Sony officially launched the Playstation 4 on Monday, and they’re coming after Microsoft’s Xbox One — hard.
For starters, the new PlayStation 4 costs $399, putting the PS4’s price point $100 under that of the Xbox One at $499. However, what may be most notable is all of the things Sony was quick to point out the PlayStation doesn’t do.
You can see some of that in the ad up above, with Sony out-and-out mocking the way that Microsoft is putting restrictions on how players share games, including only allowing them to give a game away once and only allowing them to be given to people who are on your Xbox friends list for at least 30 days.
“We’re equally focused on delivering what gamers want most, without imposing restrictions or devaluing their PS4 purchases,” said Sony Computer Entertainment America President Jack Tretton, not-so-obliquely referring to various Microsoft features that have received a negative reaction for being overly restrictive on what gamers can do with their games and how they can use their consoles.
In a portion of the presentation peppered with numerous applause breaks, Tretton said that the PS4 wouldn’t impose any new restrictions on how players use their PS4 games. And those applause breaks aren’t from the general public — they’re from an audience of reporters and gaming industry representatives.
“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 retail, sell it to another person, lend it to a friend or keep it forever,” Tretton said — drawing a stark contrast to some new restrictions Microsoft is putting in place with its new system.
One feature of the Xbox One that had drawn strong criticism, the need for it to go online at least once every 24 hours or else players would no longer be able to play games, got specifically called out.
“PlayStation 4 disc-based games don’t need to be connected online to play,” Tretton said. “If you enjoy playing single-player games offline, PS4 won’t require you to check in online periodically.” He then added a cherry on top: “And it won’t stop working if you haven’t authenticated within 24 hours.”
Those in attendance even broke into a chant of “Sony” in the middle of those points, showing the outright hostility that seems to have met some of the Xbox One’s new features.
