Monday was a big day for the gaming industry as both Microsoft took the stage at the E3 conference to show off some new games and features for the Xbox One and Sony revealed more details about the PlayStation 4 later that evening as well.
With demand for next generation consoles so high, every difference between the Xbox and PlayStation is put under a microscope. The first area of contention for each console came during Sony's press event when they took direct shots at their competitor by announcing their contrasting used game policy.
PlayStation will have no restrictions to the sharing, lending, trading or reselling of used games with friends and retailers like GameStop. Last week, Xbox One came under fire for rumors that claimed its used game policy would be needlessly restrictive.
Microsoft released a statement outlining their used game policy once and for all. The Xbox One will support the trading of games, but there are new restrictions on it. For example, users have to have someone added to their friend's list for at least 30 days before they can download a shared game onto their Xbox One device - a process that can only be done once per game.
IGN reports the turning point for the PlayStation press event from predictable to fun came when president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Jack Tretton took to the stage once again to announce the PlayStation 4 would have no such restrictions on buying and selling games. This means no DRM, no online requirements and no authentication. The news was met with thunderous applause as developers and fans were thrilled that there would be no restrictions to the social aspect of gaming.
"From there the attack became more and more targeted," IGN's Keza MacDonald wrote. "After making it absolutely clear that you can trade, sell, and share PS4 games without restriction, Tretton added that disc-based games don't need to be connected online or check in for authentication - not every 24 hours, not ever."
The two videos below are directly from PlayStation 4 at E3 2013. The first is a humorous video in which Sony "explains" the console's game sharing policy. The next is a promotional video, which showcases some of the PlayStation 4's interface and functions including the ability to download certain parts of a game at a time.
