Anyone who watched E3 and Playstation’s Gamescom press conference know that Andrew House, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, took some obvious jabs at Xbox One and their policies. At Gamescom, Andrew House finished up the conference with:
“While others have shifted their message and changed their story, we were consistent in maintaining a message that is fair and in tune with consumer desires.”
The reasoning behind this may not be what you think. In an interview with The Guardian, Andrew states,
“But I’ll characterize it this way: I was surprised …”
So what exactly was he surprised about? Well, the short answer is: where XBox perceived the industry was headed.
Confused direction
Andrew House was surprised that there were rumors of the game industry going in the direction of where the Xbox One was originally headed. It was to have digital distribution as the primary source for games and disks as secondary at best. There was the need of an almost constant internet connection and no support for used games.
House was surprised and felt he needed to make a statement on where Sony stood. He explained that there would not be a need for constant internet connection and there would be support for used games on the Playstation 4.
Consistent with consumer desires
House admits there are limits to their system, but he believes in consistency. As the above quote mentions, Sony plans on sticking with what they believe is fair and what consumers want.
Perhaps Microsoft originally assumed gamers were ready for the digital age of games, but after outcry from the market, realized they weren’t and changed the XBox vision. There’s no denying that the changes greatly influenced some gamers’ perception about the Xbox One. You also have to respect Andrew House for sticking with his original plan and not changing just because the industry might change.
What do you think about the status and future of the industry? Is digital distribution ready to be the main source of gaming? Is the world of gaming ready to be completely integrated online? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
