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[StevePharma]

Dramatically increased awareness of the issue. Multiple Sony employees already commented that it had a huge effect, and that the message was heard at the highest levels.

Considering your posts on this whole topic, I know debating any of this with you is going to be pointless.

Microsoft and Sony employees both said that they are appreciating their consumer input, except Sony got about 10 to 15 thousand tweets with specialized hashtag. What separates Sony's responses from the basic same responses Microsoft makes? For all we now they could mean nothing.

And you guys say Kotaku is a joke? Great job being hostile to someone trying to help you keep some consumer rights. I hope Schreir writes more articles like this. You hold on to your precious skepticism, while the rest of us try and raise awareness.

Whoah, since when is criticism hostility? And Kotaku is doing as much to keep my consumer rights as GAF did with a Twitter campaign. The awareness is already there, not much more can be added because we know jack shit until June 10th. I don't know what 10 more days of the same articles are going to bring to the table regarding awareness.

 

[fuzzy.dunlop]

Well, IF it will be up to the publishers, then it will be interesting to see how Sony as publisher utilizes their own option.

 

[CaptainSlow]

You almost got me OP. You almost got me to click on a Kotaku link. Never again!

 

[dragonbane]

This is getting a little silly now. That's not most people's problem, and you know it. Your problem is, your interviewer asked a question, got a lukewarm/non-news response and tried to make a big deal over it.

I think it is worth it to inform your readers that Sony's stance hasn't changed since the unveiling and they're still not ready to give concrete answers, hence the title "Questions Sony doesn't answer....yet"

People have been asking the media constantly since last week to ask Sony what their updated stance is. That's what Kotaku did.

 

[Shinta]

Microsoft and Sony employees both said that they are appreciating their consumer input, except Sony got about 10 to 15 thousand tweets with specialized hashtag. What separates Sony's responses from the basic same responses Microsoft makes? For all we now they could mean nothing.

I hope Schreir writes more articles like this. You hold on to your precious skepticism, while the rest of us try and raise awareness.

I think the real question is, what does your skepticism result in? That isn't up for debate. It results in exactly nothing.

 

[jmood88]

What does this even mean? You think the #PS4NoDRM campaign will have no effect?

It already has had an effect, and many disagree with you.

'We're listening" and "we love our fans!" aren't signs that it has changed anything.

 

[Shinta]

'We're listening" and "we love our fans!" aren't signs that it has changed anything.

It's completely changed the conversation and put this issue front and center in the gaming media, and the minds of hardcore gamers who will be tuning into E3. If Sony does not heed their fans' demands, the PR price they pay is going to be much, much steeper now because of this campaign, and because of articles like Kotaku's.

 

[jmood88]

It's completely changed the conversation and put this issue front and center in the gaming media, and the minds of hardcore gamers who will be tuning into E3. If Sony does not heed their fans' demands, the PR price they pay is going to be much, much steeper now because of this campaign, and because of articles like Kotaku's.

The twitter campaign didn't do that, there were already people extremely upset with the rumored used games restrictions and the gaming press asked those questions as soon as the Wired story came out. They also asked Sony about it back in February, although they let Sony off the hook and didn't question further after the vague answers.

 

[Principate]

It's completely changed the conversation and put this issue front and center in the gaming media, and the minds of hardcore gamers who will be tuning into E3. If Sony does not heed their fans' demands, the PR price they pay is going to be much, much steeper now because of this campaign, and because of articles like Kotaku's.

TBF that's what spin is for. They don't actually have to say anything until it actually releases and most people won't be up to date either. By that time most of the negative backlash would have minimised as most of the dedicated core would have bought anyway.

I still think they probably won't add much if any but they could easily side step this whole issue if they were.

 

[Dave Meltzer]

Dramatically increased awareness of the issue. Multiple Sony employees already commented that it had a huge effect, and that the message was heard at the highest levels.

Considering your posts on this whole topic, I know debating any of this with you is going to be pointless..

This isn't about my thoughts on the policy. I think it'd kinda cute to think company policy will be dictated by a little hashtsg spamming.

 

[Knux-Future]

If that turns out to be the case, why shouldn't Sony get a "free pass"?

