Knowing my luck somebody's already posted this, but Sony has released a video that shows how game loaning will work on the Playstation 4.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWSIFh8ICaA

Looks like its a tad less complicated then on XBone :D

Hilarious, thank you! *g*

That was absolutely fantastic.

Didn't they explicitly say they'll leave DRM up to the publishers? What they most probably mean is that they won't be imposing any additional security measures.

I saw it on Eurogamer, but I really did find it absolutely epic. The schadenfreude from Sony is coming by the bucketload at the moment, and if I'm honest, they deserve all the goodwill they've been getting with the way they revealed this.

(Mind you, sharing your disc-based games on the Xbone is still easier than on the PC) Originally, yes, so I suspect this announcement is basically a backpedal in the wake of the Xbone disaster. The PR specifically states that you will not need to ever connect to the internet to play games, and going against that now would be a commercial disaster.

Edit for video link:

He, that conference part looks like a mirror universe version compared to XB1. Part (a little part) of me thinks its a bit sad that such stuff has to be pointed out in a console gaming conference. But than again, MS delivered the free cheers to Sony.

Gaming has been in such a state of decline in recent years that any company that champions traditional gaming values is bound to be championed by the wider community. Publishers don't give a shit about their customer base any more. With DRM, day-one DLC comprising parts of the original game, overbearing in-game advertising, constant badmouthing by the industry of its customers (the "used games = pirates" situation) and excessive annualised milking of franchises, any company that tells gamers "we are listening, we understand your concerns" is likely to receive a great deal of goodwill.

Companies like EA and Microsoft are just steamrollering ahead without any regard for what their customer bases want. It's no wonder that both companies have been in strong decline in the past couple of years.

If Sony had adopted a similar implementation Microsoft would have been safe with theirs, but now that it is the polar opposite that makes it even worse. The PS4 also has a lower launch price.

I just watched well known gaming journalist Jeff Gerstmann's twitch session where he talked about the day. I agree with his basic sentiments, which were: 1) Sony saw an opportunity to strike and swam in like sharks, 2) we're headed toward an all digital future very soon and publishers are making online-focused games anyway, so how much does this matter in the end?

It's a weird middle-ground. I love the GOG method... digital distribution, direct payments, no resale... yet also no DRM. Could that even work on a console though? As much as we love GOG, is that at all realistic to expect, ever, on a mainstream gaming console meant for teens as much as adults? I doubt it.

I'm sure the hardcore consumer rights crowd will ding me for this, but I'm not sure I see a winner in this struggle to define the future. All I know is this is a stop-gap. As much applause as Sony got today Destiny, the key game they showed, is always-online. Nothing they said about selling discs stops that.

If your definition of decline means coming up with record profits, yea, I guess, you're right.

Lol XD

In all likelihood, you're completely correct, but I have a feeling that the demographics have changed somewhat. I don't doubt that the gaming industry is larger than it ever was (in fact, as far as I remember, it has grown bigger than the movie industry by now), but I have a feeling that it is getting less money from the 30+ gamers than it used to. I have absolutely nothing to substantiate this other than a personal hunch, partly based on my own feelings towards the major publishers, and a noticeable shift in my own gaming-buying habits.

I wouldn't jump to conclusions so early. 360 and its successor were supposed to utilize HD-DVD. Now what? HD-DVD is gone, Blu Ray is the standard. The same thing can happen to Sony's no DRM - it only takes a little update to change everything. Not to mention a million workarounds. Say Sony doesn't require DRM implementation but leaves the decision to publishers. Nothing really changes. I don't believe basic concepts can be that different within one generation.

I'm just mostly looking this from the side, but if this is really true (no DRM or second-hand restrictions on PS4), it will be interesting to watch which will prevail:

- game publishers favoring XBone as it is trying to kill the second-hand market that the publishers hate so much, and more control overall over people's purchases.

- many customers opting for PS4 for exactly that reason

I can't really tell which way it would go in the end... I'm now rooting for PS4 I guess, but then it could be that the PS4 versions of games will have additional DRM from publishers, since Sony does not provide it by default? Origin and UPlay for PS4?

And some might even say they don't want to port their games to PS4 at all due to that.