What they needed to do is establish themselves as the console for gaming, and they did that in spades today. Microsoft is concerned with the Xbox being the entertainment center of the living room, and Sony pursuing that perception would have been a massive disaster. They’re playing their cards just right.

videogamenostalgia:

Wii U to Receive Some Major System Updates and Virtual Console

In a Nintendo Direct video released earlier this morning, Satoru Iwata announced that the Wii U is going to receive some major overalls this year; one in the Spring and one in the Summer. Mr. Iwata said that the system updates are in response to community requests, and will fix the appalling software load times that have been plaguing the system since day one.

Mr. Iwata also announced in the same video that the Wii U will be receiving its own virtual console after the Spring system update. The exact lineup of games, he wouldn’t say, but we can expect a handful of NES and SNES titles right out of the gate, as well as some Gameboy Advance and titles from other unnamed systems to follow shortly after. The virtual console games are being re-developed for the system and will support back-up saves for every title, off-TV play using the gamepad, and they will each have their own Miiverse community.

Nintendo is keeping the pricing system for NES and SNES titles the same as it was on the Wii’s virtual console ($4.99-$5.99 and $7.99-$8.99, respectively), and are offering you the ability to transfer over games from your previous virtual console for $1.00 and $1.50 per game.

videogamenostalgia:

Sony Files Patent On Hardware To Prevent Used Games Sales

It came to light yesterday that Sony filed a patent for a chip that, if successful, would negate the inevitably negate the used game market. The chip would restrict “disc IDs” to “player IDs,” permanently locking the two and shutting down the disc if the IDs don’t match. The chip is reported to be implemented on individual software discs for a future Sony console, and would create and link these IDs on the disc’s initial start-up.

The patent hasn’t been a confirmed feature for the Orbis/Playstation 4 yet, as well as the specific details on how this system would actually be implemented. It seems more likely that the feature will be link the discs to a person’s PSN account, rather than the game being anchored to a single console, enabling you to take your games over to your friends’ house and sign into your PSN on their system to access your player ID.

Be careful not to get skeptical or worried so early on, as Sony has made no official statement about the patent, making any information at this point merely rumors and speculation. But it’s also important to consider the overall harm that the used game markets can cause to publishers and developers, as they only profit on the purchase on new games. Studios are closing down on a regular basis, with even major publishers like THQ possibly facing extinction.

Nobody write off Sony just yet! Keep checking back with us at VGN to hear more about Sony’s future plans for Playstation as they break.

(Sources: IGN, At7addak)

I cannot stress enough that this is not cause for panic. PC games have been doing this for over a decade, long before the days of Steam.