E3 2013: Sony's Defining Moment

Them shots... they were fired.

Sony really took the initiative here and stuck it to Microsoft. They took the Xbones lackluster reveal as a sign and showed them how its done.

Gamers and Consumers will remember this

Will would you look at that? See what happens when you cater to the gamers and not the money, you end up getting nothing but positive results.

I've said it a million times and I will say it a million more. If Sony wants to keep hold of that positivity for them right now they need to have their launch be PERFECT or at least near to perfect. No Red Rings and no shortage on the console for stores. If it starts the way it did last generation they may have to do another uphill climb.

Glorious

Always bought a Xbox but this time, I think I'll decide to buy a PS4 instead.

"Sony has decided to draw a definitive line in the sand in their dealings with Microsoft. They have decided to make this issue their defining moment."

I would put it more as gamers deciding to make it a defining moment. As you rightly say Joseph it was the spontanteous crowd reaction which spoke loudest and even seemed to take Sony aback on stage

Sony has been nimble enough to take advantage of Microsoft's mistakes, but as you also point out this is not just Microsoft but the publishers call and there will likely have been some very interesting heated phone calls between Redmond and EA today

There is already pushback with questions being asked about just how firmly Sony should be placing themselves in the position as the saviour of rental/used and the slayer of the evil DRM

"During an interview with Game Trailers, Tretton reiterated that Sony's first-party releases won't carry any unordinary DRM restrictions, only to later hint that third-party publishers like Electronic Arts and Activision are free to chart their own course

"Well, I mean, we create the platform, we've certainly stated that our first-party games are not going to be doing that, but we welcome publishers and their business models to our platform," he said, according to Polygon. "There's gonna be free-to-play, there's gonna be every potential business model on there, and again, that's up to their relationship with the consumer, what do they think is going to put them in the best fit. We're not going to dictate that, we're gonna give them a platform to publish on."

Gamers need to take that in and not simply dismiss it as butthurt Microsoft fanboys. It's important to understand that Sony has made sure on it's end to be a gamer friendly as possible but they will not stand in the way of publishers who will have to decide for themselves where they stand and whether they take on gamers directly rather than through the agency of the console on matters DRM

EA and Microsoft are cultivating the impression that the xbox one is the console of choice for the dudebros/calladooty yet despite that what matters most is that EA did NOT go the whole hog and give Microsoft total exclusivity of their games. EA didn't risk everything on the xbox one. That's telling. The power of publishers to dictate to the console makers is limited by their fear of the bottom line and cutting themselves off from a profitable console revenue stream they just can't afford to.

Used games/DRM is a defining moment, as is Sony twisting the knife into Microsoft for their 'always on' 24 hour verification. Though for me the most defining moment for Sony was the price. That was Sony themselves learning the hard way from the last time and aggressively positioning the PS4 as the console of choice for the average consumer in a way the cuts through all the complex DRM and online issues

I know which console I am choosing now

Sony listened and learned. Microsoft gave an object lesson in how not to do it

It's like they won by default, and then had an incredibly good conference to boot. This is not like Sony...

Was it Ocarina of Time, or Twilight Princess that had an explosive response?

This also needs posting as it was a later clarification of what Tretton said.

"According to Dan Race, Senior Director, Corporate Communications for Sony, Tretton’s statements were referring specifically to playing used games online. He told me,

The Online Pass program for PlayStation first-party games will not continue on PlayStation 4. Similar to PS3, we will not dictate the online used game strategy (the ability to play used games online) of its publishing partners. As announced last night, PS4 will not have any gating restrictions for used disc-based games. When a gamer buys a PS4 disc they have right to use that copy of the game, so they can trade-in the game at retail, sell it to another person, lend it to a friend, or keep it forever.

This is good news for gamers, indeed. In a nutshell, you can but a used single-player game for the PS4 and play it all you want. If you want to go online with it, you may have to deal with some sort of publisher-determined DRM, be it an Online Pass or whatever"

So basically the same as PS3 and the 360 and again up to the publisher.

I'm not sure that cheering or the outpouring of support was a defining moment for Sony as much as it was a repudiation of Microsoft. Sony could have said nothing other than 'No DRM' and they would have won hands down. As it happens though, they still had a very impressive conference and the games they showed were very diverse and pretty. I'm still sore about having to pay for online multiplayer, I think there should be much more push back against that kind of money grab than there has been (which is to say none at all), but other than that, Sony looks to be in a dominant position for the next decade or more to come, at least with regards to "core gamers".

I would say that this is one of those times where one doesn't know how good one has things until it's all gone, except it's not quite that bad. The current gen's model of game ownership, retail and accessibility is only being threatened by one company whose poor choice to make what is basically a literal Marketing Machine of a home console is showing off their insistence to force change where it really isn't needed, to the end of pathetically underhanded profit chasing.
Prior to this announcement, and the hilarious and poignant 20 second 'instructional video' that compliments these details, I was definitely leaning towards the PS4. And now Sony's won me over with this move, I'm not ashamed to say it.
Their launch titles look graphically stunning and mechanically fascinating, and all things considered, $399 really isn't too unreasonable as a start-up price for the next generation in gaming.
But like I said, seems like Sony are wisely showing that they know all too well that in this aspect of the gaming industry, we don't need change; lets' stick with the now. :)

Defining moment was the price. if they had priced it equal or above Xbox it probably would have been meh-ish if you were going to buy high for a non-drm console. But man, 100 less than xbox without the DRM stuff really is the kick that was super effective.