If some publishers have really convinnced themselves (and their shareholders) that all their financial woes are due to used games, Sony wouldn't be able to strongarm those guys into not implementing DRM anyway. How could they? If they were to say, "Uou can't publish titles with DRM on our platform", those pubs would just drop PS4 support and throw all their weight behind Xbone instead. It's not Sony's fault that these guys are convinced all their problems will go away if they could just get rid of Gamestop. If Sony doesn't make DRM mandatory for third parties and doesn't implement it in their own titles, at least more enlightened publishers have the option of not going that route. And maybe after we see some non-DRM'ed titles outsell similar games with DRM on the same console, the DRM-happy types might change their tune.

to be fair, Sony has and seemingly will continue to use online passes. Microsoft ironically never did. So they technically won't be scott free.

I think it is worth it to inform your readers that Sony's stance hasn't changed since the unveiling and they're still not ready to give concrete answers, hence the title "Questions Sony doesn't answer....yet"

People have been asking the media constantly since last week to ask Sony what their updated stance is. That's what Kotaku did.

This.

people asked for someone from the media to ask questions. Kotaku did (also if you guys paid attention,,,Jason said that they asked weeks back and only now got answers).

I wonder what would happen if they aksed and didn;t report on the non-asnwers, they'd be getting shit for that too probably.

They are trying to get answers and are informing peoples of Sony's stance. Take it or leave it.

 

[Shinta]

This isn't about my thoughts on the policy. I think it'd kinda cute to think company policy will be dictated by a little hashtsg spamming.

At least we have on record that people don't even have a problem with the Kotaku article. They just think the entire hashtag campaign is stupid.

Lots of people disagree with you, considering the thread got hundreds of thousands of views and 160+ website write-ups in a matter of 3 days.

 

[Jezbollah]

If Sony have bad news, they'll announce it away from E3.

If Sony have good news, they'll announce it at E3 to maximise publicity.

Thats my thought anyway. The fact they're silent is *touch wood* good news.

 

[Knux-Future]

If Sony have bad news, they'll announce it away from E3.

If Sony have good news, they'll announce it at E3 to maximise publicity.

Thats my thought anyway. The fact they're silent is *touch wood* good news.

Yep. No answers at e3 would pretty much seal that they are doing something...Microsoft too actually.

 

[Dave Meltzer]

At least we have on record that people don't even have a problem with the Kotaku article. They just think the entire hashtag campaign is stupid.

Lots of people disagree with you, considering the thread got hundreds of thousands of views and 160+ website write-ups in a matter of 3 days.

I'm not arguing if you caused a mild scene or not. But a corporation isn't held hostage by tweets. If this happens it happens, twitter can't possibly affect such a huge decision. And anyone from Sony who implies otherwise is just being polite.

 

[PopcornMegaphone]

At least we have on record that people don't even have a problem with the Kotaku article. They just think the entire hashtag campaign is stupid.

Lots of people disagree with you, considering the thread got hundreds of thousands of views and 160+ website write-ups in a matter of 3 days.

As much as I'd like to think the campaign has a dramatic impact, realistically it kinda fizzled out. It kinda confirmed my belief most consumers just don't care.

I hope the rumors before the campaign that Sony killed the DRM are true.

 

[crusadernm]

Wish people would be more consistent in displaying their rage over the deliverance of information.

MS policies unclear - Rage, anger, hate
Sony policies unclear - Oh well, they are just letting MS take the hits, wait til E3

 

[flyinpiranha]

I should have been clear, I'm mostly laughing at the notion that Kotaku is special enough to have questions like this answered less than 2 weeks before E3. You'd have to be a fucking moron to think they would answer these questions clearly after dodging them for this long.



Exactly this.

I understand they have nothing to write about, that's not my problem.

I don't think that's the point. It's just like the #PS4NoDRM ... the more people that ask, the more attention it gets.

Unless you don't want people asking these questions? Maybe it is a slow news day, who gives a shit, would rather see these questions than almost anything else as these are THE questions to answer or at least keep in the public eye.

Wish people would be more consistent in displaying their rage over the deliverance of information.

MS policies unclear - Rage, anger, hate
Sony policies unclear - Oh well, they are just letting MS take the hits, wait til E3

Get used to it. I know GAF is made up of a shitload of different people, but it seems to favor Sony for the most part. I mean, we had a sticky for people to laugh at the MS conference and a ton of just shit threads about the topic that would have/should have been easily compiled. But, it may be just be persecution complex from all sides. Everybody thinks "their side" is being attacked.

It is what it is.

With that said, MS hasn't been doing itself any favors the past 2.5 years. I'm a fan of most of their IP (moreso than Sony's) and I don't plan on picking up the XO with what I know at this time.

 

[Shinta]

I'm not arguing if you caused a mild scene or not. But a corporation isn't held hostage by tweets. If this happens it happens, twitter can't possibly affect such a huge decision. And anyone from Sony who implies otherwise is just being polite.

