“We want to bring optimised experiences wherever we launch, and that includes fully-localised dash, voice, all of the entertainment-out-of-the-box experience,” he said. “All of that, in our view, has to be optimised at launch, and we felt that we weren’t able to bring all of that to all of those markets at launch, so that’s why we’ve narrowed down the launch country portfolio.

“We will add goodness to pre-orders, to those who’ve pre-ordered, in a good way, and we’ll talk more about that as time rolls on.”

Even though consumers in these countries could import their consoles from neighbouring markets, Lewis urged them to wait. “Xbox One will work everywhere and the games will work everywhere, but we’d encourage people to wait for that optimised experience and we’ll bring that to those markets as soon as we can.”

Will these bonuses be worth the wait? We’ll soon find out.

The entire Xbox One turnaround got rid of a lot of undesirable policies about the console, including the heavy region locking that had originally been proposed for it; the Xbox One will not, however, be region locked, something we have known for a while, and something Microsoft confirmed again, in light of renewed fears following Xbox One’s launch being pushed back to 2014 in at least eight territories.

Earlier today we had reported  on Kinect planning lead Albert Penello taking to Neogaf and confirming that Xbox One will be region free and now another Microsoft rep confirmed this to Eurogamer.

“When the console launches this November, we will support Xbox One in 13 markets. Xbox One may be used in all countries, including the non-launched markets. In addition, Xbox One games are not region locked. Any Xbox One game purchased at retail can be used in any country on any Xbox One.

“That said, there needs to be a valid payment method corresponding to a supported launch country in order for any transactions to occur over Xbox Live, and some content may not be accessible outside launch markets due to geographic content restrictions imposed by content right holders,” he said.

This is essentially the exact same thing as on the PS4; of course, in this age of online, none of the two are functionally region free, because all online services would require, as Microsoft points out, geographic IP checks, and payment in proper currencies. Still, it’s better than, say, the hard region lock policies that Nintendo applies (or that Microsoft was originally going for with Xbox One).

Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Kinect planning lead Albert Penello recently stated on NeoGAF that the delay isn’t due to shortage of launch volumes but rather localization for the Dashboard.

“Launch volumes are not really an issue. This was simply a software issue in terms of getting local language and voice support in the dash. it’s pretty straightforward, but disappointing I know for people who are missing launch. Obviously, I support people waiting for the official supported launch in the affected markets for the best experience.”

Penello also pointed out that the Xbox One is not region locked – and for that matter, neither are its games. “First – all games are WW signed. Not all 360 games are. Second – The console will work everywhere (keeping in mind power supplies). You can use one of the 13 digital marketplaces corresponding to our launch markets, assuming you have a valid payment instrument for those countries. Lots of people in Europe specifically travel, move, and visit family.”

Certain services like Netflix however would only work in their corresponding countries.

Microsoft’s official statement, from Don Mattrick himself:

“You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc. The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world.

“So, today I am announcing the following changes to Xbox One and how you can play, share, lend, and resell your games exactly as you do today on Xbox 360. Here is what that means:

“An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.

“Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.

“In addition to buying a disc from a retailer, you can also download games from Xbox Live on day of release. If you choose to download your games, you will be able to play them offline just like you do today. Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console — there will be no regional restrictions.

“These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One. The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray.”

This is huge, for sure, and if it doesn’t put Microsoft back in the good graces of gamers – despite still having concerns with an always-on Kinect and $499 starting price – we don’t know what will. Stay tuned for more.

That means that if you purchase the console from the United States and games from a PAL region, everything will work perfectly fine on the PlayStation 4. There won’t be any distinctions or shut-outs as far as games are concerned. And no, the Xbox One is not region-free.

President of Sony Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment Shuhei Yoshida also announced on Twitter that the hard disk drive for the PlayStation 4 would be upgradeable, just like on the PS3, followed by a “heart” emoticon. We’re not joking.

And yes, PS4’s HDD is upgradable like PS3 <3

— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) June 11, 2013

Sony has certainly achieved a significant leg-up over Microsoft, which didn’t slouch in terms of the games shown at E3 2013 but which has been under fire in regards to privacy, used game resale and an always-on Kinect (plus, it costs $100 more than the PS4).