• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Sony's E3 2013 Conference 10th Anniversary: Unveiling PlayStation 4 Design, Pricing, and Used Game Policies

Era of not Yakuza

Era of not Yakuza

Banned
Dec 4, 2017
11,481
Brazil

View: https://www.youtube.com/live/DmoZAPDV3ew?feature=share&t=1970


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWSIFh8ICaA

Approximately 6 hours after Microsoft's conference, Sony was able to capitalize on all the controversies surrounding the launch of the Xbox One and announced that the PS4 would be completely different. Jack Tretton was greeted with thunderous applause from the audience as he announced that the Ps4 would be $100 cheaper, without a camera monitoring the owners, without mandatory online connectivity, and that nothing would change regarding used games policies. He also took the opportunity during the event to unveil the introduction of mandatory online play fees through the PlayStation Plus subscription.

One of the standout moments of the conference was the presentation of a video showcasing the simplicity of game lending on the PS4.
Sony's decision to maintain the freedom to trade and lend used games on the PS4 resonated deeply with the gaming community.

A decade later, the impact of Sony's 2013 E3 conference still reverberates.

Explore the highlights and significant moments from the conference, delve into the impact it had on the gaming industry, and share your thoughts on how these announcements shaped the future of console gaming.
 
Last edited:
Bishop89

Bishop89

What Are Ya' Selling?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
35,018
Melbourne, Australia
RequiredMemorableBluebreastedkookaburra-size_restricted.gif


Iconic, generation defining
 
Sarobi

Sarobi

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,982
I was there. There was a very real feeling of this being the last PlayStation that would function offline without DRM, even after the show was over. Great show, and great pre-conference Party as well with free food and booze. Definitely a memory that'll stick with me for a long time.
 
LightKiosk

LightKiosk

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,479
It was a legendary conference thanks to all the stuff leading up to it. We won't get one like it again.
 
andshrew

andshrew

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,966
It's also the moment that PS+ is announced as being required for online multiplayer on PS4. They probably would have picked up a bit more flak for that change if not for being able to bury the announcement under the applause of being able to swap discs with your friends and use the console without an internet connection...
 
Crossing Eden

Crossing Eden

Member
Oct 26, 2017
53,570
Bishop89 said:
RequiredMemorableBluebreastedkookaburra-size_restricted.gif


Iconic, generation defining
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This may have been quite literally the easiest PR in the industry's history. The craziest part is, MS wasn't even off the mark with the "entertainment center" selling point. Tons of households use consoles for things like Netflix or Disney+. However, the completely unnecessary double down on DRM and incredibly poor PR overall killed them at the finish line.
 
T0kenAussie

T0kenAussie

Banned
Jan 15, 2020
5,126
It's kinda crazy how much this slapped against Microsoft's "bad policies" that have for the most part been adopted by the industry at large

- drm got worse with psplus / xbl gold redemptions and there's now digital only releases all the time
- everyone has a google home / Alexa / Siri speaker but hated the idea of Kinect (PlayStations even got listening microphones in controllers now)
- digital redemptions are now eclipsing physicals and Xbox had a (convoluted) gifting and second hand market for digital games iirc
- tv and movie tie ins are the new videogame hotness

It's like some data guys looked at telemetry and said this is where we'll be and then marketing completely messed the whole thing up
 
DGS

DGS

Member
Nov 2, 2017
2,327
Tyrol
Microsoft wanted to force it, which almost never works, and Sony made the right decisions. Sony also had the better idea about first party studios and software in the long run.
 
FrakEarth

FrakEarth

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,300
Liverpool, UK
In hindsight we're always online in practical terms anyway and we don't have any rights to sell, trade or lend our digital purchases.

