Sony came out swinging in last night’s E3 press conference and might have just “won” E3. After Microsoft’s event earlier in the day (and the announcement that the Xbox One would cost $499) Sony needed very little help to make sure people saw that they were indeed a gaming machine first, and to rebut a few of the rumors that they would follow Microsoft with an always-online or DRM-heavy strategy.

The main chunk of Sony’s event was dedicated to laying out the future of all three of their platforms, the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and PlayStation 4. In a brief overview of PS3 and Vita Sony noted that support would continue for both platforms and that the Vita would play an integral part in their PS4 plans. They used the time to debut two new hardware bundles as well, the first being a Grand Theft Auto V PS3 bundle for $299 and the second being a Walking Dead PS Vita bundle that includes the upcoming DLC for the Telltale Games title.

Live video by Ustream

By far the biggest chunk of time at the event was spent detailing the PS4. The console’s hardware was finally debuted looking a tad bit similar to a more angled Xbox One. Sony also laid out plans to have PlayStation Plus carry over from the PS3 to PS4 seamlessly.

The big news about PS4 policies were:

  • PlayStation Plus required to play multiplayer in games.
  • PS4 will have no DRM that blocks used games
  • PS4 will have no online connectivity requirements.

The bottom two bullet points alone brought a rousing round of applause from the crowd when announced by Sony (using some playful jabs at Microsoft) as Microsoft has been fighting an uphill battle in the previous few weeks due to their online requirements and used game policies.

On top of the hardware and policy updates multiple games were shown and debuted. It was confirmed that The Elder Scrolls Online will be making its way to PS4, along with other games like The Order: 1886 (by Sony Santa Monica), Indie games like Don’t Starve & Octodad, a re-branded Final Fantasy Versus XIII (now FF XV), Kingdom Hearts 3, and a new Mad Max game by Just Cause developer Avalanche. Along with the announcements more footage from previously announced games like Killzone: Shadow Fall and Bungie’s Destiny was shown.

Overall Sony’s conference really pushed that this system was for gamers. No DRM policy, no online requirement, multiple new games, indie support, and PS3/Vita support really showed that Sony has been learning from past mistakes (and from competitor mistakes) and really want the PS4 to succeed with the core audience. The PS4 is up for pre-order now, so grab your spot in line if you plan on being there for launch, and stay tuned to COIN-OP.TV for more PS4 and Xbox One news as we draw closer to launch!