The new six-part Xbox documentary series called Power On: The Story of Xbox is a fascinating watch, and we're finding the Xbox One portion particularly interesting — it even includes a section on PlayStation's "used games" video.
First though, a refresher. Back in 2013, it was suggested that the Xbox One (at one point) was going to be an always-online console, and it wouldn't allow you to play used games. In response, PlayStation put together a "big, dumb idea" of a video called the Official PlayStation Used Games Instructional Video, which was a death blow for the Xbox team.
The video was really simple, showing one PlayStation employee handing a used game to another PlayStation employee, and it went on to amass over 18 million views. If you've never seen it, you can watch it above.
Full credit to the Xbox team, they decided to tackle this subject in the new documentary, with GM of Xbox Games Marketing Aaron Greenberg stating that the video was an example of "stuff [getting] really ugly".
Mike Mika, current Studio Head at Digital Eclipse (and former Studio Head at Backbone Entertainment), had the most to say about the video in the documentary, describing it as a "brutal" moment for the Xbox brand as a whole:
"Sony came out all guns blazing with an immediate response to the Xbox One. Your game is your game. You own it. You can sell it. You can trade it in.
That was, that was brutal."
Of course, those days are in the past and we can all laugh about it now, but at the time, Xbox was made to look quite the fool by PlayStation's "ugly" video. In the aftermath, Xbox head Don Mattrick ended up quickly leaving his post (and Microsoft), with Phil Spencer eventually taking his place in early 2014. The rest, as they say, is history...
What are your thoughts on this video — both now and back then? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 21
Going to watch this documentary, once I get some free time
While they never implemented that 100%, it is wild how MS just shot themselves in the foot with the X1 reveal.
" We learned "
" Now to show what we learned "
They quickly changed it thank god , bit a lot of ppl some years down the line thought that they went ahead with the no second hand game rules ....it lost microsoft a lot of sales
Lmfao that ad is brutal.
@Martsmall you're right, I knew people who said that it didn't play used games a year after launch. That really hurt them for a while.
I remember it very well and it was excellent marketing by Sony. Certainly one of the things that stopped me going from 360 to XBone as the thought of stopping 2nd gaming was too much for me. I'm on latest gen and already buying second hand games for PS5 (R&C for £20 instead of £70).
Oddly, and probably a totally wild and rubbish thought, in this current gen I reckon Sony would be more happy with the industry stopping 2nd hand gaming.
With GP I probably will never pay for an Xbox game again, whether new or 2nd hand as I'm paying for GP and won't pay twice for a game that will probably end up on GP while if Sony could force everyone to pay the higher RRP fees instead of having 2nd hand games as an option then they would benefit.
Like i say - probably a wild and invalid opinion but I like the potential irony in it!
Sony - How do you play a PS3 game?
Oh *****, make sure youre connected to the internet and have a good connection to stream it, oh and you have to pay again to do so!
Sony - How do you upgrade your PS4 game to PS5?
Get your credit card out baby!
MS actually went back on the physical media policy, lets not forget that, it was never a thing for consumers.
It just highlights how big a job Phil and his team had when they took over (I say his team too and stress that as I am sure there are a lot behind the scenes that helped with the turnaround) and with his leadership are in such a better place now.
i'll never forget this E3. i sat there and thought, "Wow, it's literally over BEFORE the console hits the shelf..."
Fast forward to the next generation, and Sony releases a console without a disc drive. Funny how things change.
I member he said if you wanted offline then the 360 was for you.
I went into that E3 as a PS3 & 360 owner, and was only going to buy one next gen console. I'd watched the prior PS4 and X1 announce shows, and the X1 was just so bad in that show. So horribly bad. But, I still gave it benefit of the doubt. Rumor was that that show was geared to investors and mainstream, but the E3 show would be the show for gamers. SO I went into E3 not knowing which console I'd pick, it was anybody's game to win me over.
I watched the X1 show and just couldn't stop laughing.....it was just so bad, they doubled down on everything that was wrong with the first show, and then had the nerve to do the whole "We have a console for those people" thing. I figured it would probably be Sony even though after the infamous PSN hack cost me years of trouble, I swore I'd never buy a Playstation again. I tuned in for E3, saw this video in the preshow and just laughed manically. Then they had a rapid fire "for the players" presentation, landed on $399.99, and I'd preordered 2 of them before they even closed the show out. I was pretty much an anti-xbox pony at that point, just from the different tone of the two shows. That's how hard Don failed.
We laugh at console wars, but that one was a console ambush against enemy troops that mounted the canons backward, lol
@Microbius I do mostly agree with what you said. Sony/Industry was planning on doing the same thing as far as I've heard. BUT. Where Sony read the room, heard the backlash and reacted by removing the difference, Don just went full steam ahead, earplugs wedged deep insisting he's right and everyone else is wrong. (And 8 years later, apparently, he's STILL DOING THAT!) .... so either way, credit to Sony there.
I also agree the industry is doing the same thing via different means. To be fair to the industry, used games is only a problem, because Game Stop (and then Amazon and the like) turned used games into a business tool to wedge themselves between the consumer and the producer. It was never an issue until Game Stop turned it into their primary model and it took a big hit to the industry. That's how we got saddled with DLC and the like to begin with, trying to end-run around used game sales shoved at the point of the regsister, and the losses involved. So I kind of sympathize to a degree with the industry on that. I'm guessing Sony's price hike this gen has a lot to do with losses from used game sales of their largeley one-and-done format games as well. GS created a monster.