I'm not sure it worked out for the best tbh
 
Iwao

Iwao

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,849
T0kenAussie said:
It's kinda crazy how much this slapped against Microsoft's "bad policies" that have for the most part been adopted by the industry at large

- drm got worse with psplus / xbl gold redemptions and there's now digital only releases all the time
- everyone has a google home / Alexa / Siri speaker but hated the idea of Kinect (PlayStations even got listening microphones in controllers now)
- digital redemptions are now eclipsing physicals and Xbox had a (convoluted) gifting and second hand market for digital games iirc
- tv and movie tie ins are the new videogame hotness

It's like some data guys looked at telemetry and said this is where we'll be and then marketing completely messed the whole thing up
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
False equivalency: the post
 
Pancakes R Us

Pancakes R Us

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,374
Hah. I remember all the drama from back then. Can't believe it's been a decade. Microsoft was in major panic mode and then backtracked on the DRM/swapping games stuff within what, a month or two?
 
twofold

twofold

Member
Oct 28, 2017
545
Everyone was so excited about this announcement, but I remember it as the conference Sony announced they'd start charging for multiplayer. This was offputting enough that I ended up going back to PC gaming, which I had left in favour of console gaming. I grew up playing multiplayer games on PC and didn't have to pay a penny to do so - the idea of paying to play multiplayer games felt wrong.

I've been a PC gamer since and I haven't bought another console other than the Switch.
 
roly82

roly82

Member
Apr 2, 2019
1,495
T0kenAussie said:
It's kinda crazy how much this slapped against Microsoft's "bad policies" that have for the most part been adopted by the industry at large

- drm got worse with psplus / xbl gold redemptions and there's now digital only releases all the time
- everyone has a google home / Alexa / Siri speaker but hated the idea of Kinect (PlayStations even got listening microphones in controllers now)
- digital redemptions are now eclipsing physicals and Xbox had a (convoluted) gifting and second hand market for digital games iirc
- tv and movie tie ins are the new videogame hotness

It's like some data guys looked at telemetry and said this is where we'll be and then marketing completely messed the whole thing up
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yep but some companies have good reputation (mostly Japanese companies) and others are in the spotlight and everything is gonna be criticized if it comes from them.

Fandoms are the worst of the industry.
 

bastardly

Member
Nov 8, 2017
10,603
ms fucked up so hard that everyone went apeshit over the most basic of things, these were the good old days of e3
 
MrKlaw

MrKlaw

Member
Oct 25, 2017
33,224
It was madness and that sharing video with the slow build up 'step 1' was just perfect


Ironically of course if MS simply had more patience, consumers would deliver themselves to the always on digital purchases and DRM future
 

Mung

Member
Nov 2, 2017
3,454
T0kenAussie said:
It's kinda crazy how much this slapped against Microsoft's "bad policies" that have for the most part been adopted by the industry at large

- drm got worse with psplus / xbl gold redemptions and there's now digital only releases all the time
- everyone has a google home / Alexa / Siri speaker but hated the idea of Kinect (PlayStations even got listening microphones in controllers now)
- digital redemptions are now eclipsing physicals and Xbox had a (convoluted) gifting and second hand market for digital games iirc
- tv and movie tie ins are the new videogame hotness

It's like some data guys looked at telemetry and said this is where we'll be and then marketing completely messed the whole thing up
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This is a total strawman.

We don't have always online drm/requirement in the vast majority of single player games.

We don't have restrictions on the sale of second hand physical games.

Those were the key controversies.. The rest were less significant.

And what do tv and movie tie ins have to do with how consoles are designed today? Consoles are still designed as games machines number one .. Even more so than the ps3 was, which had all the media integration (Inc tvtvtv with play tv, blu ray and all the apps) a gen before. MS messed up design of the Xbox one due to the amount of ram they needed from the early design stage due to their tv and other emphasis. Then were caught by surprise when ps4 had 8gb of much faster gddr5.
 
Last edited:
Helix

Helix

Mayor of Clown Town
Member
Jun 8, 2019
24,004
T0kenAussie said:
It's kinda crazy how much this slapped against Microsoft's "bad policies" that have for the most part been adopted by the industry at large

- drm got worse with psplus / xbl gold redemptions and there's now digital only releases all the time
- everyone has a google home / Alexa / Siri speaker but hated the idea of Kinect (PlayStations even got listening microphones in controllers now)
- digital redemptions are now eclipsing physicals and Xbox had a (convoluted) gifting and second hand market for digital games iirc
- tv and movie tie ins are the new videogame hotness

It's like some data guys looked at telemetry and said this is where we'll be and then marketing completely messed the whole thing up
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

you have to be shitting me rn
 
Modest_Modsoul

Modest_Modsoul

Living the Dreams
Member
Oct 29, 2017
23,930
Wow, 10 years huh.

I remember the hype of the old forum when still a lurker.

