If Sony does turn out to have a similar kind of system, I'm going to be honest right now and say I'd still be interested in PS4. If you notice on their weekly store updates, they have sales and price drops constantly and they are constantly viewable. Oftentimes they price match sales that 360 has, like in April during the Spring sale they matched Hell Yeah!'s $5.99. Borderlands 2 was $25 after Microsoft did $30 a few weeks prior. They come up with their own sales and its more varied than when 360 does like a Publisher Sale for one publisher. Tomb Raider was $30 for one weekend and I think they later kept it on for the whole week. I bought like 5 full games in April off of PSN. Terraria was the only one that wasn't savings get.
Think about CrossBuy, obvi Microsoft doesnt have a handheld but i mean Skulls of the Shogun was on Windows Phone... They could've done something. It just to me feels like Sony is more attentive with savings in general and in they way they advertise them each week. You can't say PlaystationPlus isn't deal after deal, and they pass those deals to normal PSN users as best they can. No Gold Member only debauchery like with Dark Souls on XBL. Even the $5 off they give for Playstation exclusive digital downloads is a nice gesture. They really didn't have to do that. They even had a slight preorder discount for Grid II although it was miniature, it showed they at least grasped the concept. The features for Plus shows they know how to run a digital store, obvi it needs a few more features here and there.
So, if push comes to shove and I can't rent on PS4 either, I'd still be interested in what their new store would be like and how they choose to repurpose PlaystationPlus. In my eyes Sony is in a different league then Microsoft with sales value. At least with them I know I'll still be getting savings on something, at a somewhat frequent pace.
Or at least, that's how I'll justify bending over this Holiday.
Same here. Used Games. Constant DRM checks. Very important topics. But for me...initial ideas about which next gen system to buy, will be based on current/future subscription models when looking at Xbox Live Gold vs Playstation Plus (and if they plan to improve or get worse via certain restrictions/fees/charging money for stuff that should be free/staying horrible as-is/etc).
In this case, Xbox's needed revamp of Live Gold offers (God knows it deserves improvement after the price hike to $59.99 a year) vs the incredible value you can get today (right now) on Playstation Plus. For me...I'm sure to many others...these are major selling points (outside of the nonsense that was confirmed today by MS; probably some more nonsense coming out of Sony camp in the near future).
As for Xbox Live Gold itself, upon release:
-It was acceptable to pay for Xbox Live Gold because it had a cleaner interface to play online games (the excellent Blades UI). You already knew it worked, because you already had paid for it on the original Xbox in order to play your online matches in Halo 2, CVS2, PGR2, and Midtown Madness 3 (among others). Online multiplayer was part of the subscription, even back with the original Xbox's Live service, so you just had to "deal with it" I guess.
-Xbox Live Gold had easier to access options via circle of light interface, and you could easily get into your game and send/accept invites, over the sloppier & harder to maneuver menus (still very early iteration) of Sony's XMB.
-You could compare your in-game achievments with friends, while you couldn't initially on PS3 (Sony still hadn't implemented their trophy system).
-Xbox Live Gold members got access to the awesome Party Chat feature, making it much easier to talk to your buddies across titles.
Over the course of time though, Sony has not only improved the XMB, but the PSN shopping experience itself.
-The XMB is definately better looking & more accessible than when it started out as. Its gotten much easier to send invites, and accept them. Later Sony would add the trophy system, to combat the achievment system on Xbox Live.
-Free online multiplayer to everyone on day one. Hoping Sony keeps it this way for PS4, because it might be a factor for some to not bother, and just play online games free of charge on their PC's (though the PS Plus benefits are quite tasty, if factoring).
-The PSN digital store is better organized overall since its inception. Its much easier to track your wallet & your download history. Also the PS storefront looks somewhat better than X360's, but that's up to preference.
-PSN store is constantly growing (Neo Geo store, etc).
-And the great equalizer...the eventual introduction of incredible benefits with being a Playstation Plus member (stuff that Xbox Live Gold needs now). Killer sale prices; games on the weekly sale (+ more additional discount for PSPlus member) end up being cheaper than Xbox Live Gold weekly sale equivalent titles. Different games awarded, for FREE, to subscribers (not just throwaway PSN titles anymore, but rather full retail AAA games [currently its the excellent Sleeping Dogs]). Also the limited timed trial for specific games that month, better gives you an idea if a game will be good over a bad game demo you might find on Xbox Marketplace or in the general PSN download section.
I was a hardcore fan of Xbox since the days of the "duke controller" but they really have to convince me, to win me over on Xbone via Xbox Live; especially after this current nonsense confirmation with the user restrictions. It would be interesting to see exactly how many Gold members out there (with multiple systems) quit paying their subscriptions in the last few years, just to switch over to Playstation Plus.
Xbox Live online multiplayer free to all owners (even non-paying subscription Xbox owners IE silver owners), taking that ridiculous paywall restriction off the Youtube & Internet Explorer apps (seriously guys?), offering better and more frequent sales on actual decent stuff, and more active price updating on titles especially Games on Demand (why is NBA 2K13 Games on Demand 360, still $60? LOL).