Again, your skepticism literally amounts to exactly nothing.

The #PS4NoDRM campaign has already amounted to more than that. PS4 is targeting informed, hardcore gamers more than Xbox is. If thousands of people are upset, they will definitely notice - especially considering how this issue is going to play out in Europe.

The campaign only helps things, and harms nothing. The article helps the campaign. There is nothing to complain about here.

As much as I'd like to think the campaign has a dramatic impact, realistically it kinda fizzled out. It kinda confirmed my belief most consumers just don't care.

I hope the rumors before the campaign that Sony killed the DRM are true.

Actually, the rumors (from a confirmed insider) was that they saw the vocal backlash, and then changed their minds on the DRM. That's why people even started the campaign in the first place. It only helps things.

 

[2MF]

As much as I'd like to think the campaign has a dramatic impact, realistically it kinda fizzled out. It kinda confirmed my belief most consumers just don't care.

I hope the rumors before the campaign that Sony killed the DRM are true.

If people buy into Sony's/MS's platforms and they both have DRM, it's their own fault. Buy a PC where you get DRM-free or cheaper DRMed titles and let them eat DRM full-price stuff.

 

[StevePharma]

At least we have on record that people don't even have a problem with the Kotaku article. They just think the entire hashtag campaign is stupid.

Lots of people disagree with you, considering the thread got hundreds of thousands of views and 160+ website write-ups in a matter of 3 days.

The true question will be how long it will last

If anything I was expecting growth. It has already fizzled out.

 

[PopcornMegaphone]

Actually, the rumors (from a confirmed insider) was that they saw the vocal backlash, and then changed their minds on the DRM. That's why people even started the campaign in the first place. It only helps things.

True. I doubt it hurt.

 

[Dave Meltzer]

Again, your skepticism literally amounts to exactly nothing.

The #PS4NoDRM campaign has already amounted to more than that. PS4 is targeting informed, hardcore gamers more than Xbox is. If thousands of people are upset, they will definitely notice - especially considering how this issue is going to play out in Europe.

The campaign only helps things, and harms nothing. The article helps the campaign. There is nothing to complain about here.

The PS4 is targeting the same audience as Xbox One. They don't lose sales by doing something Xbox does. So they don't need to appease anyone.

I don't even think Sony will implement it. I just know if they do or don't wont be because of people reacting negatively to their only competition doing it.

 

[andycapps]

Get used to it. I know GAF is made up of a shitload of different people, but it's obviously Sony slanted. I mean, we had a sticky for people to laugh at the MS conference.

Hasn't always been that way. The 2005 E3 Sony press conference threads were bananas. Things change, and Microsoft's PR gaffes that are reminiscent of 2005 Sony aren't helping them.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Yep. No answers at e3 would pretty much seal that they are doing something...Microsoft too actually.

Major Nelson already said they likely won't talk about their policies during the show, since they're going to focus their time on showing the games and features, but they will have answers at E3. Major Nelson will probably put the details on his blog right after the show I'd assume.

But that was 3 days after their reveal. Considering the amount of attention this has had recently, they may change that and talk about it on stage.

 

[Grecco]

sony is just as vauge and non committal as MS.

 

[Orca]

Wish people would be more consistent in displaying their rage over the deliverance of information.

MS policies unclear - Rage, anger, hate
Sony policies unclear - Oh well, they are just letting MS take the hits, wait til E3

That's what I talked about in the start of the rage about DRM. It was less than a day since MS unveiled their console and people were apoplectic over the vague messaging and demanding clarity...but it was the same vague will they/won't they 'not sharing details at this time' messaging Sony had gotten away with for three months. It made the 'consumer protection' outrage seem pretty forced, or at least one-sided.

I mean honestly - people are complaining Kotaku wrote one article about the lack of answers for three basic questions THREE MONTHS after it was unveiled...but they were okay with dozen of articles about speculation on the Xbox One's policies? That's not consumer protectionism.

 

[StevePharma]

I don't even think Sony will implement it. I just know if they do or don't wont be because of people reacting negatively to their only competition doing it.

Exactly. The only way companies will react is AFTERWARDS, when things aren't going too well. Then we will get our Ambassador programs and price cuts or whatever. Companies don't listen to voices and opinions, only to money.

 

[ghst]

What does this even mean? You think the #PS4NoDRM campaign will have no effect?

the ps4 will have DRM. as did the ps3, ps2 and ps1.

come e3, i predict a small token gesture followed by a lot of cognitive dissonance.