Good & hilarious times.
 
shaneo632

shaneo632

Weekend Planner
Member
Oct 29, 2017
29,074
Wrexham, Wales
Still remember this so vividly. One of the best corporate dunkings in gaming history. That "how to share games" video broke the Internet lmao.
 
Kolx

Kolx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,505
roly82 said:
Yep but some companies have good reputation (mostly Japanese companies) and others are in the spotlight and everything is gonna be criticized if it comes from them.

Fandoms are the worst of the industry.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
the irony in the last line... lol
No, MS was hated because their policies were shit. +95% of games right now are not always online and I can still sell and but any used game I want. Some of you want to make what MS did back then right so bad it's weird.
 
Dukie85

Dukie85

Chicken Chaser
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,550
The exchanging disc bit was as lethal as the "$299" from the PS1/Saturn days, IMO
 
Hitokiri03

Hitokiri03

Member
Oct 25, 2017
974
T0kenAussie said:
- drm got worse with psplus / xbl gold redemptions and there's now digital only releases all the time
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
PS Plus DRM works the same way that it worked on PS3 and I believe that GwG 360 games was yours to keep because a limitation with 360 version of Live that didn't support timers.

FrakEarth said:
In hindsight we're always online in practical terms anyway and we don't have any rights to sell, trade or lend our digital purchases.

I'm not sure it worked out for the best tbh
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
But we can still do whatever with our physical games, the thing that Microsoft was trying to take away in exchange for nothing.
 
SirNinja

SirNinja

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 17, 2017
8,267
Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States
It's something business classes are going to reference for many years to come. Microsoft performed a critical misread of the room in determining what it was their customers wanted — and Sony took full advantage.

And, perhaps just as crucially, Microsoft was extremely slow to recover from this disastrous fumble. They floundered for years trying to score decent exclusives, while the PS4 quickly became essential hardware. Bloodborne, God of War, Horizon, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Uncharted 4 & Lost Legacy, Last of Us Part II, Ghost of Tsushima, and more. Hit after hit was rolling off the Sony assembly lines while Microsoft tried to dig themselves out of their own hole.

Eventually they found a bit of footing in Game Pass, which continues to be a success, but it also never really addressed the core problem: the lack of a large number of good XB1 exclusives. Go through just about any Top __ Xbox One Games of All Time list: it's kind of shocking to see just how many games are also on PS4.

It is at least a very nice back-compatible console, and the reason I finally picked up an XB1 for super cheap. I wanted to play stuff like Lost Odyssey and Panzer Dragoon Orta again, and those games still hold up really well.
 
Temascos

Temascos

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,587
That was an amazing E3. Whilst the PS4 first party exclusives weren't the greatest they did, and games like GT6 and Puppeteer might have been better served being launch exclusives for the system, they finished PS3 off in style with The Last Of Us.

And of course, there was a great mix of titles, the revival of FF15, Kingdom Hearts 3 being announced and lots of indie titles getting the spotlight in a fantastic fashion. Destiny also looked great too! And of course, Sony capitalising on Microsoft's mistakes was perfectly done.
 
Scrappy-Fan92

Scrappy-Fan92

Member
Jan 14, 2021
8,963
Sony did the bare minimum right (right as in "ethically" right) things, put in the legwork to make a console attractive to third-party developers, and reaped the rewards for it. It's almost obscene how much ground Microsoft and Nintendo ceded to Sony that gen. The "sharing used games" video is still an all-timer, though.
 
shadowman16

shadowman16

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
32,256
Looking up the actual games shown off... I cant say in retrospect its actually all that impressive in terms of games. I mean, FFVX was there at least, sure KH3 was there but we all know that took YEARS to release, so meh, Killzone? Well it did its function as showing off them graphics but yeah turns out it was not too good to actually play (still kinda annoyed I brought into the hype lol). Order was exciting in setting (but in retrospect the game was rather lame) and Infamous... probably the one game that released around launch that I genuinely loved... except the bonus quest you got with the special edition... Its 10 years later and Im still mad at paying for that...

Honestly, this conference got by on just the price and the used game thing. Not like the PS4 was a super exciting console, it just didnt have stupid gimmicks or dumb marketing like the Wii U or Xbox One. It basically just stayed in its lane and won by not doing anything stupid. Of course, it does help that it was a pretty darn good console games wise in the end.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.