Fighting talk
Two months in to 2020 and news of the next generation of consoles is tantalisingly thin on the ground. By this time of year in 2013, we’d already had our first look at PS4; as we send to press, at least, Sony is still saying nothing of substance about PS5, and it appears nothing is imminent (though rumours of an imminent Wired cover continue to circulate). Microsoft is similarly keeping its powder dry until, current betting suggests, the week of GDC. Both companies are getting much better at keeping secrets – the bulk of the developers with whom we’ve had quiet words of late are also in the dark – and there’s an element of brinksmanship at play, each side wary of giving the other an advantage by showing its hand first.
One of the defining moments of the battle for hearts, minds and wallets ahead of the launch of Xbox One and PS4 was Microsoft’s terribly botched handling of the used-game issue. In the run-up to the console’s proper unveiling in May 2013, rumours had swirled that Xbox One games would be single-use, shutting down the secondhand market – great for publishers who had spent the 360 era increasingly fretful about the roaring trade in preowned games, but terrible for punters. Sony’s response at E3 the following month was an instant classic: a