 

[Knux-Future]

Wish people would be more consistent in displaying their rage over the deliverance of information.

MS policies unclear - Rage, anger, hate
Sony policies unclear - Oh well, they are just letting MS take the hits, wait til E3

Not this shit again.

MS got hate because they actually stated shit, unclear as it was. Phil Harrison kinda let the cat out of the bag. Sony hasn't said much outside of there is no always online and it can play used games without clarification.

Microsoft on always online :" It's not always on but it does require an connection"
Sony on always online "The system can be played old school without any connection ;because of different ecosystems"

Both could end up being the same thing but one answer is more clear and thus rage.l

If Sony said "It can be played old school lwithout any connections but it does require to connect at least once a day"...then people would hopefully rage at them too.

that is why people take a wait and see approach with Sony. They haven;t explained shit. Microsoft did, albiet in different ways, before pulling back on it with "it's not decided yet". Had they done so at first, the rage would be placed on the TV stuff.

I didn't think I'd have to keep explaining this. Not eveyrthing is about being a fanboy...reasons exist for stuff

 

[iNvid02]

sony will either

a) continue being aloof, letting microsoft be the punching bag whilst retaining this goodwill they have built up until E3. the specifics will come out during/after E3 but the impact lessened by all the other news

b) continue being aloof, letting microsoft be the punching bag whilst retaining this goodwill they have built up until E3. reveal on stage in glorious fashion that you dont need be connected to play and used games remain unaltered on ps4


i really want b lol

 

[Raist]

He's linking himself to an old article from his own website with Yoshida clearly stating "you can stay completely offline if you want". So writing back to Sony now, after the MS debacle, basically asking "are you suuuuuuure it won't need to be online every now and then?" and then when a Sony rep says "no change from what we stated before" put up an "article" saying "Sony won't answer us1!!!1" is, I'm sorry, rather misleading and dishonest.

Thats BS. Sony is providing a method for this just like MS is. The only difference is people are NOT screaming at sony about it...

Are they now? How exactly? Please give us your insight into this method.
If publishers decide to have their games call home to check if they've been activated before on a different system via their own servers, there is very little Sony can do.

 

[flyinpiranha]

Hasn't always been that way. The 2005 E3 Sony press conference threads were bananas. Things change, and Microsoft's PR gaffes that are reminiscent of 2005 Sony aren't helping them.

Yeah, wasn't saying it's a norm and it doesn't flip/flop at times. But the past couple years I've always thought it was in Sony's favor here on GAF.

Just an observation though, it really doesn't affect much except the HUGE disconnect there is with the gaming public.

 

[Knux-Future]

The true question will be how long it will last

If anything I was expecting growth. It has already fizzled out.

It was always gonna fizzle out. To keep hounding them would dilute the message.

The plan is to start it back up around June5th.

the guy who started it was the insider so he'd maybe be able to keep us updated or something.

regardless of it works or not, they (and many others) are now aware of it and that really was the goal. We got to NBC for fucks sake.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

By that logic, you could email any publisher 50 questions and once you get the standard 'no comment' reply, you can update your own blog site with 50 articles a day.
If you think no news is news, you're doing it wrong.

This is one of the hottest questions in the industry right now, it's legitimate to put Sony's (non)response.

 

[PistolGrip]

What a dumb article. Oh its from Kotaku..

If a tree asks a question in the forest and no one is around to answer it, did it really ask it....

 

[Joel Was Right]

The fact that this is even a question that has yet to have an answer is itself bad news. Sony are unwilling to say anymore. That says plenty of things, hence the point of the article

 

[Air Zombie Meat]

Everyone wants these questions answered, not seeing why people are whining that they got asked. The fact that they won't comment is worth noting.

 

[ghst]

The fact that this is even a question that has yet to have an answer is itself bad news. Sony are unwilling to say anymore. That says plenty of things, hence the point of the article

yet i've never seen so many people rally around a policy of withholding information.

 

[oVerde]

At the end of the day, will be MSFT's fault if Sony have DRM, as much as people blame Nintendo for motion controls, lol.

 

[Freezie KO]

The fact that this is even a question that has yet to have an answer is itself bad news. Sony are unwilling to say anymore. That says plenty of things, hence the point of the article

Kotaku: How awesome is your DRM?

Sony: No comment.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

If they aren't doing or considering what Microsoft is, I think the answer to those three would've been quite clear, would they not? Either way, it won't affect my purchase of a PS4 one way or the other.