But at least with something like Game Pass it's a carrot on a stick instead of a stick with a point. Don's idea was "pay full price, or else we'll back-charge you anyway, mwahaha!" The GP idea is "well, heck pay us a little bit monthly and we'll just let you play everything." They get the same payment model by giving more value. But at its heart, it's the same thing, your'e right, it's ending the idea of owning/selling games. Amazing how when they offer it in exchange for MORE value we welcome it... lol
Such an epic takedown from Sony even if Sony nowadays seem to be the other guy. You know its funny i will always believe Sony had the exact same plans as MS but played the long game in seeing how people would react to what MS had planned, both MS and Sony must be somewhat aware what the other has planned and i can imagine MS were confident it would work because Sony were doing the same but of course it backfired hard and i reckon Sony very quickly changed tact knowing full well what a blow it would cause MS. Sony left as heroes and the PS4 dominated the X1 brutally, even now Xbox still feels it even if Xbox is in a better state then it was.
@JetmanUK To be fair PS3 games can't physically run on PS4 and PS5 consoles and making them able to run could cause more trouble then its worth. Ultimately though it never mattered as PS is still the console people want going by sales. I will give you the upgrade thing but its worth noting MS has never offered more then a framerate increase and 4K while Sony usually offer that plus new content or a more extensive remaster, its easy to big up MS with their upgrades but then they are so bare bones MS could never get away for charging for it.
I’m an Xbox guy, and I got a PS4 first because of this e3. I got the xb1 a couple of years later.
The internet hive mind often screws things up royally, but the pushback against MS in this instance was beautifully correct.
I also like the Xbox version of this showing us how we upgrade our last gen games for free.
@WallyWest
"To be fair PS3 games can't physically run on PS4 and PS5 consoles and making them able to run could cause more trouble then its worth".
Whilst I accept that the PS3 had some rather awkward and unusual architecture, it has been emulated on PC, and Sony of all companies would know the machine back to front better than anyone. If they wanted to emulate it they could have done it by now.
Also, it damn sure took a lot of time and engineering for the Xbox back compat team to get the 360 games working. I think people gloss over this too easily, a monumental effort was made by MS to achieve it, lots and lots of time & money spent. Gamers got to play many of their games for free. Sony chose the easy and revenue lead path.
"Ultimately though it never mattered as PS is still the console people want going by sales".
You hit the nail on the head right there, this is the reason why you can't put a PS3 game in your PS4/5.
Sony just plain didn't/don't need to do it as they have a good lead in the market.
"I will give you the upgrade thing but its worth noting MS has never offered more then a framerate increase and 4K while Sony usually offer that plus new content or a more extensive remaster, its easy to big up MS with their upgrades but then they are so bare bones MS could never get away for charging for it".
Interesting that Sony chose the paid for path rather than free to customers path again, of course this is because they have the lead in the market and are milking it as much as possible. Perhaps a more consumer friendly model would be free res/fps upgrades to all applicable games with a paid for definitive edition.
I am not bashing Sony out of fanboyism, there's a PS4 Pro next to my Xbox Series X, but I will call them out for their money grabbing, I get that they can because of their position, but it doesn't mean that they should.
People have long memories in gaming... no one has forgotten Matrick and that was 2013. They should be careful.
@JetmanUK I mean look i think the PS5 upgrade for GoT should have been free, the Expansion should have been the thing what cost for obvious reasons and i think Death Stranding should have at least giving the PS4 a 60fps patch, i also think Uncharted 4 should offer more considering the price but i get why Spider-Man and Death Stranding DC were charging money as they either offered a full extensive remaster or added a ton of new content. Its worth noting though GoT on PS4 has a free 60fps patch as does God of War, TLoUP2, Ratchet and Clank and Horizon Zero Dawn (what plays lovely in 60fps) so its not like Sony haven't giving out some form of upgrades to PS4 games its just actual PS5 versions tend to have a cost. As i said the Xbox enhanced games aren't really Series S/X versions but more X1 versions with 60/120fps enabled and 4K added, there's no real remaster or added content, that's not a dig at MS though and i love smart delivery and how consumer friendly MS are with it its just i feel there's a bit more to what Sony are doing what people aren't seeing or ignoring.
By the way i'm not trying to act all fanboy with Sony here, they are doing many things i'm not happy with like the $70 price tag its just i feel the whole upgrade thing is a bit overblown.
@WallyWest Yeah I get you, I know you're not being a fanboy either mate.
I think you are downplaying how nice the free upgrades we have been getting on Series consoles have been though, forgetting res boosts for a moment FPS increases can be a real game changer, just like the FPS boost feature, also free.
That new high price tag is hard to swallow too, it must have lots of PS only players looking over the fence at Gamepass.
I hope that the rumoured PS Gamepass is a real thing, more value and choice for everyone.
Personally I will probably just stick to buying Sony first party exclusives as my main platform is Xbox, so I don't want an subscription (other than PS+, which may or may not be discontinued).
I'll grab a PS5 when they do a refresh of the hardware too.
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