to play a game offline.
It's a good thing that Microsoft wised up and took away these restrictions, but according to Don Mattrick's statement, they did it after going over tons of feedback from fans
"Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback," Mattrick wrote. "I would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One."
"You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc," Mattrick continued. "The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world."
The fact that Microsoft took away their planned restrictions for the Xbox One only reinforces the fact that people like having the freedom to share games in any way they see fit, and that there was nothing that needed to be changed in the first place.
Original
The dust has settled, E3 2013 has come to an end and enough time has passed to let it all sink in.
This year's show offered a lot to talk about, from the expected (more details and a price for both the Xbox One and PS4) to the unexpected (Kingdom Heart 3).
But what was the big takeaway from this year's E3?
Simple, don't fix what isn't broken.
Microsoft came out firing with their morning press conference, showing the first bit of gameplay from Metal Gear Solid V. Then they kept going with game announcement, after game announcement, after game announcement.
But although Microsoft did do a good job of showing the games that many will be playing at the Xbox One's launch, the entire show was brought down by the ill will they created towards the gaming community with their initial reveal back on May 19.
After the hour-long show that put the look of the console and its entertainment features on display, reports started hitting the internet that the Xbox One would require you to pay a fee to authenticate a used game and that the console would need to connect to the internet every 24 hours to verify that the user was playing an authenticated copy of the game in question.
This news was met with a lot of disdain from the gaming community and was deemed by many as anti-consumerist, as these new Microsoft policies took away from the freedom people had in sharing games with their friends and family.
To be fair, Microsoft did say that game sharing wasn't completely restricted. Gamers can share a copy with one other friend and up to 10 family members. However, Microsoft did an extremely bad job at explaining this to consumers, and their messaging never gave an explanation as to why these new sharing and used game policies were even necessary.
So all this baggage carried over into Microsoft's E3 press conference on June 10, and while they focused solely on games, the information was still in the back of everyone's minds.
Then Don Mattrick, Microsoft's President of Interactive Entertainment, told GameTrailer's Geoff Keighly this after the press conference when asked what people should do if they don't have the internet connection for an Xbox One.
"Fortunately we have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity. It's called Xbox 360."
That's nice, not only does that undermine the Xbox 360, which is still going to be a great console after the Xbox One launches, but it also tells potential consumers, that don't have acceptable internet access, that they can't have the newer and better product.
Then, when night rolled in in Los Angeles, Sony, in many people's minds, won E3 by simply saying they weren't going to change a thing.
The world finally knew what the PS4 looked like and what kind of games would be there for the system at launch. All that was left to find out was the price, the release date and if Sony was going to walk down the same path as Microsoft with the their own used game policy.
Towards the end of Sony's press conference an answer was given for two of the three (still no official release date, but the price is $399).
Jack Tretton, the President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, took the stage and addressed something that everyone watching wanted to know.
"We're equally focused on delivering what gamers want most, without imposing restrictions or devaluing their PS4 purchases," Tretton said. "For instance, Playstation 4 won't impose any new restrictions on the use of used game discs."
Those words made a lot of people in the theater cheer in relief, and Tretton kept going.
"We believe in the model that people embrace today with Playstation 3 and continue to demand," Tretton continued. "When a gamer buys a PS4 disc they have the rights to use that copy of the game."
"They can trade in the game at reatil, sell it to another person, lend it to a friend or keep it forever."
Tretton kept the good news about the PS4 going, but it got the point where it could be taken as a blatant shot at Microsoft and the Xbox One.
"In addition, Playstation 4 disc based games don't need to be connected online to play or for any type of authentication," Tretton said. "If you enjoy playing single player games offline, PS4 won't require you to check-in online periodically. And it won't stop working if you haven't authenticated in 24 hours."
The frustration towards Microsoft and the extremely positive reaction Tretton got from announcing that there would be no restrictions with sharing and reselling games on PS4 made one thing clear.
People want to share the things they enjoy with others, and this doesn't go for just video games either, this goes for anything that entertains us.
People have been trading-in and buying used games, as well as letting their friends borrow games, for years now.
It's a beautiful thing. It allows a person to enjoy a game they otherwise wouldn't have, because a friend gave it to them to try out or they were able to pick a game up for $15 and ended up getting way more than they ever bargained for.
Both the Sony and Microsoft have their fans that will buy a PS4 or an Xbox One no matter what, and it is very likely that both systems will succeed.
However, Microsoft is trying to change something that doesn't need to be changed. Meanwhile, Sony is being looked at in a much brighter, almost heroic, light in the eyes of many gamers for not changing a thing.
(Cover Image from PCMag.com)
(Sony E3 Image from TechRadar.com)
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