 

[Raist]

From Kotaku themselves, because apparently the "Sony won't answer our questions!" and gigantic "Shhhhhhh" banner is being more effective than actually reading what they reported themselves:

In an interview with Eurogamer at yesterday's big PS4 unveiling in New York, Sony's head of worldwide game studios, Shuhei Yoshida said, of PS4 gaming, "Oh yes, yes, you can go offline totally. Social is big for us, but we understand there are some people who are anti-social! So if you don't want to connect to anyone else, you can do that."

UPDATE: More relief... At a roundtable this morning, Sony's game studios chief, Shuhei Yoshida, told reporters that any requirement for users to register a game online in order to play it would be left to game publishers. Sony won't require that.

So the answer to these questions were provided ages ago, Kotaku asks again for some reason, and when Sony says "Yep, no change" it suddenly goes into "they're hiding something!" mode.

That new "article" is just clickbait bullshit that tries to ride on the whole tweeter movement.

 

[Alpende]

Well, shit. That doesn't sound good.

 

[andycapps]

Yeah, wasn't saying it's a norm and it doesn't flip/flop at times. But the past couple years I've always thought it was in Sony's favor here on GAF.

Just an observation though, it really doesn't affect much except the HUGE disconnect there is with the gaming public.

The funny thing is that I think the gaming media is the opposite, and has stayed pretty consistently that way since the consoles launched. Not saying that everyone is like that, or that they can't put biases aside when reviewing games in the least, but it's not uncommon to hear people say that they put most of their time into their 360 because that's where their gaming press friends are or because that's where they get preview code. Or that they have to update their PS3 every time they turn it on, obviously they're not turning it on much if that's the case.

I think the disconnect you see may depend on where you're located in the world.

From Kotaku themselves, because apparently the "Sony won't answer our questions!" and gigantic "Shhhhhhh" banner is being more effective than actually reading what they reported themselves:

Quote:
In an interview with Eurogamer at yesterday's big PS4 unveiling in New York, Sony's head of worldwide game studios, Shuhei Yoshida said, of PS4 gaming, "Oh yes, yes, you can go offline totally. Social is big for us, but we understand there are some people who are anti-social! So if you don't want to connect to anyone else, you can do that."
Quote:
UPDATE: More relief... At a roundtable this morning, Sony's game studios chief, Shuhei Yoshida, told reporters that any requirement for users to register a game online in order to play it would be left to game publishers. Sony won't require that.
So the answer to these questions were provided ages ago, Kotaku asks again for some reason, and when Sony says "Yep, no change" it suddenly goes into "they're hiding something!" mode.

This really needs to be added to the OP.

 

[JudgeB]

Wish people would be more consistent in displaying their rage over the deliverance of information.

MS policies unclear - Rage, anger, hate
Sony policies unclear - Oh well, they are just letting MS take the hits, wait til E3

Pretty much this. Oh the hypocrisy some are showing.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

From Kotaku themselves, because apparently the "Sony won't answer our questions!" and gigantic "Shhhhhhh" banner is being more effective than actually reading what they reported themselves:





So the answer to these questions were provided ages ago, Kotaku asks again for some reason, and when Sony says "Yep, no change" it suddenly goes into "they're hiding something!" mode.

The devils in the details.

The One can go offline too... For 24 hours.

When someone asked Sony if first party games would require activation, they declined to comment.

Your two quotes do not give the entire story.

 

[Squashie]

E3 will be... interesting.

Absolutely, I think Nintendo could win this show... (bring on the hate comments)

 

[Raist]

The devils in the details.

The One can go offline too... For 24 hours.

When someone asked Sony if first party games would require activation, they declined to comment.

Your two quotes do not give the entire story.

I don't think one can be any more clear by stating "you can go offline totally" and "sony won't require you to activate your game online". Who are you referring to when you say "someone asked about first party games, Sony declined to comment"

Does this mean that every single PS4 game won't use any of this? No. But then again, that's quite far from what MS stated they were implementing with XB1.

 

[PistolGrip]

Everyone wants these questions answered, not seeing why people are whining that they got asked. The fact that they won't comment is worth noting.

This question has been asked and answered in the past thousands of times. I am all for questions being asked but don't make it a big deal when a company doesn't answer and then try to make it into a thing.

Maybe if they got other questions answered and this was just a small stab that went unanswered or deflected. Perhaps a visual cue that maybe someone is hiding something like... "He blushed and smiled and said no comment when answering this important question"

Kataku has absolutely nothing here... Its not worth us even having a thread about it.